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Term (Index) Definition
beam  geometrically confined, directional stream of electromagnetic radiation or electrically charged particles such as electrons or ions.
ion beam  geometrically confined and accelerated by electrostatic forces stream of ions directed toward desired target.
electron beam, e-beam  geometrically confined and accelerated by electrostatic interactions stream of electrons directed toward desired target; direction of the beam can be rapidly altered in the controlled fashion to scan the target; shape of the beam (cross section)can be precisely controlled and rapidly changed.
Term (Index) Definition
electron beam (e-beam) evaporation  material is evaporated as a result of highly localized heating by bombardment with high energy electrons generated in an electron gun and directed toward the surface of source material confined in the crucible; evaporated material is very pure; bombardment of metal with electrons is accompanied by generation of low intensity X-rays which may create defects in the oxide present on the surface of the substrate; typically, an anneal is needed to eliminate those defects.
Physical Vapor Deposition, PVD  deposition of thin film occurs through physical transfer of material (e.g. thermal evaporation and sputtering)from the source to the substrate; chemical composition of deposited material is not altered in the process.
Term (Index) Definition
electron beam (e-beam) heating  highly localized heating of material by bombardment with high energy electrons.
Term (Index) Definition
electron beam (e-beam) lithography, EBL  lithography technique which uses focused beam of electrons to expose the resist; no mask is used as pattern is "written" directly into the resist by very fast scanning of electron beam; pattern transfer resolution below 100 nm; resolution is limited by the proximity effect; EBL is commonly used to manufacture high resolution masks for photolithography and X-ray lithography.
lithography  process used to transfer pattern from the mask/reticle to the layer of resist deposited on the surface of the wafer; kind of lithography depends on the wavelength of radiation used to expose resist: photolithography (or optical lithography) uses UV radiation, X-ray lithography uses X-ray, e-beam lithography uses electron bean, ion beam lithography uses ion beam.
photolithography, optical lithography  pattern definition method which uses UV radiation to expose the resist; the most common lithography technique in semiconductor manufacturing; using extremely short wavelength UV (extreme UV; wavelenghts below 200 nm), projection printing (steppers), phase shift masks, and adequate resist technology photolithography is capable of resolution below 100 nm.
proximity effect  deleterious effect in e-beam lithography; scattering of electrons in irradiated resist; p.e. is responsible for the size of the exposed resist area being larger than the diameter of the incident electron beam; limits resolution of e-beam lithography.
raster scan  scanning mode in which beam is moving back and forth over the entire substrate; beam is turned on over designated area and then turned off until it will arrive at the next designated area.
variable shape beam  scanning mode in e-beam lithography in which shape of the beam is changing depending on the geometry of exposed area.
vector scan  scanning mode in which beam is scanning selected areas only; after scanning of selected area is completed beam is turned off and moved to another area to be scanned.
X-ray lithography  lithography method using X-ray to expose the resist; due to shorter wavelength of X-ray radiation (0.4 - 4 nm)XRL allows higher resolution than photolithography which uses longer wavelength UV irradiation; XRL requires special mask and resists sensitive to X-rays.
Term (Index) Definition
electron beam (e-beam) resist  resist used in e-beam lithography.
Term (Index) Definition
electron beam, e-beam  geometrically confined and accelerated by electrostatic interactions stream of electrons directed toward desired target; direction of the beam can be rapidly altered in the controlled fashion to scan the target; shape of the beam (cross section)can be precisely controlled and rapidly changed.
electron beam (e-beam) evaporation  material is evaporated as a result of highly localized heating by bombardment with high energy electrons generated in an electron gun and directed toward the surface of source material confined in the crucible; evaporated material is very pure; bombardment of metal with electrons is accompanied by generation of low intensity X-rays which may create defects in the oxide present on the surface of the substrate; typically, an anneal is needed to eliminate those defects.
electron beam (e-beam) lithography, EBL  lithography technique which uses focused beam of electrons to expose the resist; no mask is used as pattern is "written" directly into the resist by very fast scanning of electron beam; pattern transfer resolution below 100 nm; resolution is limited by the proximity effect; EBL is commonly used to manufacture high resolution masks for photolithography and X-ray lithography.
Term (Index) Definition
Fixed Shape Beam, FSB  as opposed to variable shape beam; technical concept in the area of e-beam lithoraphy.
electron beam (e-beam) lithography, EBL  lithography technique which uses focused beam of electrons to expose the resist; no mask is used as pattern is "written" directly into the resist by very fast scanning of electron beam; pattern transfer resolution below 100 nm; resolution is limited by the proximity effect; EBL is commonly used to manufacture high resolution masks for photolithography and X-ray lithography.
variable shape beam  scanning mode in e-beam lithography in which shape of the beam is changing depending on the geometry of exposed area.
Term (Index) Definition
ion beam  geometrically confined and accelerated by electrostatic forces stream of ions directed toward desired target.
ion sputtering, milling  etching process; process in which high energy ions impinging on the surface of the solid cause ejection ("sputtering") of the host atoms; highly anisotropic and non-selective etching.
Term (Index) Definition
ion beam lithography, IBL  lithography technique in which resist is exposed by accelerated ions; due to the limited scattering of ions in the resist IBL may offer higher resolution than e-beam lithography.
Term (Index) Definition
Molecular Beam Epitaxy, MBE  physical deposition process (basically evaporation) carried out in ultra-high vacuum (below 10-8 torr) and at substrate temperature typically not exceeding 800 oC; due to unobstructed (molecular) flow of species to be deposited and chemical cleanliness of the substrate surface highly controlled growth of ultra-thin epitaxial layers is possible; the highest precision deposition method used in semiconductor processing.
epitaxy  process by which thin layer of single-crystal material is deposited on single-crystal substrate; epitaxial growth occurs in such way that the crystallographic structure of the substrate is reproduced in the growing material; also crystalline defects of the substrate are reproduced in the growing material.
superlattice  semiconductor structure comprising of several ultra-thin layers (atomic layers) engineered to obtain specific electronic and photonic properties; slight modifications of chemical composition of each layer result in slight variations of energy bandgap from layer to layer: bandgap engineering; fabrication of superlattices requires high-precision heteroepitaxial deposition methods such as MBE and MOCVD; typically involves III-V semiconductors.
Term (Index) Definition
variable shape beam  scanning mode in e-beam lithography in which shape of the beam is changing depending on the geometry of exposed area.
raster scan  scanning mode in which beam is moving back and forth over the entire substrate; beam is turned on over designated area and then turned off until it will arrive at the next designated area.
vector scan  scanning mode in which beam is scanning selected areas only; after scanning of selected area is completed beam is turned off and moved to another area to be scanned.
Fixed Shape Beam, FSB  as opposed to variable shape beam; technical concept in the area of e-beam lithoraphy.
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Jerzy Ruzyllo is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Penn State University.



This book gives a complete account of semiconductor engineering covering semiconductor properties, semiconductor materials, semiconductor devices and their uses, process technology, fabrication processes, and semiconductor materials and process characterization.


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Created and operated by J. Ruzyllo. Copyright © J. Ruzyllo 2001-2016. All rights reserved.

Information in this glossary is provided at the author's discretion. Any liability based on, or related to the contents of this glossary is disclaimed.