Integrated Circuit & Integrated Circuit Distributor

At ANYTHING INTERNATIONAL, you can get real and abundant integrated circuit inventory, competitive price, best service as well as the technical support. The followings are the integrated circuit glossary for your reference.

ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Interchange. An eight-bit code for alpha-numeric character transfer adopted by the American Standards Association to achieve universal compatibility among data devices. Pronounced "ask-ee."
ASIC
Application Specific Integrated Circuit. Semiconductor circuits specifically designed to suit a customer's particular requirement, as opposed to a DRAM or microcontroller, which are general-purpose parts.
Back End
In semiconductor manufacturing, the package assembly and test stages of production. Includes burn-in and environmental test functions. Compare front-end.
Bandwidth
The width measure of a signal from the lowest to the highest frequency (or bit rate). For analog signals, the width is in the frequency domain, expressed in Hz. For digital signals, the width is in the time domain, expressed in bits per second.
BEOL
Back End Of Line. The steps of the IC fabrication process where the active components (transistors, resistors, etc.) are interconnected with wiring on the wafer. It includes contacts, insulator, metal levels, and bonding sites for chip-to-package connections. Dicing the wafer into individual integrated circuit chips is also a BEOL process.
BGA
Ball-Grid Array. A packaging technology for high-pin-count packages. Name derived from the array of solder balls at the bottom of the package. The balls are surface-mounted on a printed circuit board. I/O lead counts in the thousands can be achieved with BGA designs.
Bonding
The process of connecting wires from the package leads to the chip (or die) bonding pads. Part of the assembly process. A small-diameter gold or aluminum wire is bonded to the pad area by a combination of heat and ultrasonic energy.
CAE
Computer-Aided Engineering. The use of computer aids (hardware and software) in electrical design.
Chip
Also called a die. Popular term describing a small piece of silicon that contains a complete discrete component or an integrated circuit. Many chips are made on a single wafer, then separated into dice (plural of die) and packaged individually.
Chip Carrier
A low-profile component package, usually, square, whose active chip cavity or mounting area is a large fraction of the package size, and whose external connections are usually on all four sides of the package.
Chip-Level Integration
The combination of two or more integrated-circuit functions and/or technologies on one IC to achieve miniaturization, reduce systems cost, and make new applications possible.
CIM
Computer-Integrated Manufacturing. The integration of computer control and monitoring into a manufacturing process.
D/A Converter
Digital-to-Analog Converter. A circuit that converts digital input signals to analog output signals.
DC-DC Converter
An electrical circuit that changes direct current (DC) from one voltage level to another. Frequently found in battery-operated systems.
DIP
Dual In-line Package. The most common IC package, which can be either plastic or ceramic. Circuit leads or pins extend symmetrically outward and downward from opposite sides of the rectangular package body.
Discrete Device
A class of electronic components that includes power transistors and rectifiers, each of which contain one active element. In contrast, ICs typically contain hundreds, thousands, or millions of active elements in a single die.
Donor
An impurity from column V of the periodic table, which adds a mobile electron to the conduction band of silicon, thereby making it more n-type. Commonly used donors are arsenic and phosphorous. Compare acceptor.
Electron
An elementary atomic particle that carries the smallest negative electric charge (1.6 x 10-19 coulombs). Electrons are light in mass (1/1837 of the mass of the hydrogen atom), highly mobile, and orbit the nucleus of an atom.
Emitter
One of the three regions that form a bipolar transistor. Under forward bias of the emitter-base p-n junction, the emitter injects minority carriers (electrons or holes) into the base region where they either recombine or diffuse into the collector.
I/O
Input/Output. Generally refers to the external connections of an IC that tie it to the outside world. Supply pins and control pins are usually not considered I/O.
Insulator
A material that is a poor conductor of electricity or heat, and used to separate conductors from one another or to protect personnel from active electrical devices. Examples: silicon dioxide (glass), silicon nitride, rubber, ceramics, wood.
Isotropic Etching
Etching to the side and in the downward direction.
ISP
In-system programming. Methodology whereby a complex programmable logic device can be programmed (customized), after having been soldered or plugged into the user system.
Junction
The interface plane within a semiconductor crystal, at which the number of p- and n-type carriers are exactly equal, with a surplus of p-type on one side of the junction and n-type on the other.
K or kilo
Generally a prefix meaning a multiple of 1,000 (x103). Symbol: K. In digital systems, a symbol for 210 or 1,024.
Kilobit
1,024 bits. Symbol: Kb.
Kilobyte
1,024 bytes (8,192 bits). Symbol: KB.
Lapping
Process of grinding and polishing a wafer after processing in order to provide a smooth, uniform back and front surface. Also, the process of making the "flat" along one side of the length of the crystal.
LED
Light-Emitting Diode. A semiconductor p-n junction diode that emits light under forward-bias conditions. The wavelength of the emitted light is a function of the semiconductor material.
Library
The collection of representations such as symbol, simulation model, layout abstract, or transistor schematic, used by the different tools in the design system to create or analyze an IC. Inserting the technologies into a design to create efficient circuits.
Linear IC
An amplifying-type, analog device with a linear input/output relation, as opposed to a non-linear, digital device, which is either completely "on" or completely "off" over large ranges of input signals.
Lithography
The transfer of a pattern or image from one medium to another, as from a mask to a wafer. If light is used to effect the transfer, the term "photolithography" applies. See also aligner, mask, stepper, and x-ray lithography.
Logic
Mathematical treatment of formal logic whereby a system of symbols (i.e., AND, OR, and NOT) is used to represent quantities and relationships. A switch/gate has only two states—open or closed—allowing the use binary numbers for solutions to problems.
LSI
Large-Scale Integration. ICs containing roughly between 10,000 and 100,000 transistors.
LTO
Low Temperature Oxidation.
Mega or M
A prefix meaning a multiple of one million (x106). Symbol: M.
Megabyte
Roughly one million (1,048,576) bytes. Symbol: MB.
Memory IC
An IC consisting of memory cells and usually including associated circuits such as those for address selection and amplification. A class of integrated circuits that store digital information. Examples: ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, Flash memory, DRAM, and SRAM.
MEMS
Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems. A manufacturing technology that combines computing/logic circuitry with tiny mechanical devices such as sensors, valves, gears, mirrors, and actuators embedded in semiconductor chips. The mechanical devices are processed with same materials and methods used to make ICs.
Transistor
A three-terminal active semiconductor device that serves as a switch or provides current amplification. Comprised of a base, emitter, and collector (bipolar transistor) or gate, source, and drain electrodes (field-effect transistor). Invented by Shockley (Bell Labs) in 1947.
TTL
Transistor-Transistor Logic. A bipolar technology used for producing logic gates.
Tube
A cylindrical piece of quartz with fitting on one or both ends. It is placed in a furnace to provide a contamination-free and controlled environment for processing wafers.
TVS
Transient Voltage Suppressor. A general category of devices that protect other electronic circuits, components, or systems from destructive transient voltage spikes.
VLSI
Very Large-Scale Integration. ICs containing roughly between 100,000 and 1,000,000 transistors.
Volatile Memory
A memory device that does not retain stored information when power is interrupted.
Wafer
A thin slice, typically 10-30 mils thick, sawed from a cylindrical ingot of bulk semiconductor material (usually silicon), typically four to eight inches in diameter, on which many chips are fabricated at one time during the manufacturing process.
Wafer Flat
Flat area(s) ground onto the wafer's edge to indicate crystal orientation of the wafer and for general alignment of wafers through various pieces of equipment. Only used on wafers up to 150mm in diameter. Larger wafers (e.g., 200mm and 300mm) use a small notch instead.
Wafer Sort
Following wafer fabrication, a test to determine the electrical parameters and functionality of the integrated circuits. Each die site of a completed wafer is tested. Die that fail the tests are marked with an ink spot and separated from good
WLP
Wafer-Level Packaging. A method for packaging semiconductors in which the first-level interconnections and package-I/O terminals are formed on the chips before the wafer is diced. Unlike for other types of packaging methods, WLP costs decrease on a per-die basis as the number of dice per wafer increases.
X-ray Lithography
The lithographic process for transferring patterns to a silicon wafer in which the electromagnetic radiation used is x-ray, rather than visible radiation. The shorter wavelength for x-rays extends the useful range of lithography.
Zener Diode
A semiconductor p-n junction diode that has a controlled reverse-bias breakdown voltage, and is used to supply a specific voltage for other protected components.