China wafer epitaxial process Manufacturers, Suppliers, Factory

Carbon-based materials such as graphite, carbon fibers, and carbon/carbon (C/C) composites are known for their high specific strength, high specific modulus, and excellent thermal properties, making them suitable for a wide range of high-temperature applications. These materials are widely utilized in aerospace, chemical engineering, and energy storage. However, their susceptibility to oxidation and corrosion in high-temperature environments, along with poor scratch resistance, restricts their further application.

Every country is aware of the importance of chips and is now accelerating the construction of its own chip manufacturing supply chain ecosystem to prevent another chip shortage problem. But the advanced foundries without next-gen chip designers would be the same as “Fabs without Chips”.

The history of silicon carbide (SiC) dates back to 1891, when Edward Goodrich Acheson accidentally discovered it while attempting to synthesize artificial diamonds. Acheson heated a mixture of clay (aluminosilicate) and powdered coke (carbon) in an electric furnace. Instead of the expected diamonds, he obtained a bright green crystal adhering to the carbon. This crystal had a hardness second only to diamond, and was thus named carborundum. In 1904, French-Jewish chemist Henri Moissan discovered rare natural silicon carbide minerals while studying meteorite samples from the Diablo Canyon in Arizona, USA. He named these minerals moissanite, and his discovery earned him the 1906 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) is a widely used technology in chip manufacturing. It utilizes the kinetic energy of electrons within plasma to activate chemical reactions in the gas phase, thereby achieving thin-film deposition.

In the process of growing SiC and AlN single crystals by the physical vapor transport method (PVT), components such as the crucible, seed crystal holder and guide ring play a vital role. During the preparation process of SiC, the seed crystal is located in a relatively low temperature region, while the raw material is in a high temperature region exceeding 2400°C. The raw materials decompose at high temperatures to form SiXCy (including Si, SiC₂, Si₂C and other components).

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.