In semiconductor device fabrication, the various processing steps fall into four general categories: deposition, removal, patterning, and modification of electrical properties. Deposition is any process that grows, coats, or otherwise transfers a material onto the wafer. Available technologies consist of physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), electrochemical deposition (ECD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and more recently, atomic layer deposition (ALD) among others.
precipitously adv 1: very suddenly and to a great degree; conditions that precipitously increase the birthrate; prices rose sharply [syn: precipitously, sharply] 2: abruptly; in a precipitous manner; the mountains rose precipitously from the shore
A sharp, steep drop â whether it's in a stock price, a roller coaster, or a star's popularity â could be described as a precipitous one. Put simply, precipitous means perilously steep. Look closely and you'll spot most of the word precipice (a sheer, almost vertical cliff) in precipitous. Now imagine how you'd feel standing at the edge peering over, and you'll grasp the sense of impending danger that precipitous tends to imply. Precipitous declines in sales lead to bankruptcy. Precipitous mountainside hiking trails are not for the acrophobic.