Semiconductor Glossary - P
Plutonium-239
Phosphorus
Power Plastic Pin Grid Array
Price and Delivery
Process & Instrumentation
Profit and Loss
Power Amplifier
Private Automatic Branch eXchange
A private telephone exchange.
The protective container for an electronic component - with terminals to provide electrical access to the components inside.
A term used to cover all material that is used to hold and protect a product during its transportation from the place of production to its place of use.
Packaging is divided into three types:
- primary packaging, which is the packaging closest to the product and holds the product and protects it from damage (examples are drums or bottles for liquids, boxes or plastic sheaths for solids);
- secondary packaging which helps in the modular packing of the individual products (examples are the cardboard boxes which carry e.g. individual bottles, but also the foam "potatoes" included in such boxes);
- tertiary packaging is packaging which helps in the transportation of the goods (an example are the pallets).
Because packaging is a major fraction of urban wastes going to landfill, there is a general move in the industrialized countries to restrict the amount of packaging used or to ensure that it is reused. Public policies in this field range from voluntary programs to encourage people to separate out certain fractions of waste streams for reuse (glass, most of which are bottles - primary packaging; aluminium, most of which are soft drink cans - primary packaging; cardboard - almost always secondary packaging; plastic, much of which are bottles or other containers - primary packaging), to local collection programs which require such separation, to laws which place on both the producers and the users of the packaging, the responsibility of collecting and recycling used packaging material.
Packet Assembler/Disassemblers
Programme for Alternative Fluorocarbon Toxicity Testing
Performance scorecard measures actual results versus target. The term Pagella is used for the Service scorecard.
Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons
A group of aromatic ring compounds that are derivatives of anthracene, which consists of three benzene rings in a row. Other aromatic rings or organic groups are attached to the anthracene. They are found in coal, tar, and petroleum, and are emitted by combustion-related activities. Many different compounds can be formed through metabolic conversion involving the basic aromatic nucleus within biological systems, as well as during chemical syntheses, because of the reactive nature of anthracene and its derivatives. Several members of this family of compounds are known or suspected carcinogens and this class of compounds appears to be responsible in part for the cancer-causing properties of cigarette smoke.
1) Phase Alternate Line
System used for coding color information in TV transmissions. Used in most European countries.
2) Programmable Array Logic
Peroxyacetyl nitrate
Air pollutant created by photochemical reactions involving sunlight, reactive hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen. The most common species is peroxyacetylnitrate. Excessive exposure to this compound can cause eye irritation and injuries to vegetation.
Paper is a major good used in advanced societies and is therefore a major component of waste streams. Its manufacture raises many environmental issues. If the wood, which is the raw material for paper, is cropped incorrectly it can lead to deforestation, erosion or other problems. Historically, paper manufacturing was the source of major air and water pollution as well as generating hazardous wastes, and was one of the first industries targeted by environmental regulations in the 1960's and 1970's. Paper production also requires the use of large amounts of water and hazardous chemicals. The sheer amount of paper which is disposed in landfills means that these are filling up much more quickly than they might otherwise be. Because paper contains chlorine, used in the bleaching of paper, when it is burned along with normal urban waste (which contains more chlorine from other sources), there is an increased possibility that dioxins will be formed. To reduce these problems, many countries are trying to encourage the use of recycled paper, i.e. paper a fraction of which is made with used paper collected through specific collection programmes.
Program-Aid Routine
A pattern, example or model, to show side-by-side the way we see the pattern, example or model: it may not be the way others see it.
A shift of fundamental values requiring a new behavior.
Pertaining to data or instructions processed several bits at a time, rather than one bit at a time.
A parasitic is an undesirable stray capacitance, inductive coupling, or resistance leakage, as well as undesired transistor actions. The first and last are most serious in monolithic integrated circuits.
A technique for ranking potential problem areas according to their quantitative contribution to the problem of separating the "vital few" from the "trivial many", named after Wilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist.
The field of view essentially remains in focus when switching between objective lens on a microscope.
A management approach focused on the involvement and empowerment of the employees.
1) In water pollution, particulate matter describes solid material in either the solid or dissolved states. Insoluble particulate matter includes particulate substances that either settle from water that is allowed to stand or are removed by passing the water through a filter.
Sand, clay, and some organic matter constitute insoluble particulate matter. Dissolved substances that will neither settle if water is allowed to stand or be removed through a filter, but which will be recovered if the water can evaporate, are called dissolved particulate matter.
Salt is an example of this type.
2) In air pollution, particulate matter is used to describe either solid particles such as dust or liquid droplets that are carried by a stream of air or other gases. Particulate matter can be hazardous to human ealth when its diameter is equal to or smaller than 10 microns (PM10). The size range is defined in the ambient air quality standard for particulate matter established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Particles of this size can penetrate deep into the respiratory system and can potentially damage the gas-exchange surfaces of the lung or be absorbed into the blood, with possible systemic toxic effects.
A layer of material put over a wafer to stabilize and protect the surface. Silicon dioxide or silicon nitride are often used for IC passivation.
An electrical component without "gain" or current-switching capability. Commonly used when referring to resistors, capacitors or inductors.
Profit After Tax
A system that automatically generates a reticle from the coded images defined by a CAD system.
The transferring of an image from a reticle or mask to the photo resist.
Lead
Profit Business Group
Plastic Ball Grid Array
Profit Before Tax
Product Business Unit
1) Personal Computer
Desktop or portable computer. Usually means a computer based on the IBM PC AT architecture.
2) Printed Circuit
3) Politically Correct
Style of speech or writing in line with modern views of equality and correctness.
4) Production Control
1) Printed circuit board
2) Polychlorinated biphenyls
A diverse mixture of biphenyls (aromatic compounds) chlorinated to differing degrees that in the past were used extensively as insulating and cooling agents in electrical transformers and capacitors, as plasticizers in waxes, and in the manufacture of paper and inks. Their use other than in "closed" uses (principally transformers and capacitors) has been banned in most countries; several countries have also mandated the phase-out of all uses.
Perchloroethylene (also known as tetrachloroethylene)
Polychlorinated dibenzofurans
Peripheral Component Interconnect
Personal Computer Memory Card International Association
1) Product Change Notification
A document which informs the customer of a process change.
2) Parametric Causal Networks
3) Personal Communications Network
Pentachlorophenol
Project Control System
System used by TPA, CMG, MPG and DSG to control their R&D projects. It is linked to Table System and PRIS.
Physical-Chemical Treatment
A general term used to denote any treatment method for wastewaters or wastes where the latter are subjected to physical separation methods (such as filtration, settling, skimming, flotation) and to chemical transformation (such as transformation to insoluble salts, neutralization, oxidation, reduction).
Personal Conferencing Working Group
1) Policy Development
2) Peak Detection
3) Pulse Detector
Personal Digital Assistant
Plan, Do, Check, Act
The Deming or Kaizen cycle.
The PDCA cycle is an adaptation of the Deming wheel. Where the Deming wheel stresses the need for constant interaction among research, design, production, and sales, the PDCA cycle asserts that every managerial action can be improved by careful application of the sequence: Plan, Do, Check, Act.
Portable Document Format
Format of postscript files used by Adobe Acrobat. Can be read with a free program called the Acrobat Reader.
Plastic Dual In line Package
Process Decision Program Chart
This is an application of the process decision program chart used in operations research. Because implementation programs for achieving specific goals do not always go according to plan, and because unexpected developments are likely to have serious consequences, PDPC has been developed not only to arrive at the optimum conclusion but also to avoid surprises. One of the language data tools for QC (Quality Control).
Price/Earnings ratio
1) Population Equivalent
2) polyethylene
1) Peripheral Event Controller
2) Production Environment Control
Permissible Exposure Limit
A thin, transparent membrane that seals off the mask or reticle surface from airborne contamination.
ST's information system for Human Resources Management based on the Peoplesoft software
Perchloroethylene
The movement of water downward and radially through the sub-surface soil layers, usually continuing downward to the ground water.
An authorization, licence, or equivalent control document issued by an approved state agency to implement the requirements of an environmental regulation -e.g. a permit to operate a wastewater treatment plant or to operate a facility that may generate harmful emissions. An entitlement to commence and continue operation of a facility as long as both procedural and performance standards are met.
Program Evaluation and Review Technique
A project management technique which incorporates CPM (Critical Path Method) and three estimates of time required for each activity in order to arrive at a best case, worst case and most likely case schedule for a project.
A chemical agent used to kill an unwanted organism. Most of the agents are not highly selective in their action; however, they can be placed into categories depending on their target species. The most common pesticides are the insecticides (chemical agents applied to the environment to kill insects). Another class of materials used in great quantities is the herbicides (chemical agents applied to the environment to kill unwanted plants). Fungicides, which are frequently used as preservatives to prevent rotting, and rodenticides, which are used to control mice, rats, and similar animals, represent two lesser used classes of pesticides. The pesticides were introduced to control crop diseases, to increase agricultural productivity, to exercise urban pest control, and to preserve materials such as wood. From this viewpoint, they have been an undoubted success. However, they have also been found to have much broader environmental impacts, affecting wild species which were not originally targeted. Also, certain species, especially insects, have become resistant to pesticides, which has meant either increasing the doses (with consequent further effects on the rest of the environment) or finding new pesticides.
Polyethylene terephthalate
Perfluorinated compound
A class of simple hydrocarbon derivatives in which fluorine are substituted for all of the hydrogen atoms (e.g., CF4). These gases are suspected of being strong greenhouse gases. Their use is increasing, especially in the microelectronics industry where they are used in plasma etch processes.
Pin Grid Array
Pretty Good Privacy
Pattern generation tape
This is the computer file describing a new circuit and is the end product of the design department and the input for mask making.
A unit used to express the strength of an acidic or basic solution; calculated as the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration. Values commonly range from 0 to 14, with less than 7.0 being acidic and greater than 7.0 being basic. A pH of 7.0 is considered neutral. Because the units are derived from the common logarithm, a difference of one pH unit indicates a tenfold (101) difference in acidity; a difference of two units indicates a hundredfold (102) difference in acidity.
Principal Hazardous Constituent
Town in Arizona (USA). Location of one of ST's 8" wafer fab.
general term used to describe derivatives of phosphoric acid (h3po4). the chemical containing phosphate group (po4-3) can be either organic or inorganic and particulate dissolved. >
an important plant nutrient. if they are discharged in too high quantities into surface waters they can lead to excessive aquatic plant growth and eutrophication.
a compound of phosphorus and hydrogen used in semiconductor processing. the material is very toxic. it is a n-type dopant.
The N-type dopant commonly used for the buried layer contact and emitter diffusions in standard bipolar IC technology, and the source/drain regions in NMOS.
A chlorinated phosphorus compound used as an N-type dopant.
Air pollution resulting from the production of chemicals in the atmosphere by reactions between sunlight and airborne substances released by automobiles and industrial facilities. The most important pollutants that undergo these reactions are volatile organic compounds (VOC) and oxides of nitrogen. Together, these are converted by sunlight to nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and peroxyacyl nitrates. These gases can mix with particulate matter and produce concentrations of nitrogen dioxide high enough to impart a tint to the air, popularly called smog. The ozone and peroxyacyl nitrates are harmful to living beings.
A process where the pattern representing the circuit components of an IC are transposed onto a wafer using light.
A medium used to transfer the image onto a wafer during wafer fabrication. Photomask are made from glass and coated with chrome.
The term used for a mask before images have been formed on it.
A light sensitive material used during the photolithography process. The liquid is spread as a uniform thin film on a wafer or substrate. After baking, exposure of specific patterns is performed using a mask. Material remaining after development resists subsequent etch or implant operations.
A process in green plants and some bacteria during which light energy is absorbed by chlorophyll-containing molecules and converted to chemical energy (the light reaction). During the process carbon dioxide is reduced and combined with other chemical elements to provide the organic intermediates that form plant biomass (the dark reaction). Green plants release molecular oxygen (O2), which they derive from water during the light reaction.
1) Power Integrated Circuit
Integrated circuit that contains power functions. Often the power level is defined arbitrarily.
2) Product Identity Card
3) Products of Incomplete Combustion
A prefix meaning a trillionth or one-millionth of one-millionth Symbol is p.
Photoionization detector
Profit Impact of Marketing Strategies
A 30+ year study involving results from more than 50,000 corporations.
Personal Identification Number
Password generally requested to identify the effective user of a card, i.e. at the cash point machine.
(Or pin-grid array or area array).
A package with pins distributed over much or all of the bottom surface of the package.
A small undesired hole in an oxide, opaque region of a mask or reticle, or in a photoresist layer.
Partner Interface Process
(Programmable Logic Array).
A general-purpose logic circuit containing an array of logic gates that can be connected (programmed), to perform various functions.
Existing essentially a single plane; a process in which all PN junctions intersect the top surface of the semiconductor material, such that these intersections are permanently protected by the masking oxide, and all contacts to the device can be made to the top surface.
The planar process of forming integrated circuit and semiconductor components is based upon the use of a single surface for referencing each successive operation. The planar process depends upon the repeated use of silicon dioxide (SiO2) on the surface to control the location of impurities.
Site production activities, including wafer Production, EWS (Electrical Wafer Sorting), Back-End, Engineering support and facilities.
An electrically conductive gas composed of ionized particles which are used to etch unwanted material through a chemicals or physical bombardment process. Plasma etching takes place in a reactor, which may be of the barrel type or the planar type.
The utilization of RF energy added to a chemical in gas form producing a glow discharge. This glow discharge contains chemically reactive species, (atoms, radicals, ions) which react chemically with the material to be removed, whose by-products are volatile.
Plastic Leaded Chip Carrier
A family of integrated circuit packages for surface mounted assembly.
1) Programmable Logic Device
Plastic Leadless Device
Phase Locked Loop
Polarized Light Microscopy
1) Post Meridiem
2) Particulate Matter
Particulate matter, 10-micron diameter and less
Particulate Matter, 15-micron diameter and less
Product Marketing Action Request
Permanent Magnet Direct Current
Premanufacture notice
(P-channel MOS). A type of MOSFET using holes to conduct current in the semiconductor channel. The channel has a predominantly positive charge during conduction.
Part Number
Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Purchase Order
Package Outline Assembly
Proof Of Delivery
Principal Organic Hazardous Constituents
A Japanese term that translates literally as mistake proofing.
The discipline of designing simple low cost methods to either prevent mistakes, or to detect them immediately & call for a corrective action, before they can be repeated and passed on.
The process of deploying company goals and priorities among all functions and throughout all organizational levels.
A chemical or physical agent introduced into the environment that may lead to pollution.
The addition of one or more chemical or physical agents (heat, electromagnetic radiation, sound) to the air, water or the land in an amount, at a rate and/or in a location that threatens human health, wildlife, plants or the orderly functioning or human enjoyment of an aspect of the environment.
A term used to describe activities undertaken to prevent pollutants or contaminants from entering the environment or preventing the generation of waste. Pollution prevention is one of the key principles required by ISO 14001.
Company slang for the ST Grenoble site on the northwest side of the town. It is called Polygone because this area was originally a military shooting range - Polygone de tir, in French. Later it was transformed into a science research park named Polygone Scientifique Louis Neel, which is mostly occupied by CEA activities. ST site is next door to the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility at the confluence of the Isere and Drac rivers. Grenoble Polygone is an IP center.
Polycrystalline silicon. Sometimes called "poly." The form of silicon made of many small randomly-oriented crystals. Doped poly is a conductor of electricity and is often used as an alternative to metal in interconnecting devices on integrated circuits.
1) Polynuclear Organic Matter
2) Particulate Organic Matter
1) Point of Presence
Internet term for access point to the Internet.
2) Post Office Protocol
Power On Reset
Photoresist that is removed in areas that were not protected from exposure by the opaque regions of a mask - while remaining in regions that were protected by the mask. The positive image of the mask remains following the development.
Publicity Owned Treatment Works
Point-Of-Use
The power wasted and converted into heat inside an electronic device. Input power is the sum of dissipated power and delivered power.
PowerMESH is a proprietary ST technology that replaces the traditional Power MOSFET cell geometry by a slip layout for the transistors on the chip. This reduces on-resistance by more than 20% and improves the dynamic performance due to a significant reduction of the drain-gate capacitance. It also increases manufacturability by elimination a critical mask alignment.
A device for converting external alternating current into the direct current voltages needed to run an electronic device.
1) Product Preview
2) Pollution Prevention
3) Production Planning (SAP)
The system for capacity mapping of machines.
Parts per billion, by mass
Parts per billion, by volume
Double poly silicon complementary metal-oxide semiconductor
Personal Protective Equipment
Programmable Products Group
One of ST's 6 product groups for programmable products like microprocessors, digital signal processors and gate arrays. Renamed CMG in November 1998.
Plastic Pin Grid Array
Parts Per Million
A term used to cover the number of foreign or different parts in a set.
When applied to quality, PPM indicates the number of defects.
Parts per million, by volume
1) Point to Point Protocol
2) Polluter Pays Principle
A principle first enunciated in the late 1960's that declares that the cost of pollution, in terms of degraded water and air, contaminated land and groundwater, etc., should not come from outsiders (i.e., should not be an externality). Instead, the person who profits from the formation of the pollution (in an industrial context, the manufacturer of the goods whose production processes generated the pollution) should pay for the cost of reducing to acceptable levels, the quantities that reach the environment.
3)Point-to-Point Protocol
Pulses Per Second
Parts per trillion, by mass
Parts per Thousand
Parts per trillion, by volume
Product Qualification Certificate
Document that must be approved before a product can pass from maturity 20 (engineering) to maturity 30 (production).
Plastic Quad Flat Pack
A family of integrated circuit packages for surface mounted assembly.
1) Press Release
2) Partial Response
Page-Replacement Algorithm and Control Logic
Pseudo-Random Binary Sequence
PRocess Specification
Product
An air contaminant that reacts with sunlight and/or other compounds in the air to produce new chemical materials; the most well-known example is the production of ozone from the atmospheric reactions involving oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds (VOC's).
Revolutions Per Minute
Private Management Domain
Partial Response Maximum Likelihood
Pseudo Random Noise
Programmable Read Only Memory
Potentially Responsible Party
Inspection of a semiconductor device carried out before the package is closed.
The first part of a two-part diffusion. In this part, a high concentration is diffused shallowly into the surface. This acts as a source for the second or drive-in portion of the process.
Formed pieces of solder material for closing microcircuit packages. Additionally used in some applications to attach chip to package.
(PCB) Substrate on which a predetermined pattern or printed wiring and printed elements has been formed. Also called a printed wiring board
1)Product Referential Information System
The ST product database.
2) Pattern Recognition System
The chance something happens; the percent of number of occurrences over a large number of trials.
In the semiconductor sector a probe is a needle-like contact used to connect the test circuit to a die during wafer testing.
The cost of wafer testing.
Term used to describe the testing of individual IC dice by using very fine probes to temporarily connect each to a test computer, thus verifying proper operation. A bad die will usually be marked with a spot of ink.
The tendency of a given process characteristic across a given amount of time or at a specific point in time.
- Process Capability Index Cpk
A measure of process variability compared to the process specification and the target.
The distance from -3 sigma to +3 sigma in a process distribution curve; also called "process spread".
A sequence of detailed instructions for performing some operation or solving some problem.
Programmable Read Only Memory
A read-only memory that can be programmed after manufacture by external equipment. Typically PROMs utilize fusible links that may be burned open to produce a logic bit in a specific location.
1) Product Referential Information System
2) Pattern Recognition System
The propagation delay of a circuit is the finite period of time (delay) measured from the instant when the input signal(s) is applied until the output has reached its final value.
An optical system that uses proximity printing to expose a wafer.
Exposure of a wafer by passing light through a mask that is very close to, but not in contact with, the photoresist-coated wafer. Collimated light is required to ensure minimum image resolution.
Pattern Recognition System
Polystyrene
Product Stability Certificate
Document that must be approved for a product to pass from maturity 30 (production) to maturity 40 (excellence).
Programmable System Device
Programmable Sound Generator
Pounds per Square Inch
Pollutant Standards Index
Pressure Per Square Inch
Pounds per Square Inch (Absolute)
Pressure Per Square Inch Gauge
Programmable System Memories
Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning
Power Supply Supervisor
Problem Solving Team
Also called TOPS (Team Oriented Problem Solving). These are temporary teams, set up to solve specific problems, to identify and eliminate root causes and to prevent recurrence. These teams are disbanded once their task is completed.
Polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon)
Plated Thru Hole
Used in most PCB's to connect layers.
Peripheral Technology Solutions
A semiconductor crystal containing a small amount of "dopant" atoms that have one less outer electron than the other atoms. Each "dopant" atom causes one unoccupied spot, called a "hole," among the electrons that are bound in their orbits. The holes are positively charged and in effect move, constituting an electric current. Boron is a commonly used P-type dopant for silicon.
Push To Talk (microphone)
Polyurethane
Programmable Uni-junction Transistor
Photo Voltaic
Polyvinyl chloride
A strong synthetic plastic, used in pipe, toys, electrical coverings, and many other products. Carcinogen.
Personal Video Recorders
Also known as a "digital video recorder" or "DVR," it is a consumer device that digitizes broadcast TV onto a hard disk and plays it back immediately, allowing the viewer to pause at any time and return later. Using hardware-based MPEG-2 compression like DVD movies, it also records programs for later viewing just like a VCR. Using a phone line, the PVR can call a service provider and download the channel guide updates as well as software updates for the unit itself. The PVR can also be set to periodically record favorite shows whenever they are broadcast. Also built into satellite receivers and set-top boxes, ReplayTV (www.replaytv.com) and TiVo (www.tivo.com) were the first to introduce products in 1999
Pentawatt
Pulse Width Modulators
Pulse Width Modulators/Controller
1) PoWeR
2) Pressurized Water Reactor
