Bill,
AMAT, Lam, Novellus, and others supply equipment that is used to actually build the circuits on the silicon wafers. This is the wafer fabrication step that is referred to as the "front end" operation since it occurs first.
After the many steps of wafer fabrication are complete, each die on the wafer is tested. After testing, the wafers are cut into individual dice and assembled into the familiar plastic packages that you see on electronic boards. After assembly, the circuits are tested again, sometimes several times under different temperature conditions.
Companies like Teradyne, Credence, and LTX (among others) make the equipment that actually test the devices to make sure that they are working properly, both at wafer and package test steps. All of test is considered to be the "back end".
Companies like KLA and Electroglas provide equipment used to allow the testers to access the semiconductor circuits at the wafer test level.
Companies like Aetrium, Aseco, and MCTI make equipment that handles the devices after they are packaged and gives the same test equipment access to the input and output pins for testing.
Basically, the "front end" involves the manufacturing steps of the wafers, and the "back end" involves the steps that are taken to ensure that every device that goes out the door is functional and within specification.
Offhand, I don't know any links where you can find more information, but you can probably search the internet for some of the companies I mentioned to get more information.
Hope this helps. Good luck!
Greg |
