Wafers are everywhere. They are in your smartphone, your computer, your tablet, your car, and even your air conditioning. In fact, nearly all of the electronic equipment around us uses semiconductor wafers. However, despite its prevalence and the major role that plays in our daily lives, there’s a lot of things about wafers that people don’t understand. Specifically, the common wafer terminology. But don’t worry, we are here to help. Keep reading to learn the meaning of some of the most common semiconductor wafer terms.
Clean Room:
An enclosed and extremely clean space that is necessary to manufacture semiconductor wafers.
Dicing: The process of cutting a semiconductor wafer into single chips, with each containing its own complete semiconductor device.
Doping: The process of adding specific impurities to a semiconductor in order to control its electrical resistivity.
Polishing: The process that is applied to semiconductor wafers to either reduce its surface roughness or to remove excess material from the surface.
Semiconductor: A material that only partly conducts current. Specifically, the conductivity of a semiconductor is between that of an insulator, which has practically no conductivity, and a conductor, which has almost full conductivity. Most semiconductors are crystals made of certain materials, such as silicon.
Wafer: A thin, circular slice of semiconductor material that is used to fabricate integrated circuits for electronic devices and advanced technologies. Semiconductor wafers are formed by slicing, lapping, polishing, and cleaning a semiconducting material.
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