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--- glossary.md [2026/03/27 14:35] – eric.fourboul.ext
+++ glossary.md [2026/03/27 16:11] (current) – eric.fourboul.ext
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 ##Chemical mechanical planarization (CMP)
-CMP is used to smooth the surface of wafers following other manufacturing steps, such as etching and cleaning.
+CMP is used to smooth the surface of wafers following other manufacturing steps, such as etching and cleaning. CMP allow a new layer of features to be added.
 ##Cleaning
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 ##Deposition
 Deposition adds thin films of materials on a wafer to become parts of chips. Techniques include chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, electrochemical coating, spin-coating, rapid thermal processing, and tube- based diffusion and deposition.
+###CVD
+Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) tools create a chemical vapor that deposits films on the wafer atom-by-atom or molecule-by-molecule.
+###PVD
+Physical vapor deposition (PVD) tools vaporize a solid or liquid material, which then condenses onto a substrate. The primary PVD method is called "sputtering."
+###RTP
+Rapid thermal processing (RTP) is critical to several steps in chip manufacturing. RTP tools include lamps, lasers, or other mechanisms to quickly increase the temperature of a wafer in order to change its properties.
+###Spin-coating
+These tools spin a wafer to spread liquid material deposited on the wafer across it. Spin-coating is used extensively in photoresist coating but only for narrow applications in chip production.
+###tube-based diffusion and deposition
+Tube-based diffusion and deposition systems are called "tube‚"-based because substrates are loaded in cylindrical chambers for processing, either causing diffusion of dopants into a wafer (tube diffusion systems) or depositing materials for particular applications (tube deposition systems).
 ##Design
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 Graphics processing units (GPUs) are specialized logic chips used most commonly for graphics processing and developing artificial intelligence algorithms.
-##Lithography
+##Photolithography
-Lithography enables the creation of precise patterns in chemical substances (such as photoresists) deposited on a wafer. Techniques used include photolithography, electron beam lithography, laser lithography and ion beam lithography.
+In photolithography, light is used to draw patterns into semiconductor wafers, creating the tiny circuits that comprise logic chips. A photolithography tool passes light through a photomask-a transparent plate with a circuit pattern-to transfer that pattern to a wafer coated with photoresist chemical. The light dissolves parts of the photoresist according to the circuit pattern.
+###ArF dry (DUV)
+ArF (Argon hexa Fluoride) dry lithography scanners are advanced deep ultraviolet (DUV) photolithography tools used in high-volume semiconductor manufacturing.
+###ArF immersion (DUV)
+Immersion ArF is the same as dry ArF except the Scanner lens is immersed in a fluid, typically water.
+###KrF (DUV) lithography tools
+KrF lithography tools are deep ultraviolet (DUV) photolithography tools that use 248 nm wavelength light from krypton fluoride lasers to pattern semiconductor features for mature node semiconductors.
+###i-line lithography tools
+i-line lithography tools are ultraviolet (UV) photolithography systems used in semiconductor manufacturing for mature process nodes.
+###EUV lithography tools
+EUV lithography tools are the most advanced photolithography equipment currently used in mass semiconductor production. They are the only tools combining leading-edge precision (by producing light with small wavelengths) with high throughput (by using photomasks), and are necessary for mass-producing the most advanced logic chips.
 ##IDM
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 ##Photomasks
-Photomasks are transparent plates featuring a circuit pattern through which photolithography equipment directs light in order to transfer this pattern onto the chip.
+Photomasks are transparent plates featuring a circuit pattern through which photolithography equipment directs light in order to transfer this pattern onto the chip. Each photomask is specific to one chip design.
 ##Photoresist
 Photoresists are chemicals deposited on a wafer that selectively dissolve to form the circuit pattern when exposed to patterned light that has passed through a photomask after being generated by a photolithography tool.
+##Resist processing tools
+Resist processing tools, also called "tracks," coat photoresists on wafers (typically by spin-coating, which spins the wafer to spread deposited photoresist), develop them (dissolve portions hit by light), and bake them (harden undissolved photoresist to prepare for etching).