MEMC Glossary - MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.

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Bvox: Breakdown voltage test of oxide layer grown on wafers, sister test to GOI.CCantilever: Ceramic or silicon carbide rod or silicon carbide paddle that holds the quartz boats. This device is supported at one end.In this case, it is the door end and has the same function as a sled.Capability Index: Value to measure how capable a product or process is at meeting a specification.Carbon Beam: Length of carbon approximately 2" wide attached to the bottom of an ingot. In the slicing process the carbon allowsthe saw to cut completely through the silicon. The beam remains intact to hold the wafers until the preset number of wafers have beencut.Carriers: Stainless steel apparatus used to contain wafers during the lapping process.Cassette: Compact case designed to segregate slices for process handling and shipping.Chamfer: Beveled edge.Charge: Specified quantity of poly to be loaded into the crystal puller.Cleanroom: Controlled areas with a low particle size/count where the latter part of wafer production takes place. The below tableshows how classes are defined, with class 1 being the cleanest environment.Class: # of particles allowed in a cubic foot of room air.Particle Size1 (means it can have no more than 1 particle) 0.5 micron or greater10 0.5 micron or greater100 (means it can have no more than 100 particles) 0.5 micron or greater1000 0.5 micron or greater10,000 0.5 micron or greater(One eyelash is about 100 microns in diameter)Cleavage Plane: A break along crystal planes determined by crystal structure and always parallel to such a plane.CMP: (Chemical-Mechical Polish) A process of removing surface material using chemical and mechanical means to achieve a mirrorlikesurface in preparation for subsequent processing.Collimated Light: Light source in which the rays are parallel. Used for surface inspection of wafers.Conductivity: A measure of the ease with which electrical carriers flow in a material: the reciprocal of Resistivity.Conductivity Type: Defines the nature of the majority of carriers in the material: either N-type or P-type.Contamination: Foreign matter in the silicon, other than polysilicon and dopant, that can cause loss of structure (atom alignment)during the growing process.COP: Crystal Originated Pits.Cp: Capability potential index which measures the width of two specifications in respect to six standard deviations.Cpk: Statistical parameter used to compare product distribution to spec limits. A capability potential index measuring the distancefrom the mean to the nearest specification in respect to three standard deviations.Crucible: Container made of quartz for holding the poly charge inside the crystal puller.Crystal: A natural or synthetic semiconductor material whose atoms are arranged with some degree of geometric regularity. A solidcomposed of atoms, ions, or molecules arranged in a pattern that is periodic in three dimensions.Crystal Puller: Machine designed to pull/grow electronic grade silicon under controlled parameters and within set specifications.Crystallographic Orientation: There are three orientation planes in the silicon crystal: , , and . The orientation ofthe wafer is classified by which orientation plane the surface of the wafer is parallel to. The surface might not be exactly parallel, butslightly different, and the difference is called the displacement angle or off angle orientation. The relationship between the crystal'sorientation and the radius is marked by either a notch or a flat cut into the wafer.
Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM): Volumetric flow rate used to meter gases.CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition): Formation of a solid film on a substrate through the reaction of gas-phase reactants (precursors)that contain the required constituents.Czochralski (CZ): Crystal growing process that was named after the inventor.DDefect Free Region: The linear distance from the frontside wafer surface to the depth of the first bulk defect.Degree: Unit of measuring angles when orienting an ingot.Design of Experiments (DOE): Method to design, run and analyze an experiment to maximize information and minimize testing.Diameter: Straight-line measurement drawn through the center of a circle or sphere from one side to the other.Diffusion: A method of doping or modifying the characteristics of semiconductor material by "baking" wafers of the basesemiconductor material in furnaces with controlled atmospheres of impurity materials.Diffusion Length: The distance a front side free-electron or hole can travel through a crystal. This is proportional to the Lifetime ofthe crystal.Dislocation: A class of one-dimensional, or line defects in silicon crystals.DNZ (Denuded Zone Depth): The linear distance from the frontside wafer surface to the depth where the defect density appearsnearly uniform.Donor: Atom, usually an impurity in silicon, that acts as an electron source. It contributes an extra electron to the crystal structure.Most common is phosphorus.Dopant: Element added to silicon decreasing its resistivity. Silicon, by itself does not conduct electricity. Boron is usually used for p-type and phosphorus is usually used for n-type.Doping or Dopant: Chemical impurities added to polysilicon which will yield either n- or p-type silicon, depending on the specificdopant used.EEdge Crown: The difference between the surface elevation 1/8" (3.2mm) from the edge of the slice and the elevation of the sliceedges exposed in microns (associated with epi layer deposition).Edge Exclusion: Narrow band on the outside edge of the wafer that does not have an oxide coating.Edge Grinding: Process that bevels the edges of the slices to strengthen them.Ellipsometer: Optical measuring device used to measure oxide and nitride thickness, as well as, the index of refraction.Epi: (epitaxial or epitaxy process) Depositing a thin layer of silicon atoms onto a wafer by condensing a controlled amount of silicongas (silane) onto the polished surface of the wafer in a temperature-controlled environment.Epitaxial Layer: The layer or layers of semiconductor material having the same crystalline orientation as the host substrate on whichit is grown.Endcone or Bottom: Gradual decreases in diameter until the silicon forms a point at the end of the growing/pulling process. As a ruleof thumb, the bottom/endcone should be grown the length of the rod’s diameter to allow for shock back or undesirable structure.Etch: To remove or dissolve surface contamination, work-damaged material (polishing), and to control thickness by chemical actionwith strong acid and alkaline compounds.Etch – Mirror: Used to create a clean, shiny finish for visual inspection and resistivity measurements.Etch – Preferential: An etch that exhibits an accelerated etch rate along specific crystallographic planes.Etch Rate: Rate of silicon removal in microns per minute.
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