Glossary of Semiconductor Terms

A comprehensive list of semiconductor manufacturing terminology, chemical abbreviations, and measurement standards covering symbols, process technologies, and material science concepts.

$$\text{\AA}$$

symbol for Angstrom

$$B_2H_6$$

diborane

$$BCl_3$$

boron trichloride

$$CF_4$$

carbon tetrafluoride, freon-14

$$GaAs$$

gallium arsenide

$$KOH$$

potassium hydroxide

$$N_2$$

nitrogen

$$NaOH$$

sodium hydroxide

$$O_2$$

oxygen

$$PH_3$$

phosphine

$$POCl$$

phosphoxychlorine

$$Si_3N_4$$

silicon nitride

$$SiO_2$$

silicon dioxide

$$TaSi_2$$

tantalum silicide

$$WSi_2$$

tungsten silicide

AES

auger electron spectroscopy

AFM

atomic force microscopy

APCVD

atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition

APSM

absorptive phase shift mask

ARDE

aspect ratio dependent etching

ASIC

application specific integrated circuit

ATE

automatic test equipment

BARC

bottom antireflective coating

BCC

body-centered cubic crystal

BEOL

back end of line

BGA

ball grid array

BiCMOS

bipolar and complimentary metal oxide semiconductor combined into a single IC

BIM

binary intensity mask

BJT

bipolar junction transistor

BOE

buffered oxide etch

BPSG

borophosphosilicate glass

BSE

backscattered electron

CAD

computer-aided design

CAIBE

chemical assisted ion beam etch

CBE

chemical beam epitaxy

CCD

charge-coupled device

CEL

contrast enhancement layer

Class 10

cleanroom classification of $10$ particles ($0.5\,um$ in diameter) per cubic foot

CMOS

complimentary metal oxide semiconductor

CMP

chemical mechanical planarization; chemical mechanical polish

COB

chip on board

CTE

coefficient of thermal expansion

C-V

capacitance-voltage measurement

CZ

Czochralski method of crystal growing

DCS

dichlorosilance

DLTS

deep level transient spectroscopy

DMD

deformable mirror device

DOE

design of experiments

DOF

depth of focus

DRAM

dynamic random access memory

DSP

digital signal processor

DUV

deep ultraviolet

EBIC

electron beam induced current

ECR

electron cyclotron resonance

EDM

electrodischarge machining

EDS

energy-dispersive spectrometer

EEPROM

electrically erasable programmable read-only memory

EHS

environmental health and safety

EM

electromigration; electromagnetic

EOT

epitaxy over trench

ESD

electrostatic dishcarge

EUV

extreme ultraviolet

FCC

face centered cubic; Federal Communication Commision

FEOL

front end of line

FET

field effect transistor

FIB

focused ion beam

FOX

field oxide regions

FPGA

field-programmable gate array

FTIR

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

FZ

float zone

G Line

exposure at $436\,nm$

GOI

gate oxide integrity test

GSMBE

gas source molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)

GUI

graphical user interface

HBT

heterojunction bipolar transistor

HCI

hot carrier injection or hydrochloric acid

HDP

high density plasma

HEMT

high electron mobility transistor

HEPA

high efficiency particulate Attenuation filter

HLine

exposure at $405\,nm$

HMDS

hexamethyldisilazane

HREM

high resolution electron microscopy

IBE

ion beam etch

ICP

inductive coupled plasma

ILD

interlevel dielectrics

ILine

exposure at $365\,nm$

JFET

junction field effect transistor

JIT

just-in-time inventory; just-in-time manufacturing

KGD

known good die

LCD

liquid crystal display

LDD

lightly doped drain

LED

light emitting diode

LEED

low energy electron diffraction

LOCOS

local oxidation of silicon

LPCVD

low pressure chemical vapor deposition

LPE

liquid phase epitaxy

LRP

limited reaction processing

LSI

large scale integration

MBE

molecular beam epitaxy

MCM

multi chip module