Glossary / Semiconductors
Yield
The fraction of manufactured products that work. In semiconductors, the share of good chips obtained from a wafer.
A wafer carries tiny particles and crystal defects scattered at some density. The larger the chip and the more process steps, the more likely it is to catch a defect somewhere, and the lower the yield. Models that estimate yield from defect density and chip area were systematised by Charles Stapper and colleagues at IBM in the 1980s[1].
Yield goes straight into cost: if only half the chips on a wafer work, the cost per good chip roughly doubles. In a new generation, how quickly yield can be raised decides much of the competition.
Related terms
- Integrated circuitA circuit in which transistors and other components, together with the wiring between them, are all built into a single piece of semiconductor — a chip.
- Gate-all-aroundA transistor structure in which the channel is a stack of thin sheets (nanosheets), each fully surrounded by the gate on all sides.