T
Tape Automated Bonding. A process utilizing metal conductors on
beam tape that are mass bonded to the integrated circuit in a single operation. TAB offers
the advantage of allowing a circuit to be tested at high frequencies and proving it in
good condition without the expensive alternative of mounting it in a module for testing,
thus avoiding the need to rework modules. Intersil has capability in this technology as
well as ongoing development work toward advancement of TAB as an enabling technology for
multi-chip modules. See multi-chip modules.
Total Available Market. Used to show actual dollars spent in a
market.
Telephone communications. See SLICs.
TetraEthylOrthoSilicate, a liquid source oxide deposition
with excellent uniformity, step coverage and film properties. Disadvantage is high
temperature and liquid source requirements. See deposition.
A descriptor of a general area of circuit design that deals with how testable a
particular circuit design is going to be. Specific implementations of structures and test
methods that make circuits more testable and provide higher level fault coverage provide
better testability. See design for testability.
A sequential listing of the test vectors making up most of a TDL file. See test vector.
The total computer code that instructs automatic test equipment exactly how the
integrated circuit is to be tested.
A string of binary digits applied to the input of a circuit and simultaneously used for
testing the outputs.
A fully functional product or an array of test devices and structures used to develop
process integration and control.
Derived from "gas thyratron" because of the similarity in its operating
characteristics with a thyristor. A family of semiconductor devices that exhibit bi-stable
current-voltage characteristics and can be switched between a high-impedance, low-current
"off" state and a low-impedance, high-current "on" state. Thyristors
contain a series connection of three P-N junctions, and are used predominantly for power
switching applications. A recent advancement in thyristor capabilities is Intersil's MCT
(MOS-controlled thyristor). See also SCR.
Primarily used in analog ASIC design styles, a tile array is a pre-established layout
of electrical devices which can be configured to create a number of different (although
related) electrical functions by means of programming the levels of interconnecting
material. Since the cost of producing the underlying devices is spread over all designs
using a particular tile array, a customer may create very cost-effective solutions to
analog design requirements using a high performance Intersil dielectrically isolated
process (DI). With tile arrays, customer-specific programming requires only two or three
masks rather than 12 or 15.
To coat metallic surfaces with a thin layer of solder.
Testing In Reliability.
Triple-Level Metal. An IC metal interconnect process that employs
three vertical levels of metal, separated by insulating layers. Such a dense configuration
requires that each metal interconnect layer be made planar before the subsequent layer is
deposited. See DLM and SLM.
Term used to describe the total exposure of an IC to ionizing radiation, typically
gamma rays, energetic electrons, or X-rays. Most commercial ICs are very sensitive to
ionizing radiation and degrade in their performance upon exposure. Intersil is the
number-one supplier of rad-hard circuits, with total dose capabilities ranging from
several kilorads to more than a megarad.
Total Quality Management. See Quality First initiative.
The process of forming articles, in a closed mold, from a thermo-setting material that
is conveyed under pressure, in a hot, plastic state. All of Intersil's plastic ICs and
discrete devices are transfer molded.
A condition in electrical circuits resulting from a sudden release of energy. Often
this condition is precipitated by a static discharge, lightning, or switching of an
inductive load. May occur in repeated fashion or randomly. See over-voltage.
A pulse of ionizing radiation. Transient radiation can cause data upset, device
latchup, and destruction of unprotected ICs. Properly designed ICs however, can resist
such effects to high levels of transient radiation.
See over-voltage protection.
A three-terminal active semiconductor device that provides current amplification. A
bipolar transistor is comprised of base, emitter and collector and is a current-controlled
device with a low input impedance. A field-effect transistor has gate, source, and drain
electrodes and is a high-impedance, voltage controlled device. The first transistor was
invented at Bell Laboratories in 1947 by Nobel-Prize physicists John Bardeen, William
Shockley and Walter Bratain. See base, bipolar transistor, collector,
drain, emitter, field-effect transistor, gate,
MOSFET and source.
An advanced Intersil wafer process used to prepare rad-hard 64k SOS SRAMs. It features
1.25µm feature size and double-level metal, and is prepared in Intersil's facility at
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. See rad-hard, SOS and SRAM.
Transistor-Transistor Logic. A bipolar technology used for
producing logic gates. Positioned in the evolution of logic families after RTL (resistor
transistor logic), DTL (diode transistor logic) and before ECL and CMOS. See gate.
Transient Voltage Suppressor. A general category of devices that
protect other electronic circuits, components or systems from destructive transient
voltage spikes. The Harris family of TVS types include MOVs, Zener diodes, and surgectors.
