wafer

n.

1. A small thin crisp cake, biscuit, or candy.
2. Ecclesiastical. A small thin disk of unleavened bread used in the Eucharist.
3. Pharmacology. A flat tablet of rice paper or dried flour paste encasing a powdered drug.
4. A small disk of adhesive material used as a seal for papers.
5. Electronics. A small thin circular slice of a semiconducting material, such as pure silicon, on which an integrated circuit can be formed.

tr.v., -fered, -fer·ing, -fers.

1. To seal or fasten together with a disk of adhesive material.
2. Pharmacology. To prepare in the form of wafers.
3. Electronics. To divide into wafers.

[Middle English wafre, from Anglo-Norman, variant of Old North French waufre, of Germanic origin.]

(1) A small, thin continuous-loop magnetic tape cartridge that has been used from time to time for data storage and specialized applications.

(2) The base unit of chip making. It is a slice taken from a salami-like silicon crystal ingot up to 12" (300mm) in diameter. The larger the wafer, the more chips produced in a single production pass, which comprises a series of photomasking, etching and implantation steps. Wafers are approximately 1/30th of an inch thick; however, the actual layers of transistors that make up the active circuitry are only a few microns deep.

Wafers started out being very small from one to three inches in diameter. Then came 100mm ingots (approximately 4"), followed by 125, 150, 200 and 300mm. Various different wafer sizes are used today, depending on the type of chip being made. See chip and wafer scale integration.

The Boule Is Sliced

The silicon ingot, which is known as a "boule," is sliced into wafers. (Image courtesy of International Business Machines Corporation. Unauthorized use not permitted.)

Different Sizes

The person at the top is holding 150mm wafers; in the middle 200mm; and 300mm at the bottom. (Images courtesy of Texas Instruments, Inc., Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. and Intel Corporation, respectively).

Heating the Wafers

The red glow comes from a furnace that reaches 1000 degrees centigrade. The semiconductor wafers are baked in the oven to prepare them for the chip-making process. (Image courtesy of Intel Corporation.)

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - vaffel, oblat, biscuit, hostie
v. tr. - lukke med oblat

Nederlands (Dutch)
wafel, schilfer, siliciumschijf voor productie van halfgeleider chips, ouwel, schijf

Français (French)
n. - (Culin) gaufrette, (Relig) hostie, (Électron) tranche (de silicium), cachet (sur une lettre)
v. tr. - cacheter

Deutsch (German)
n. - Waffel, Oblate, (eccl.) Hostie, (elec.) Wafer, Halbleiterscheibe
v. - (mittels einer Oblate) schließen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - αφράτο μπισκότο, γκοφρέτα, (θρησκ.) όστια, άρτος μεταλήψεως, πλακίδιο πυριτίου (για την κατασκευή ηλεκτρονικών κυκλωμάτων)
v. - σφραγίζω

Italiano (Italian)
cialda, ostia, sigillare

Português (Portuguese)
n. - bolinho delgado (m)
v. - vedar ou prender com um material adesivo

Русский (Russian)
вафля, облатка, тонкая кристаллическая пластина, запечатывать облаткой

Español (Spanish)
n. - barquillo, oblea, hostia
v. tr. - pegar o sellar con oblea

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - rån, oblat, munlack
v. - försegla med munlack

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
晶片, 薄饼, 圆片, 用胶片封

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 晶片, 薄餅, 圓片
v. tr. - 用膠片封

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 웨이퍼(살짝 구운 과자의 일종), 카세제(약을 넣거나 싸서 먹기 위한 보조제), (카톨릭) 성체
v. tr. - 봉합풀로 봉하다, (건초 따위를) 얇게 눌러 굳히다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ウエハース, 聖餅, 封かん紙, 封じのり

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الرقاقه, بسكويته, حلقه تشتبه بالرقاقه وتستخدم لأغراض مختلفه (فعل) يختم بالرقاقه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אפיפית, פת (בסעודת-ישו), רקיק (ריקוע פריך הנאכל עם גלידה), ופל, מצע גבישי מוליך למחצה דק ביותר למעגל במצב מוצק (אלקטרונ.), מדבקת נייר אדום במקום חותמת‬
v. tr. - ‮ופל, השתמש במדבקת נייר אדום במקום בחותמת‬

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wafer	Chocolate Filled Wafer Cookies Rolls