Alloying:

The process of forming a low-resistance contact between the aluminum metal and silicon substrate on a metallized semiconductor wafer. See Metallization - Alloying and Annealing.

Annealing:

The process of combining hydrogen with uncommitted atoms at or near the silicon-silicon dioxide interface on a metallized semiconductor wafer. See Metallization - Alloying and Annealing.

Ashing:

The process of removing photoresist from a substrate by oxidation. See Device Fabrication - Photoresist Stripping.

Backlapping:

The process of mechanically thinning the backside of a finished semiconductor wafer. See Metallization - Backlapping and Backside Metallization.

Backside metallization:

The process of depositing a metal layer on the backside of a finished wafer. See Metallization - Backlapping and Backside Metallization.

Chip:

The final integrated semiconductor circuit. See Non-Fabrication Processing.

Crystal pulling:

The process of forming a crystal ingot; a seed crystal of silicon is attached to a rod and "pulled" out of a silicon melt to form an ingot. See Substrate Manufacture - Single Crystal Ingot Growth.

Czochralski method:

The crystal pulling method used to form crystal ingots. See Substrate Manufacture - Single Crystal Ingot Growth.

Chemical vapor deposition:

The process of applying a thin film to a substrate using a controlled chemical reaction. See Device Fabrication - Deposition.

Deposition:

A general term used to describe the addition of material layers on a semiconductor wafer. See Device Fabrication - Deposition.

Die:

An individual device or chip cut from a semiconductor wafer. See Non-Fabrication Processing - Die Separation.

Diffusion:

A doping process; a high-temperature furnace is used to diffuse an applied layer of dopant into the wafer surface. See Device Fabrication - Doping (Junction Formation).

Doping:

The process of introducing impurity elements (dopants) into a semiconductor wafer to form regions of differing electrical conductivity. The two most common doping processes are diffusion and ion implantation. See Device Fabrication - Doping (Junction Formation).

Epitaxy:

A specific chemical vapor deposition process used to form a thin elemental crystal layer on top of an identical substrate crystal. See Device Fabrication - Deposition.

Etching:

The process of removing silicon dioxide layers, accomplished by "wet etching" with chemicals or by "dry etching" with ionized gases. See Device Fabrication - Etching.

Evaporation:

A process used to deposit conducting metal layers on a substrate. Heat is used to evaporate a metal source which then condenses on the cooler wafer surface. See Metallization - Metal Deposition.

Ingot:

A polycrystalline silicon cylinder formed by crystal pulling. See Substrate Manufacture - Single Crystal Ingot Growth.

Ion implantation:

A doping process; the dopant material is ionized and magnetically accelerated to strike the wafer surface, thereby embedding the dopant into the substrate. See Device Fabrication - Doping (Junction Formation).

Lapping:

The process of mechanically grinding the surface of a sliced wafer. See Substrate Manufacture - Wafer Preparation.

Lead frame:

The die attachment surface and lead attachment points that a die or chip is attached to prior to wire bonding and packaging. See Non-Fabrication Processing - Die Attach and Bonding.

Oxidation:

The process of oxidizing the wafer surface to form a thin layer of silicon dioxide. See Device Fabrication - Oxidation.

Passivation:

The process of applying a final passivating or protective layer of either silicon nitride or silicon dioxide to a wafer. See Metallization - Passivation.

Photolithography:

The process of creating patterns on a silicon substrate. The main steps of the process include photoresist application, mask alignment, photoexposure, developing, and etching the portions of the substrate that are unprotected by the resist. See Device Fabrication.

Photomask:

A mask that delineates the pattern applied to a substrate during photolithography. See Device Fabrication - Mask Alignment and Photoexposure.

Photoresist:

A photosensitive material applied to a wafer and exposed to a device pattern during photolithography. See Device Fabrication - Photoresist Application.

Polycrystalline silicon:

An amorphous form of silicon with randomly oriented crystals, used to produce silicon ingots. See Substrate Manufacture - Polycrystalline Silicon Production.

Quartzite:

Silica sand used as a raw material to produce metallurgical grade silicon. See Substrate Manufacture - Polycrystalline Silicon Production.

Reactive ion etching:

An etching process that uses physical sputtering and chemically reactive species to remove metal layers. See Metallization - Metal Etch.

Silicon:

A semimetallic element used to create a wafer. See Substrate Manufacture.

Silyation:

The process of introducing silicon atoms into the surface of an organic photoresist in order to harden the photoresist. See Metallization - Silyation.

Sputtering:

The process of depositing a metal layer onto a wafer by bombarding a target metal material with an argon plasma. The metal is dislodged and deposited on the wafer. See Metallization - Metal Deposition.

Wafer:

A silicon disc used to form the substrate of a semiconductor device. See Substrate Manufacture - Wafer Preparation.