27,049 technical terms and definitions
foundry node explained, 5nm vs 3nm meaning, process node marketing, what does nm mean in chips
A foundry node — often written as "5nm" or "3nm" — is the name a foundry gives to one generation of its chip manufacturing process, and despite the number sounding like a precise…
A gate-all-around transistor, or GAA transistor, is a transistor design where the gate material completely surrounds the channel on all sides, giving it stronger control over…
gpu explained, graphics processing unit, how does a gpu work, gpu vs cpu cores
A GPU, or graphics processing unit, is a chip built around a completely different design philosophy than a CPU: instead of a few powerful cores optimized to handle one complex…
A guard ring is a protective ring of doped semiconductor material or metal placed around a sensitive circuit or device on a chip, designed to intercept unwanted current or noise…
hdl chip design explained, verilog vhdl meaning, hardware description language meaning, what does hdl mean in chip design
A hardware description language, or HDL, is a specialized programming language used to describe the exact structure and behavior of digital circuits, letting chip designers…
A high-k metal gate is a transistor structure that replaces the traditional silicon dioxide gate insulator and polysilicon gate electrode with a high-dielectric-constant…
lithography scanner explained, chip lithography machine meaning, wafer stepper scanner, what does a lithography scanner do
A lithography scanner is the physical machine that actually performs the lithography process — precisely positioning the wafer, projecting light through the photomask…
A low-dropout regulator is a linear voltage regulator that can maintain a stable, clean output voltage even when its input voltage is only slightly higher than that output…
A low-noise amplifier, or LNA, is a specialized amplifier placed immediately after a receiver's antenna that boosts a weak incoming radio signal while adding as little additional…
memory controller explained, memory controller meaning, integrated memory controller, what does a memory controller do
A memory controller is the component that manages the flow of data between a processor and a device's memory, handling the detailed timing and signaling requirements memory chips…
A mixture of experts is a neural network architecture in which a gating network routes each input to only a small subset of specialized "expert" subnetworks rather than passing…
modem chip explained, cellular modem meaning, 5g modem chip, what does a modem chip do
A modem chip is the specialized processor inside a phone, laptop, or other connected device that handles the job of translating data into radio signals for transmission…
motherboard explained, motherboard components, cpu socket compatibility, motherboard form factor
A motherboard is the large circuit board that physically connects every major component in a computer — the CPU, RAM, storage, graphics card, and power supply — and provides…
mpw semiconductor explained, multi project wafer meaning, shared wafer run chip prototyping, what does mpw mean
A multi-project wafer, or MPW, is a single wafer run shared by several different chip designs from different customers, splitting the fixed cost of a fabrication run across…
A network on chip, or NoC, is a communication system built directly into a chip that routes data between its many internal components — cores, memory, and other blocks — using…
process design kit, pdk explained, process design kit explained, what is a process design kit, pdk semiconductor, foundry pdk
A PDK, or process design kit, is the file package a foundry hands its customers so their chip designs actually work on that foundry's silicon: transistor models, standard-cell…
pellicle photomask, euv pellicle, what does a pellicle do, photomask protection
A pellicle is a thin, ultra-transparent membrane stretched over a taut frame and mounted just above the surface of a photomask, acting as a protective shield that keeps dust…
A phase-locked loop is a feedback circuit that continuously adjusts an internal oscillator's output so its phase and frequency stay locked to a reference signal, generating…
A phased array antenna is a system of many individual small antenna elements that combine their signals with precisely controlled timing offsets to electronically steer…
photomask explained, lithography mask meaning, how does a photomask work, euv photomask
A photomask is a precisely patterned plate — usually a sheet of quartz coated with an opaque chrome pattern — that lithography equipment uses like a stencil to project a chip's…
power management ic explained, pmic chip meaning, what does a pmic do, power management integrated circuit
A power management IC, or PMIC, is a dedicated chip responsible for taking a device's raw input power — such as a battery or wall adapter — and converting, regulating…
A power amplifier is a component placed near the end of a radio transmission chain that boosts a signal's power to the level needed to actually radiate over the air, taking…
A probe card is a specialized test fixture covered with many fine, precisely positioned needle-like contacts that touch a wafer's bond pads directly, letting automated test…
rdl chip packaging, rdl explained, what does rdl mean semiconductor, redistribution layer packaging
A redistribution layer, or RDL, is a thin layer of extra wiring built on top of a finished chip that reroutes its native connection points to new, more convenient locations…
A reticle is the physical glass plate carrying a chip layer's pattern that a lithography scanner projects onto the wafer — closely related to a photomask, but specifically…
A retimer is a chip that sits along a high-speed digital signal path and reconstructs the signal's original timing and shape from a degraded incoming waveform, extending…
rf front end explained, rf front end meaning, phone rf module, what does rf front end do
An RF front-end module is the collection of specialized components — including power amplifiers, filters, and switches — that sits between a device's modem chip and its antenna…
wet scrubbing exhaust treatment, scrubber column design, gas absorption liquid treatment, acid gas neutralization fab, counterflow scrubber
A scrubber is the specific abatement technology that removes hazardous gases from process exhaust by passing them through a liquid — usually water, sometimes with added chemicals…
semiconductor explained, semiconductor definition, semiconductor vs conductor vs insulator, what is silicon used for
A semiconductor is a material — most commonly silicon — whose ability to conduct electricity sits between that of a true conductor (like copper) and a true insulator (like glass)…
chip ip core explained, ip licensing semiconductor meaning, what is ip core in chip design, processor ip licensing
A semiconductor IP core is a pre-designed, reusable block of chip circuitry — such as a processor core, a memory controller, or a communications interface — that a chip designer…
A sidewall spacer is a thin layer of insulating material formed along the vertical sides of a transistor's gate, used to precisely control where subsequent processing steps, like…
A small cell is a low-power, compact wireless base station that covers a much smaller geographic area than a traditional cell tower, deployed in dense clusters to boost network…
A solder bump is a small ball or dome of solder deposited directly onto a chip's bond pad, used in flip-chip packaging to create both the electrical connection and the mechanical…
gate spacer fabrication, self aligned source drain, anisotropic etch spacer formation, conformal deposition spacer, transistor spacer width
A spacer is a thin sidewall of insulating material formed against the edges of a transistor's gate, and it exists to precisely control where the source and drain regions begin…
Sub-resolution assist features, or SRAF, are extra shapes added to a photomask that are deliberately too small to print onto the wafer themselves, but which subtly reshape…
A standard cell is a small, pre-designed and pre-verified circuit block, such as a basic logic gate, that chip designers assemble by the thousands or millions from a shared…
soc explained, system on chip meaning, what does soc mean in phones, soc vs cpu
A system on chip, or SoC, is a single chip that combines multiple major components of a computing system — typically a processor, memory controller, graphics, and other…
systolic array explained, systolic array tpu, systolic array meaning ai, what does systolic array mean
A systolic array is a grid-like arrangement of simple processing units that pass data to their immediate neighbors in a steady, rhythmic pattern, allowing an AI accelerator…
chip tape out explained, tape out meaning semiconductor, what does tape out mean, chip design tape out
Tape-out is the moment a chip's design is finalized and sent off to a foundry for manufacturing — the point of no return in chip development, after which making changes means…
tsv explained, through silicon via meaning, tsv chip packaging, what does tsv stand for
A through-silicon via, or TSV, is a microscopic vertical electrical connection drilled directly through a piece of silicon, allowing signals to pass straight up and down between…
tensor processing unit explained, tpu vs gpu, tpu meaning ai chip, what does tpu stand for
A TPU, or Tensor Processing Unit, is a type of AI accelerator chip designed specifically to speed up the tensor math — large-scale multi-dimensional array operations — that…
transistor explained, how does a transistor work, transistor switch, cmos transistor basics
A transistor is a tiny electronic switch that can flip between "on" and "off" billions of times per second, and it is the single building block that every modern chip is made…
turbo pump semiconductor fab, high vacuum pump explained, staged vacuum pump down, plasma chamber vacuum requirements, molecular flow vacuum pump
A turbomolecular pump is the workhorse vacuum pump that gets a process chamber down to the extremely low pressures nearly every fab process covered in this series actually…
A vector database is a specialized database designed to store and quickly search numerical vector representations of data, called embeddings, enabling similarity-based search that…
vector processing explained, vector processor vs scalar, simd vector processor meaning, what does a vector processor do
A vector processor is a type of processor built to apply the same single operation to many data elements at once, rather than processing one value at a time — a design well suited…
A voltage-controlled oscillator is a circuit that generates an oscillating output signal whose frequency changes in response to an input control voltage, making it a core building…
silicon wafer explained, semiconductor wafer meaning, wafer fabrication, what is a die vs wafer
A wafer is a thin, round slice of ultra-pure silicon — typically about 300 millimeters across on modern production lines — that serves as the base material on which an entire…
what is WAT semiconductor
A wafer acceptance test, or WAT, is a standardized set of electrical measurements taken on special test structures scattered across a wafer to confirm the underlying fabrication…
fab exhaust treatment, thermal abatement vs catalytic, hazardous process gas treatment, wet scrubbing vs abatement, greenhouse gas fab exhaust
Abatement is the treatment of a fab's process exhaust before it ever leaves the facility, and it exists because nearly every reactive chemical process covered throughout this…
subtractive interconnect process, aluminum vs copper interconnect, chlorine plasma etch aluminum, metal wiring fabrication, aluminum etch profile
Aluminum metal etch is the process step that patterns aluminum wiring into the precise interconnect shapes a chip design calls for, and it represents an older interconnect…