IC Knowledge - Glossary

Glossary of Integrated Circuit Terminology - O

Objective lens - the lens final lens that forms the image on the wafer.
Occupancy Costs - the cost of occupying a building, items such as cafeteria service, waste disposal and cleaning.
OEE - Overall Equipment Effectiveness - the actual output of a tool divided by the potential output of a tool assuming 100% utilization and 100% uptime. A measure of equipment effectiveness developed by SEMATECH.
Off Axis Illumination - the use of an aperture to limit the light from an illumination system to only enter a lens system at an angle to the optical axis of the lens system. Off axis illumination is used with advanced exposure systems such as steppers and scanners to improve resolution at a given wavelength.
Optical Edge Bead Removal - the process of exposing the edge of a wafer to an intense light source to fully expose the edge bead for removal during develop.
OPTO - an abbreviation for optical semiconductor. OPTO devices react to light in some way or another. OPTO devices may switch on when illuminated or generate electric current when illuminated.
Optoelectronics - products or systems combining electronics with optical sensitivity.
OR Gate - a basic logic gate which outputs a 1 if any of the inputs are a 1.
Outgassing - the release of gases or vapors by a material over time.
Overhead Labor - see Indirect Labor.
Oxidation - the reaction of a material with oxygen to form a compound of the material and oxygen. Commonly oxygen, O₂, or water vapor, H₂O, are reacted with silicon, Si, at high temperatures to form silicon dioxide, SiO₂.
Oxide - generally refers to silicon dioxide.
Oxide etching - etching of silicon dioxide.
Oxidizer - a reactive substance that produces oxygen compounds.
Oxygen - atomic symbol, O, oxygen is the 8th element in the periodic table (atomic number 8) with an atomic weight of 16.00. Oxygen is a group VIB element and is an oxidizer. Oxygen is used to oxidize silicon and in etching and stripping systems.
Oxynitride - a compound of silicon, oxygen and nitrogen of the form Si_xO_yN_z. Relatively inert silicon oxynitride is sometimes used as part of a passivation or gate oxide
Ozone - chemical formula O₃, ozone is an oxidizer and a very toxic gas with a TLV of 0.008ppm, and a pungent odor. Ozone is used as an additive to ultrapure water to prevent bacteria growth and in wet strip baths as a hydrogen peroxide replacement.