China Wafer Coating Manufacturers, Suppliers, Factory

Silicon is the second most abundant element on Earth after oxygen. Most silicon is found in soil, rocks, natural water, trees, and plants.

Within the silicon carbide (SiC) industry chain, substrate suppliers hold significant leverage, primarily due to value distribution. SiC substrates account for 47% of the total value, followed by epitaxial layers at 23%, while device design and manufacturing constitute the remaining 30%. This inverted value chain stems from the high technological barriers inherent to substrate and epitaxial layer production. Three major challenges plague SiC substrate growth: stringent growth conditions, slow growth rates, and demanding crystallographic requirements. These complexities contribute to increased processing difficulty, ultimately resulting in low product yields and high costs. Furthermore, the epitaxial layer’s thickness and doping concentration are critical parameters directly impacting the final device performance.

Silicon wafer surface polishing is a crucial process in semiconductor manufacturing. Its primary goal is to achieve extremely high standards of surface flatness and roughness by removing micro-defects, layers of stress damage, and contamination from impurities such as metal ions.

Silicon Carbide (SiC) single crystals are primarily produced using the sublimation method. After removing the crystal from the crucible, several intricate processing steps are required to create usable wafers.

Currently, many semiconductor devices employ mesa device structures, which are predominantly created through two types of etching: wet etching and dry etching. While the simple and rapid wet etching plays a significant role in semiconductor device fabrication, it has inherent drawbacks such as isotropic etching and poor uniformity, which result in limited control when transferring small-sized patterns. Dry etching, however, with its high anisotropy, good uniformity, and repeatability, has become prominent in semiconductor device fabrication processes. The term “dry etching” broadly refers to any non-wet etching technology used for removing surface materials and transferring micro and nano patterns, including laser etching, plasma etching, and chemical vapor etching. The dry etching discussed in this text specifically pertains to the narrow application of processes using plasma discharge—either physical or chemical—to modify material surfaces.

In semiconductor manufacturing, the precision and stability of the etching process are paramount. One critical factor in achieving high-quality etching is ensuring that wafers are perfectly flat on the tray during the process.