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Term (Index) Definition
crystal  solid featuring periodic spatial arrangement of atoms referred to as "long-range order"; single-crystal materials feature long-range order throughout the entire piece of material while poly-crystalline materials feature long-range order only within limited grains.
polycrystalline material, poly  long-range order exists only within limited in volume grains; grains are randomly connected to form a solid; size of grains in x-y-z directions varies depending on material and method of its formation, but there is no preferential extension of the single-crystal within the grain in any direction; readily available in the bulk form, but most commonly used as a thin film; common applications in Si devices: gate contact in MOSFETs, active material in TFTs, and as a substrate for Si solar cells.

Reference: See Semiconductor Notes for more information
single-crystal, single-crystal material  crystalline solid in which atoms are arranged following specific pattern throughout the entire piece of material; i.e., long-range order exists throughout (not only within limited in volume grains); often referred to as a mono-crystal; in general, s.c. material features superior electronic and photonic properties as compared to multicrystalline, polyscrystalline and amorphous materials, but is more expensive; all high-performance semiconductor electronic and photonic devices are fabricated using single-crystal substrates; trade-off between performance and cost.

Reference: See Semiconductor Notes for more information
Term (Index) Definition
crystal defects  defects (imperfections) of the crystallographic structure of a crystalline solid. types of defects that can occur in crystalline material: 1. point defects 2. line defects 3. planar defects 4. volume defects
volume defect  voids and/or local regions featuring different phase (e.g. precipitates or amorphous phase)in crystalline materials.
planar defect  crystallographic defect also known as area defect; basically an array of dislocations, e.g. grain boundaries, stacking faults.
line defect  dislocation
Term (Index) Definition
crystal originated pits  see COP.
COP  Crystal Originated Pits; structural defects formed on the surface of single-crystal semiconductor not related to any external interactions/process malfunctions. Also, Crystal Originated Particles.
Term (Index) Definition
crystal pulling  foundation of Czochralski single-crystal growth technique (CZ); process in which single-crystal seed is slowly withdrawn from the melt and crystalline material condenses at the liquid-solid interface gradually forming a rod-shaped piece of single-crystal material.
Czochralski crystal growth, CZ  process of obtaining single-crystal solids; the most common method for obtaining large diameter semiconductor wafers (e.g. 300 mm Si wafers); single crystal material is pulled out of the melt in which single-crystal seed is immersed and then slowly withdrawn; desired conductivity type and doping level is accomplished by adding dopants to the melt.
Term (Index) Definition
Czochralski crystal growth, CZ  process of obtaining single-crystal solids; the most common method for obtaining large diameter semiconductor wafers (e.g. 300 mm Si wafers); single crystal material is pulled out of the melt in which single-crystal seed is immersed and then slowly withdrawn; desired conductivity type and doping level is accomplished by adding dopants to the melt.
float-zone crystal growth, FZ  method used to form single crystal semiconductor substrates; alternative to CZ crystal growth process; polycrystalline material (typically in the form of a circular rod) is converted into single-crystal by zone heating (zone melting) starting at the plane where single crystal seed is contacting polycrystalline material; used to make Si wafers; results in very high purity (i.e. very high resistivity) single crystal Si; does not allow as large Si wafers as CZ does (200 mm and 300 mm); radial distribution of dopant in FZ wafer not as uniform as in CZ wafer; wafers used in high-end Si microelectronics are almost uniquely CZ grown.
ingot  circular in shape piece of single-crystal semiconductor material typically resulting from the Czochralski crystal growth process; ingot is shaped and then sliced, using high-precision diamond saw, into wafers used to manufacture semiconductor devices.
polishing  process applied to either reduce roughness of the wafer surface or to remove excess material from the surface; typically mechanical-chemical process using chemically reactive slurry.
slicing  term refers to the process of cutting of the single-crystal semiconductor into wafers; high precision diamond blades are used.
Bridgman growth  A method used to grow single-crystal semiconductors typically III-V, e.g. GaAs; uses multi-zone furnace in which Ga and As are contained in the ampule and in contact with GaAs seed; the GaAs melt is passed from higher to lower temperature zone; conceptually similar to float-zone (FZ) crystal growth method.
LEC  Liquid Encapsulated Czochralski growth.
Term (Index) Definition
ferroelectric crystal  materials (typically oxides) featuring permanent (i.e. even without external electric field) electric dipole moment and hence, display spontaneous polarization (centers of positive and negative charges of the crystal do not coincide); this state can be altered by applying bias to the crystal; memory effect possible.
FRAM  same as FeRAM; Ferroelectric Random Access Memory.
Term (Index) Definition
float-zone crystal growth, FZ  method used to form single crystal semiconductor substrates; alternative to CZ crystal growth process; polycrystalline material (typically in the form of a circular rod) is converted into single-crystal by zone heating (zone melting) starting at the plane where single crystal seed is contacting polycrystalline material; used to make Si wafers; results in very high purity (i.e. very high resistivity) single crystal Si; does not allow as large Si wafers as CZ does (200 mm and 300 mm); radial distribution of dopant in FZ wafer not as uniform as in CZ wafer; wafers used in high-end Si microelectronics are almost uniquely CZ grown.
Czochralski crystal growth, CZ  process of obtaining single-crystal solids; the most common method for obtaining large diameter semiconductor wafers (e.g. 300 mm Si wafers); single crystal material is pulled out of the melt in which single-crystal seed is immersed and then slowly withdrawn; desired conductivity type and doping level is accomplished by adding dopants to the melt.
Bridgman growth  A method used to grow single-crystal semiconductors typically III-V, e.g. GaAs; uses multi-zone furnace in which Ga and As are contained in the ampule and in contact with GaAs seed; the GaAs melt is passed from higher to lower temperature zone; conceptually similar to float-zone (FZ) crystal growth method.
Term (Index) Definition
seed crystal  single crystal material used to set a pattern for the growth of material in which this pattern is reproduced.
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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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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.