Semiconductor Glossary - A
Angström.
Unit of length equal to one millionth of a centimeter, used especially to specify radiation wavelengths (10 000 Å equal 1 micron).
Atomic Absorption
Advanced Architecture Flash
Term normally used to indicate treatment systems toreduce the emission into the atmosphere of atmospheric pollutants. Typical abatement systems are: Scrubbers, Cyclones, Bagfilters, Electrofilters, Activated Carbons Beds.
Activity Based Costing A method based on activities to allocate overhead costs to products, customers, or orders.
1) Antilock Braking System
(sometimes Antiskid Braking System)
Electromechanical system used in vehicles and aircraft to avoid wheel locking during braking.
2) Alkylbenzene sulphonate
Automotive Business Unit
Based in Livonia (Detroit) office, ST group responsible for marketing in North America's automotive market.
1) Air Conditioning
2) Audio Codec
Alternating Current
Electrical current that reverses (or alternates) the current flows at regular intervals in magnitude and in direction.
An impurity that can make a semi-conductor P-type by causing the absence of electrons in the conduction band, called "holes". These "holes" are carriers of positive charge. See donor.
Automatic Call Distribution
(Telecom)
An organic compound made of oxygen, carbon and hydrogen (chemical formula CH3COCH3). It is a colorless, very volatile, extremely flammable liquid miscible with water. It is used as a solvent and reagent. It is classified as a volatile organic compound (VOC).
Anti-Clone Function
American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists
Asynchronous Communication Interface Adapter
Rain, snow, or any other deposition of water with an acidity greater than normal. As water falls through the air it absorbs carbon dioxide and forms carbonic acid, which has a pH of about 5.6. Higher acidity in rain or snow is observed downwind (often at significant distances) from areas with many large sources of the air contaminants sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. These oxides react with water to form sulfuric and nitric acids. Long-term deposition of these acids is linked to adverse effects on aquatic organisms and vegetation in geographical areas with poor buffering capacity within the sediments. Exposure to acid deposition also deteriorates marble and limestone buildings and statuary.
see Acid Deposition
The level of hydrogen ion concentration in a solution. Acidity is measured on the pH scale. The pH scale is a logarithmic scale. The majority of readings go from 1 (very high acidity) to 14 (very high alkalinity).
Ackowledge
Advanced CMOS Logic
Asbestos-Containing material
Advanced Configuration Power Interface
Green PC power management.
Family of computer programs created by Adobe Systems Inc. that allow you to create and view Portable Document Format (PDF) files on any PC, Mac or UNIX computer. Acrobat Distiller is used to create the files from a Postscript original. Acrobat Reader is a free program for viewing and printing PDF files. PDFwriter is a special printer driver that creates a PDF file.
A person who holds a position temporarily while a permanent replacement is being sought. Used in ST organizational announcements.
material produced by partially burning a carbon-based material and then increasing its absorptive capacity by steam treatment, which creates a large surface area. The product is used to adsorb organic materials, either as an air or water pollution control technique or as an air sampling device.
A (non-mechanical) circuit component that has gain or switches current flow, such as a diode,transistor, etc.
Analog to Digital
Analog to Digital Converter
The process of converting a sampled analog signal to a digital code that represents the amplitude of the original signal sample.
Advanced Document Control System
Measures conformity of production starts versus production plan.
Acceptable Daily Intake
Advanced Digital Network
American software company. Created Postscript page description language and Acrobat portable document system.
Adaptive Differential Pulse-Code modulation
(Telecom)
Modulation technique for speech compression
Accident Data Recorder
(Automotive).
Analog Display Services Interface
(Telecom)
Standard for (few) data transfer on analog network.
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
(Set Top Box)
Automatic Exposure
Latest automotive standard (1994).
Association of Electronic Industries
Airbone Exposure Limit
The usual application is to bacteria that require oxygen for growth ("aerobic bacteria"). Also an aquatic system characterized by the presence of dissolved oxygen.
Auger Electron Spectrometer
1) Audio Frequency
2) Auto Focus
Automatic Frequency Control
Atomic Force Microscope
Average Failure Rate
Automatic Gain Control
Accelerated Graphics Port
Interface
Large ST site beside small town of Agrate Brianza, 20 km north-east of Milan in the north of Italy. Base for management, production, design and research activities. Original plant of Società Generale Semiconduttori, built in 1957.
Artificial Intelligence
Automotive Industry Action Group
Name of the area close to the center of Casablanca, Morocco, where an ST plant is located. This plant was built in 1952 by SFRM (Société Fabrication Radio-Electrique Marocaine) a subcontractor of Thomson CSF. In 1989 SFRM became ST Morocco and since then Ain Sebaâ has been an assembly plant producing mainly discrete transistors.
Average Incoming Quality
Average defect rate found by our quality control checks before rescreening defective lots for shipment. Often expressed in PPM (Parts Per Million).
Pollution or contamination of the atmosphere with substances which are not generally found there (or are found in very small amounts). Pollutants can be gaseous, liquid (in the form of droplets), or solid (in the form of dust). The major source of air pollution today is industry, although cars and other forms of transportation using fossil fuels are also very important. Under certain circumstances, agricultural practices can be an important source of pollution by dust. Air pollutants can be toxic or otherwise harmful to humans and other living species. They can also harm buildings and other man-made objects. They can alter air quality, especially they can reduce visibility. Finally, they can modify important environmental cycles - dusts can increase reflection of sunlight, thus tending to cool the atmosphere, other chemicals can increase the thermal opacity of the atmosphere, thus tending to heat up the atmosphere (see greenhouse effect). Air pollution impacts at the local level, but they can also impact at the regional level (e.g., photochemical smog, acid rain) or at the planetary level (e.g., CFCis, CO2).
Also Known As
Action Level
Automatic Level Control
Lithography machine which makes it possible to align a mask, or a reticle, according to marking previously engraved on the silicon wafer. There are four types of aligners: contact, proximity projection and stepper.
The arranging of a mask and wafer in correct positions with respect to each other. After alignment, radiation-sensitive photoresist on the wafer is exposed by radiation passing through the non-opaque areas of the mask.
A reference mark used in the alignment of the several photomask layers required for a single device or circuit.
Atomic Line Molecular Spectroscopy
Assembly Level Reliability
Advanced Low-power Schottky Transistor-Transistor Logic
A fast bipolar logic family with power dissipation about half that of LSTTL.
1) In semiconductor processing the alloy process step refers to a heat treatment used to improve the metallurgical interaction between the silicon substrate and the interconnect metals. This improves ohmic contact.
2) Metallurgically is used to mean the blending together of two or more metals to form a particular compound.
Arithmetic and Logic Unit
Carries out additions, subtractions, multiplications and divisions, as well as logical operations (masking, transfer...).
The metal often used in semiconductor technology to form the interconnects between devices on a chip. It is usually deposited by evaporation or sputtering.
1) Amplitude Modulation
2) Above Mentioned
3) AnteMeridian(morning)
Alternate Metal Ground
Word processing program. Included in previous Company standard Lotus Smart Suite package. Files use extension ".sam".
Ang Mo Kio
Largest ST site in Singapore. Houses local headquarters plus several production facilities.
A colorless gaseous alkaline compound (chemical formula NH3). It is very soluble in water, has a characteristic pungent odor, is irritant, is lighter than air, and is formed as a result of the decomposition of most nitrogenous organic material. Because of its characteristics, ammonia is normally utilized in solution with water.
An atomic structure having no definite or recognizable form.
Amplifier
A device that uses an active component to increase the voltage or power of a signal without distorting its waveshape.
American Mobile Satellite Corporation
Alphanumberic
Application Note
ST publication describing how a company product may be used.
ANAlog Cell Arrays
Division of the ST's Dedicated Products Group.
- Anaerobic Not Requiring Oxygen
The usual application is to bacteria that do not require oxygen for growth ("anaerobic bacteria").
1) Analog ICs are circuits which can handle input and output signals that can take any value between appropriate upper and lower limits. A typical application would be in the reception of a signal from a microphone and its amplification and output to a loudspeaker. The real world functions on an analog basis and for this reason, even though digital electronics is becoming increasingly widespread, many systems still have to be analog to interface with the human end-user. Analog ICs are mainly bipolar, though MOS, CMOS and mixed types are becoming more common.
2) A signal that varies in amplitude continuously and without interruption. Also called linear. Contrast with digital.
3) The simulation of a physical quantity with an electrical quantity.
A statistical method for evaluating the difference among means.
Active Noise Cancellation
(Automotive).
A gate whose output is ON only if all input signals are ON.
In a subtractive process, the material is removed only in the vertical direction in such a way that the side of the cut is perpendicular to the bottom of the cut.
To heat a material to some elevated temperature to reorder the crystal structure and remove stresses. The subsequent cooling schedule affects the final level of stresses.
This feature allows remote access only by the IUSR_ computername account. Remote users can connect to that computer only without a user name and password, and they have only the permissions assigned to that account.
Anaerobic Not Requiring Oxygen
American National reliability Standard
American National Standards Institute
An N-type dopant often used to form the buried layer in a bipolar structure.
Automated Optical Inspection
Average Outgoing Quality
The average outgoing quality after rescreening defective lots caught by quality control checks. Measure the quality shipped to our customers. AOQ is expressed in PPM (Parts Per Million).
or AP
1) Asia-Pacific
2) Accounts Payable
Axial Plastic Diode
Plastic packaged diode with the leads sticking out of the ends.
Application Program Interface
American Production and Inventory Control Society
Advanced Photo System
Acceptable Quality Level
The level of quality which in a sampling plan corresponds to a relatively strong acceptance probability, generally predetermined by the plan. This indicator is expressed as a percentage, giving the maximum number of defects tolerated. The AQL notion is now somewhat outdated, being replaced by concepts such as "Total Quality" and "Zero Defect".
Air Quality Standard
A geological formation capable of storing and yielding significant quantities of water. It is usually composed of sand, gravel, or permeable rock which lies upon a layer of clay or other impermeable material. This impermeable layer does not allow the water to penetrate to lower depths. Thus, various aquifers can be present at various depths. The low permeability formation located above and/or below an aquifer is called an aquiclude. The water in aquifers is abstracted using wells. The shallowest aquifer is the most exposed to contaminants filtering down from the surface. The shallow aquifer can be protected from contamination by the presence of an impermeable layer above it. This layer can be natural or artificial - paving, etc.
Accounts Receivable
Auto-Reload
Anti Reflective Coating Titanium Layer
An inert gas frequently used as the ambient gas during the silicon crystal growing process.
Aerobic Requiring Oxygen
The usual application is to bacteria that require oxygen for growth ("aerobic bacteria"). Also an aquatic system characterized by the presence of dissolved oxygen.
Advanced Research Projects Agency Networks
A group of items (elements, leads, bonding pads, circuits, etc.) arranged in rows and columns.
American Radio Relay League
An N-type dopant often used to form the buried layer in a bipolar structure. Also used as an implant source in both bipolar and MOS processing.
This element has both metallic and non-metallic properties and hence is frequently referred to as a metalloid. Because of its metalloid properties arsenic can be in compounds both in the anionic and the cationic form. Arsenic is extremely poisonous to human beings and to other living beings.
Auto Ring Timer
Arsenic
Advanced Schottky
As Soon As Possible
A family of heterogeneous silicate minerals which include chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, anthophyfillite and actinolite. The asbestos is fibrous, chemically inert, does not conduct heat and electricity, insoluble, and without odor. These properties made asbestos the perfect material for many applications such as insulating materials (panels, roofing, coating), sealing materials (as additive to rubber, and other sealing material), and friction materials (such as clutches and brakes). If broken, asbestos releases long and narrow fibers which, if inhaled, may cause lung cancer (asbestosis and mesothelioma). Ingestion of asbestos (primarily through drinking water transported in pipes made of asbestos) is also of concern. New uses of asbestos are currently banned by law in most industrialized countries, and existing uses are often being phased out.
American Standard Code for Information Interchange
Standard code used in most computers to represent letters, numbers and other characters.
A text file containing only ASCII characters. Most word processors store text in files containing special codes for formatting. When these are e-mailed to users who do not have the same program the text may be garbled. The safest way to e-mail text is to send an ASCII text.
Application Specific Discrete
A trade mark which describes new structures developed mainly on the Tours site, and which integrates several discrete semiconductors on a single chip.
Application Specific Embedded Computer
A method of stripping photoresist by a plasma (an electromagnetically-excited reactant gas).
American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers Inc.
Asynchronous Serial Interface
Application Specific Integrated Circuit
A semicustom design technique that is less expensive than full custom design and allows a very quick design cycle time.
Amplitude Shift Keying
Application Specific Memory
1) Average Selling Price
Semiconductors are not normally sold at fixed prices to OEMs. The price is negotiated depending on the volume of sales, security of the business, exchange rate risk and other factors. A sales manager, however, must balance low and high price orders to maintain the average selling price above a defined level.
2) Adaptive Shift Pattern
(Automotive)
Type of transmission control (ex: Tiptronic).
Automated Send/Receive
Small town southwest of Milan where Italian sales region are located.
The final stage of semiconductor manufacturing, where the active device is encased in a plastic, ceramic or metal package. Also referred to as "back-end" processing.
A broad review of the different aspects of a company or function which includes elements not covered by a structured audit. It might include opportunities for reducing the costs of poor quality, employee perceptions on quality aspects, proposals to senior management on policy, goals etc. This review is also often called a "quality survey", or "Company wide audit".
Area Supplier Sales Manager
Application Specific Standard Product
ASSemblY
1) Advanced Systems Technology
Latest group created in ST (end 1998) to specifically focus on the development of system applications so that ST can build the know-how not only from the hardware, but also from the software point of view.
2) Advanced Secondary (Wastewater) Treatment
3) Above-ground Storage Tank
AT Attachment. A disk drive implementation that integrates the controller on the disk drive itself.
ATA Packet Interface (see ATA).
Air Traffic Control
Automatic Test Equipment
Any machine which performs tests automatically.
1) Asynchronous Transfer Mode
2) Automated Teller Machine
3) Adobe Typeface Manager
The gaseous layer covering the Earth's surface. It is constituted mainly of nitrogen (78.1%) and oxygen (20.9%). The remaining 1% is made of various gases - the major one is argon (0.9%), others are ozone, carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur dioxide, water vapor. The regions of the atmosphere are: Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Chemosphere, Thermosphere, Ionosphere, and Exosphere.
The atmosphere is one of the four components, together with the Lithosphere, Hydrosphere and Biosphere, that constitute the Earth's ecosystem.
The process of oxidizing silicon with some species oxygen in a process tube at atmospheric pressure.
A number assigned to each element that identifies the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom.
1) Adenosine TriPhosphate
2) Available to promise
Automatic Test Program Generation
Computing operation in which a test description is translated into a language that can be interpreted by a test machine.
Answer To Reset
Advanced Television Systems Committee
Attention
Determining if a user has permission to access a resource or perform an operation.
Atoms that outgas from a material and then are reabsorbed into the process ambient and materials.
The art of making processes or machines self-acting or self-moving.
Also pertains to the technique of making a device, machine, process or procedure more fully automatic.
An organism that has the capacity to satisfy its requirements for carbon-containing nutrients by the fixation, reduction and incorporation of carbon dioxide from the environment. Green plants, which derive their energy from sunlight through the process of photosynthesis, represent a major group of autotrophic organisms. The terms means "self feeding" in Greek.
Audio/Visual
Automatic Volume Control
Average
A value that summarizes or represents the general significance of a set of unequal values. There are several types of average. However, the most common one is arithmetic. In fact when we speak of the average we refer to the arithmetic mean, or simply "mean".
Audio Video Objects
AirWay Bill
American Quality Standard
Advanced Wastewater Treatment
American Water Works Association
