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Semiconductor glossary
Plain-English definitions of the terms used across Silicon Analytica, with why each one matters for investors and links to the companies and analysis where it comes up.
A
- PackagingAdvanced packaging / chipletsAdvanced packaging combines several chips, or chiplets, into one package with dense, short connections between them, so that they behave much like a single larger chip. Techniques include 2.5D interposers, 3D stacking and hybrid bonding.
- Design/EDAASIC / custom acceleratorAn ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) is a chip designed for one particular task or customer. In AI, custom accelerators are ASICs that cloud companies develop, often with a chip design partner, to run their own workloads.
B
- ManufacturingBackside power deliveryBackside power delivery moves the wires that supply power to transistors from the top of the chip to the underside of the wafer, leaving the front side for signal wiring. This can reduce power losses and free up space for denser circuits.
- Business & metricsBook-to-bill ratioThe book-to-bill ratio compares the value of new orders received (bookings) with the value of products shipped and billed in the same period. A ratio above 1 means orders are arriving faster than the company is shipping.
C
D
- Business & metricsData center capex (hyperscaler capex)Hyperscaler capex is the capital expenditure of the largest cloud and internet companies on data centers, including servers, chips, networking equipment, buildings and power infrastructure. Each company reports it in its quarterly results.
- ManufacturingDieA die is a single chip cut from a finished wafer: one rectangular piece of silicon containing a complete circuit. Larger dies fit fewer times on a wafer and are more likely to contain a defect.
- MemoryDRAMDRAM (dynamic random-access memory) is the main working memory in computers, phones and servers. It stores data temporarily and loses it when the power is switched off.
- LithographyDUV / ArF immersion lithographyDeep-ultraviolet (DUV) lithography prints chip patterns with ultraviolet light of longer wavelengths than EUV. ArF immersion tools use 193-nanometre light and place a layer of water between the lens and the wafer to sharpen the image.
E
- Design/EDAEDA (electronic design automation)Electronic design automation (EDA) is the software chip engineers use to design, simulate and verify chips before they are manufactured. Modern chips cannot be designed without it.
- LithographyEUV lithographyExtreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is a chipmaking step that prints circuit patterns onto silicon wafers using light with a wavelength of 13.5 nanometres. The shorter wavelength lets manufacturers print finer features in fewer steps than with older deep-ultraviolet tools.
F
- Business & metricsFab utilizationFab utilization is the share of a chip factory’s production capacity that is actually used over a period. It is usually expressed as a percentage of the wafers the fab could process.
- Business & metricsFablessA fabless company designs and sells chips but outsources their manufacturing to foundries. It concentrates its spending on research, design and software rather than factories.
- ManufacturingFinFETA FinFET is a transistor whose channel rises from the wafer like a thin fin, with the gate wrapped around three sides. It became the standard design for advanced logic chips in the 2010s and is being replaced by gate-all-around transistors at the leading edge.
- Business & metricsFoundryA foundry is a company that manufactures chips designed by other companies. Customers supply the design; the foundry produces the wafers using its own process technology and factories.
G
- ManufacturingGate-all-around (GAA) / nanosheetA gate-all-around (GAA) transistor surrounds its channel with the gate on all sides, typically using stacked horizontal silicon sheets called nanosheets. It succeeds the FinFET design to give better control of current at very small dimensions.
- Design/EDAGPUA GPU (graphics processing unit) is a processor built to perform many calculations in parallel. Originally designed for graphics, GPUs are now the main chips used to train and run large AI models.
- Business & metricsGross marginGross margin is revenue minus cost of revenue, expressed as a percentage of revenue. It shows how much of each sale is left after the direct costs of making the product.
H
- MemoryHBM (high-bandwidth memory)High-bandwidth memory (HBM) is a type of DRAM made by stacking several memory dies vertically and connecting them with through-silicon vias, then placing the stack next to a processor in the same package. It transfers data much faster than conventional memory modules.
- LithographyHigh-NA EUVHigh-NA EUV is the next generation of EUV lithography. It uses optics with a larger numerical aperture (0.55 instead of 0.33) so that smaller features can be printed in a single exposure.
I
- Business & metricsIDM (integrated device manufacturer)An integrated device manufacturer (IDM) both designs and manufactures chips in its own factories. Some IDMs also use outside foundries for part of their production.
- Business & metricsInstalled base managementInstalled base management is the service and upgrade business that equipment makers run for tools already operating in customers’ factories. It includes maintenance, spare parts, upgrades and productivity improvements.
- Business & metricsInventory daysInventory days estimate how many days of sales a company’s inventory would cover. The measure is usually calculated as inventory divided by cost of revenue for a period, multiplied by the number of days in that period.
- Design/EDAIP licensing and royaltiesSemiconductor IP licensing means selling ready-made, reusable circuit designs, such as processor cores or interface blocks, that other companies build into their own chips. The seller usually earns a licence fee and then royalties on each chip shipped.
N
O
P
W
- ManufacturingWaferA wafer is a thin, round slice of highly purified silicon on which chips are built. Many chips are made side by side on each wafer before it is cut into individual dies.
- ManufacturingWFE (wafer fab equipment)Wafer fab equipment (WFE) is the machinery used to process wafers inside a chip factory, including lithography, deposition, etching, cleaning, inspection and metrology tools. WFE spending is a common measure of the size of the chip equipment market.
Y
General educational explanations by AW for Silicon Analytica. Information only, not investment advice.