Commonly Asked Questions About Semiconductors: All You Know Need To Know

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The term &#;semiconductor&#; became ever more popular in / with news of the semiconductor shortage. Over the last seven decades, it became the backbone of electronic device manufacturing.

Semiconductors are considered the heart of modern electronics and their manufacturing, as they help electrical devices process information as efficiently and compactly as possible.

The industry is highly competitive, after all &#; sales are expected to go up to $527.2 billion worldwide, and the growth rate in is predicted to reach 8.4%.

Here&#;s what to know about semiconductors, what they&#;re used for, and more commonly asked questions.

 

What Is a Semiconductor, and What Are They Used for?

Before going into the discussion, let&#;s start with what a semiconductor is. Materials used in electronics manufacturing are classified into three groups &#; conductors, insulators, and semiconductors &#; based on their capability to conduct electricity.

Simply speaking, semiconductors are materials that conduct only part of a current &#; meaning they aren&#;t a full conductor of electricity, nor are they insulators, but they have the characteristics of both.

A semiconductor&#;s conductivity can be altered to meet whatever specific conductive needs the product must meet, therefore making it a very customizable material. 

Semiconductors are also known as &#;semis&#; or &#;chips,&#; and they&#;re used in electronics manufacturing to support the functionality of electronic devices.

Manufacturers primarily use them in smaller devices, like smartphones, computers, watches, TVs, medical devices, and gaming equipment. Devices using semiconductors are notably compact, reliable, have high power efficiency, and offer low-cost solutions when manufacturing electronic products.

Semiconductors can be separated into four different groups: memory chips, commodity integrated circuits, microprocessors, and complex &#;systems on a chip.&#;

 

How Does a Semiconductor Differ From a Conductor or an Insulator?

As already mentioned, a semiconductor is a material that is neither a conductor or insulator but has the characteristics of both. Let&#;s dive deeper into the behavior of each matter.

The material in a conductor permits electrons to stream freely from atom to atom. A conducting object will allow a charge to transfer throughout the whole surface of the object.

On the other hand, insulators are materials that obstruct the flow of electrons from particle to particle. When the charge is transmitted to an insulative object, the excess amount stays at the initially charged spot, as the insulators don&#;t permit the free flow of electrons.

A semiconductor lies somewhere in between an insulator and conductor. Its conductive abilities are limited, but the semiconductor is still not as obstructive to electricity flow as an insulator. 

Metals usually make good conductors, so you can often find copper or aluminum in electrical wiring. On the other hand, wood, paper, rubber, and glass have very bad to nearly non-existent electrical conductivity. 

Semiconductors are typically made out of silicon (Si), the second-most-common element on earth. The end product is known as a silicon wafer &#; a thin slice of semiconductor made out of crystalline silicon which is later used as a substrate for building microelectronic devices.

Who Invented the Semiconductor?

Semiconductors were not invented as much as they were discovered. And while the material itself was not developed, there were many inventions of semiconductor devices. The finding of this material was a real breakthrough that allowed the electronics industry to advance significantly.

The usage of semiconductors made it possible for electronic devices to be smaller and as miniature as they are today. Semiconductive material is also used in parts like transistors, diodes, and photovoltaic cells.

Alessandro Volta was the first to use the term &#;semiconducting&#; in , and Michael Faraday was the first one who observed a semiconductor effect in . What Faraday discovered was that the silver sulfide electrical resistance lowered with temperature. In , almost a hundred years later, Karl Braun discovered and noted the first semiconductor diode effect.

The first semiconductor device was patented in , and it was named &#;cat whiskers.&#; Jagadis Chandra Bose invented it, and the machine was used to detect radio waves.

In , the transistor was co-invented by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley at Bell Labs.

 

Why Is There a Semiconductor Shortage?

Different circumstances affect the shortage of electronic components, especially semiconductors. Essentially, it was caused by the trade war between the U.S. and China that began in and continued into . 

The coronavirus outbreak hasn&#;t helped, either. With people staying home and working there as well, the need for electronic devices such as laptops and phones skyrocketed. People needed more electronics for work and entertainment, and electronic device manufacturers couldn&#;t keep up. 

If you&#;re interested in how you can save your company from semiconductor shortages, you can read more about the current shortage here.

 

What Is a Semiconductor Company?

A semiconductor company manufactures semiconductors or electronic products. They&#;re also called electronics manufacturers (EMS). 

If you&#;re looking for an EMS company to work with for your semiconductor or electronics product &#; here is what to look for in an EMS partner before signing on the dotted line.

Industry Glossary

3G/4G

Industry term for third and fourth generation wireless mobile communications networks.

A/D

Analog-to-Digital Converter. This device is what all digital imaging systems use to get real-world pictures from a TV camera, for example into a computer.

Adapter Card

Circuit board or other hardware in Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) that provides the physical interface to the communications network.

Analog Signals

Analog is a continuous signal, measuring features that are difficult to break into digital components, such as pressure, temperature, voltage, current and air and water-flow. The circuits are used in products that involve sound (radios, TVs) and pressure (automotive air bags, anti-lock brakes).

Angstrom

One ten-billionth of a meter. Some chip layers are only 100 angstroms thick.

ASIC

Application Specific Integrated Circuits. Designed to suit a customer&#;s particular requirement, as opposed to DRAMs or microprocessors, which are general-purpose semiconductors.

Application Specific Integrated Circuits

Designed to suit a customer&#;s particular requirement, as opposed to DRAMs or microprocessors, which are general-purpose semiconductors.

Assembly

A step in semiconductor manufacturing in which the chip (die) is either encased in a plastic, ceramic or other package or assembled directly on a printed circuit board.

ASSP

Application-Specific Standard Products. An integrated circuit that performs functions for a single application.

Bandwidth

An analog measure derived from the difference between the highest and lowest frequency on a carrier wave. Also used to describe the amount of data that can be sent through a given communications circuit.

BiCMOS

Bipolar Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductors. This relatively new process combines both bipolar and CMOS technologies on the same chip, yielding products with the benefits of both technologies.

Binary

Characteristic of having only two states, such as current on and current off. The binary number system uses only ones and zeros.

Bipolar

A type of transistor noted for its speed where a flow of both conduction electrons and holes determine the device characteristics.
Bit

Binary digit

The basic unit of all digital communications. A bit is a &#;1&#; or &#;0&#; in a binary language.

Bluetooth&#;

A wireless Personal Area Network (PAN) technology from the Bluetoothtm Special Interest Group, founded in by Ericsson, TBM, Intel, Nokia and Toshiba. It is an open standard for short-range transmission of digital voice and data between mobile and desktop devices.

Broadband

Originally described the frequency bandwidth of analog circuits. The term has evolved to specify 56 KBps, then 1.5 Mbps capability.

Buckyball*

A sphere of 60 carbon atoms in an arrangement that looks like a soccer ball. A popular name for a buckminsterfullerene (named after Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic dome). This nanostructure&#;s unique properties could be useful in nanotechnology.

Byte

A data unit of eight bits.

CAD

Computer-Aided Design. Sophisticated, computerized workstations and software used to design integrated circuit chips.

CDMA

Code Division Multiple Access, also called Spread Spectrum, a term for a form of digital spread spectrum cellular service that assigns a code to all speech bits, sends a scrambled transmission of the encoded speech over the air and reassembles the speech into its original format. CDMA has up to 20 times the capacity of analog cellular service and is best known for its superior call quality and long battery life.

Chip

An individual integrated circuit built in a tiny, layered rectangle or square on a silicon wafer.

Cleanroom

The sterile rooms where chips are fabricated. The air in these rooms is thousands of times cleaner than in a typical hospital operating room.

Circuit Board

Same as printed circuit board. A board with microprocessors, transistors and other electronic components. Also called a circuit card.

CMOS

Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductors. Combine both positive- and negative-channel transistors on the same circuit design. CMOS circuits consume relatively low amounts of power.

Defect

A chemical or structural irregularity that degrades the product. Defects can affect the product over time or interfere with manufacturing the chip correctly. Common causes of defects are flakes from skin or cosmetics, and droplets from a person&#;s sneeze.

Digital

The method of representing information as numbers with discrete (non-continuous) values, usually expressed as a sequence of binary digits (ones and zeros).

Die

A single integrated circuit (or chip) cut from the wafer on which it was manufactured.

Digital Cellular

Cellular communications technology. Transmitting digital data with over 15 times the capacity of analog technology with significantly less static, loss/interruption of the signal when passing between cells and connection problems because of congested relays.

DSL

Digital Subscriber Line. A technology that increases the digital speed of ordinary lines by a substantial factor over common dial-up modems. Offers symmetrical and asymmetrical operation. Asymmetrical versions (ADSL, RADSL, VDSL, etc.) provide higher downstream transmission than upstream and are better suited for Internet usage and video on demand applications. Symmetric DLS (HDLS, SDSL, IDSL, etc.) provide the same speed in both directions. All DSL have distance limitations of around two or three miles between the company&#;s central office and the customer site.

Digital Signal Processing (DSP)

Digital circuits designed to address a broad class of problems in signal reception and analysis that have traditionally been solved using analog components. DSP is used to enhance, analyze, filter, modulate or otherwise manipulate standard analog functions, such as images, sounds, radar pulses, and other such signals by analyzing and transforming wave-forms (e.g., transmitting data over lines via modem).

Diode

A signal and switching device that allows current in one direction and blocks it in the opposite direction. One use: regulating load voltages.

Discrete Device

A device that contains one active element, such as a transistor or diode, although a hybrid might contain more than one active element. In comparison, an integrated circuit could contain billions of active elements on a single chip.

DRAM

Dynamic Random Access Memory. A type of memory component. &#;Dynamic&#; means the device&#;s memory cells must be recharged periodically. Information stored in the memory cells is accessed randomly. Memory is a key component of most electronic products.

Doping

A wafer fabrication process in which exposed areas of silicon are bombarded with chemical impurities to alter the way the silicon conducts electricity in those areas.

E-Beam

Electron Beam refers to a machine that produces a stream of electrons that can be used to expose photoresists directly on a wafer or on a mask. Electron-beam lithography is a microprinting technique.

EEPROM

Electronically-Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory.

Embedded Processor

A computer chip that controls the function of its product. While embedded processors sometimes refer to the type of chips used in simple electronic toys, &#;talking&#; greeting cards and similar consumer products, they are also high-functioning microcontrollers that are the brains of products such as laser printers.

Etch

The removal of selected portions of materials to define patterned layers on chips.

EPROM

Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory. Allows stored information to be erased by exposure to ultraviolet light.

Ethernet

A local area network used for connecting computer, printers, workstations, terminals, servers and other computer hardware within the same company. Ethernet operates over twisted wire and over coaxial cable at speeds up to 10 million bits per second (Mbps).

Extreme Ultraviolet Technology

A technology for extending ultraviolet lithography by manufacturing a lens with concave and convex mirrors. This type of manufacturing allows the lens to focus patterns on a chip that are too small to be lithographed.

Fab

The fabrication facility, or fab, is the manufacturing plant where the front-end process of making semiconductors on silicon wafers is completed. The package and assembly (back end) stages are typically completed at other facilities.

Fabless

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A semiconductor company with no wafer fabrication capability.

Flash Memory

A faster form of EPROM that permits more erase/write cycles. Flash memory allows large amounts of non-volatile program memory.

Focus Center

The Focus Center Research Program has six Focus Centers that are university centers leading a consortium of other universities in researching a particular challenge to the long-term advancement of semiconductor technologies.

Foundry

A factory that manufactures semiconductor chips on wafers. Usually used to denote a facility that is available on a contract basis to companies that do not have wafer fab capability of their own, or that wish to supplement their own capabilities.

GaAs

Gallium Arsenide. A III-V compound semiconductor material used for making optoelectronic devices and high-frequency ICs. GaAs has a higher electron mobility than silicon, thus having the capability of producing higher-speed devices. III-V refers to the third and fifth columns of the periodic table.

Gate Array

A semi-custom chip. The integrated circuit is preprocessed to the first interconnect level. The remainder of the interconnect is customized to meet specific requirements of the customer.

IC

Integrated Circuit. A chip etched or imprinted with network or electronic components such as transistors, diodes and resistors along with their interconnections.

IEEE

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. A world-wide engineering publishing and standards-making body for the electronics industry.

Integrated Circuit (IC)

Semiconductor chip in which many active or passive elements are fabricated and connected together on a continuous substrate, as opposed to discrete devices, such as transistors, resistors, capacitors and diodes that exist individually.

Ion Implatation

One way that the surface of a chip is transformed. It is a method that fires beams of charged atoms at the surface of the wafer. The high level of energy of these ions allows them to penetrate the silicon to produce the desired doping effect.

ITRS

International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. ITRS is an international effort involving industry, government and academic experts to identify technical barriers that must be overcome to continue semiconductor technology advances.

LAN

Local Area Network. A communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area, and made up of servers, workstations, a network operating system and a communications link.

Lead Frame

A stamped or etched metal frame, usually connected to the bonding pads of a die by wire bonding, that provides external electrical connections for a packaged electrical device.

Length Scale*

The size range within which an object falls; e.g. nanscale, millimeter scale.

Lithography

From the root &#;litho&#; meaning &#;stone&#; and &#;graph&#; meaning &#;writing&#;. Lithography is the transfer of a pattern or image from one medium to another, as from a mask to a wafer. If light is used to effect the transfer, the term &#;photolithography&#; applies. &#;Microlithography&#; refers to the process as applied to images with features in the micrometer range.

LSI

Large Scale Integration. The art of putting tens of thousands of transistors into a single integrated circuit.

Meter

A unit of measure equaling about 3.3 feet.

Macro Cell

Similar to a standard cell but larger. Macro cells contain predefined circuit elements that may be selected and arranged to create a custom or semi-custom integrated circuit more easily than through design. Designers building ASICs use macro and standard cells.

Microcontroller

A microcontroller is a stand-alone device that performs computer functions within an electronic system without the need of other support circuits. A microcontroller contains memory functions, unlike a microprocessor; which is typically paired with a chip that provides memory. Microcontrollers are used in TVs, VCRs, microwave ovens and automobile engines.

Micron

A metric unit of linear measure which equals one millionth of a meter or one thousandth of a millimeter. A thousand times bigger than a nanometer. The diameter of a human hair is about 100 microns. Today&#;s semiconductors have lines etched at 0.065 microns.

Microperipheral

A device that works with a micro-controller or microprocessor. Microperipherals are used in modems, ISDN and ethernet lines, in imaging equipment such as printers, computer mice and keyboards.

Microprocessor

A central processing unit (CPU) fabricated on one or more chips, containing the basic arithmetic, logic and control elements required by a computer for processing data. Micro-processor also refers to an integrated circuit that accepts coded instructions, executes the instructions and delivers signals that describe its internal status.

Millimeter*

One thousandth of a meter. About 4/100 inch.

Mixed Signals

A class of ICs that have traditionally been considered analog semiconductors. They can also be defined as anything that combines analog and digital circuitry-and that includes many ASICs and DSPs.

Molecular Electronics*

Any system with atomically precise electronic devices of nanometer dimensions, especially if made of discrete molecular parts rather than the continuous materials found in today&#;s semiconductor devices.

Moore&#;s Law

In Intel co-founder Gordon Moore predicted that the number of transistors (and capacity) that can be squeezed onto a chip would double every 18 months. If this trend continued, he reasoned, computing power would rise exponentially with each new generation of chips. His published observation holds to this day.

MOSFET

Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor. A device that does not require as much power as bipolar devices because of its insulation. The term can be applied either to transistors in an IC or to discrete power devices. MOSFETs are easier to manufacture than bipolar devices and are a building block in the fabrication of CMOS chips.

Nanocrystal*

A nanoscale crystal whose size, shape and atomic composition are carefully controlled to yield specific properties, like absorption of specific wavelengths of light.

Nanometer

A metric unit of linear measure which equals one billionth of a meter. A leading edge semiconductor today has line widths of 65 nanometers.

Nanoscale*

The size range of objects studied by nanotechnologists.

Nanotechnology*

The ability to see, measure and make objects that are within the same tiny size scale as atoms and molecules. The nanotechnology realm can be defined as being between 0.1 nanometer (about the size of a hydrogen atom) and 100 nanometers (about the size of a virus).

Nanotube*

A tube of nanoscale dimensions, but most frequently referring to carbon nanotubes. These tubes, which are stronger and lighter than steel, can have varying electrical properties with applications in computing, materials manufacturing and biotechnology.

Non-Volatile Memory

A storage device whose contents are preserved when its power is off. Storage using magnetic disks or tape is normally non-volatile. Some semiconductor memories (ROM, EPROM, Flash memory) are non-volatile while other semiconductor memories (static RAM and especially dynamic RAM) are normally volatile but can be made into non-volatile storage by permanently connecting a (rechargeable) battery.

NMOS

Negative-channel Metal Oxide Semiconductor. NMOS was the preferred technology for making leading-edge chips in the &#;s and early &#;s.

Optoelectronics

A device that is responsive to or that emits or modifies light waves. Examples are LEDs, optical couplers, laser diodes, and photo detectors.

Packaging

The protective container or housing for an electronic component or die, with external terminals to provide electrical access to the components inside. Packages provide for power and signal distribution, power dissipation, and physical and chemical protection of the circuits.

PCB

Printed Circuit Board. Flat material on which electronic components are mounted. Also provides electrical pathways that connect components.

PDA

Personal Digital Assistant

PLD

Programmable Logic Device. A digital IC that can be programmed by the user to perform a wide variety of logical operations. FPGAs and CPLDs are classes of PLDs.

Quantum Dots*

A class of nanocrystals that emit varying colors of light depending on their size. They can be used to label different biological structures.

RAM

Random Access Memory. May be written to, or read from, any address location in any sequence. Also called a read/write memory, RAM stores digital bits temporarily and can be changed rapidly as required. RAM constitutes the basic read/write storage element in computers.

RF

Radio Frequency. The rage of electromagnetic frequencies above the audio range and below the visible light. All broadcast transmission, from AM radio to satellites, falls into this range, between 30KHz to 300GHz.

ROM

Read Only Memory. Permanently stores information used repeatedly, such as tables of data, characters for electronic displays, etc. A popular type known as PROM is programmable in the field with the aid of programmer equipment. Programmed data stored in ROM is often called firmware.

Roadmap

An international reference document of requirements, potential solutions, and their timing for the semiconductor industry. It identifies needs and encourages innovative solutions to meet future technical challenges, and provides an ongoing emphasis on obtaining consensus industry drivers, requirements, and technology timelines.

Self-Replication*

The ability of an entity such as a living cell to make a copy of itself. Theoretically, nanotechnologists could invent self- replicating devices.

Self-Assembly*

The ability of objects to assemble themselves into an orderly structure. Routinely seen in living cells, this is a property that nanotechnology may extend to inanimate matter.

Semiconductor

This is the generic name for discrete devices and integrated circuits that can control the flow of electrical signals. Silicon is the basic material on which semiconductors are fabricated.

Signal Processing

Electronic functions that enhance the representations of physical or electrical phenomena. Temperature, pressure, vibration, acceleration and flow are examples of physical properties that rely on signal processing enhancements. The detection and conversion of RF, X-ray or ultrasonic energy into images and sound is another form of signal processing.

Solid State

Refers to the electronic properties of crystalline material, as opposed to vacuum and gas-filled tubes that transmit electricity. Compared with earlier vacuum-tube devices, solid-state components are smaller, less expensive, more reliable, use less power and generate less heat.

SRAM

Static Random Access Memory. Is an integrated circuit similar to a DRAM that requires no constant refreshing or recharging. It retains stored information as long as power is applied to the computer, hastening information-retrieval process time. In contrast to ROM, SRAM is still volatile and will lose its contents when the power is switched off. SRAM is usually faster than DRAM but usually costs more per bit because each bit requires several transistors. It is used for the most speed-critical parts of a computer or other circuit.

Standard Cell

Predefined circuit elements that may be selected and arranged to create a custom or semi-custom integrated circuit more easily than through design. Designers build ASICs using standard cells.

Substrate

The body or base layer of an integrated circuit, onto which other layers are deposited to form the circuit. The substrate is usually silicon, although sapphire is used for certain applications, particularly military, where radiation resistance is important. The substrate is originally part of the wafer from which the die is cut. It is used as the electrical ground for the circuit.

Synchrotron

A device used to produce high-energy X-rays that can inscribe features on a chip potentially as small as 100 nanometers.

System on a Chip

A chip that is a self-contained system, including processing, memory and input-output functions.

Transistor

An electronic device capable of amplifying electronic signals similar to the vacuum tube but made from a semiconductor material such as silicon or germanium.

VLSI

Very Large-Scale Integration. The art of putting hundreds of thousands of transistors onto a single quarter-inch integrated circuit.

Wafer Fab

A slang term for wafer fabrication facilities, ultra clean factories wherein silicon wafers are produced.

Wafer

A thin slice, typically 10-30 mils thick, sawed from a cylindrical ingot (boule) of extremely pure, crystalline silicon, typically six to eight inches in diameter. Arrays of ICs or discrete devices are fabricated in the wafers during the manufacturing process.

X-ray Lithography

The lithographic process for transferring patterns to a silicon wafer. The electromagnetic radiation used is X-ray, rather than visible radiation.

Yield

Yield refers to the percentage or absolute number of defect-free die on a silicon wafer or of packaged units that pass all device specifications. Because it costs the same to process a wafer with 10% good die and 90% good die, eliminating defects and improving yield become the critical variable in determining the cost per chip.

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