silicon carbide wafers
High quality silicon wafers, also commonly referred to as device-grade or particle-grade wafers, play a pivotal role in semiconductor manufacturing.
These wafers have stringent specifications for thickness, curvature, warpage, TTV (Total Thickness Variation), surface roughness and cleanliness to ensure the performance and reliability of semiconductor devices.
It is widely used in semiconductor device manufacturing, lithography processes, and precision equipment such as particle monitors.
During the production of 8-inch SiC substrates, there are a number of technical challenges to overcome.
First, crystal growth is a key step in achieving high-quality single-crystal growth of large-diameter silicon carbide, which is challenging because of the difficulty in controlling defects and impurities.
Second, uniformity and defect control during wafer processing is particularly important for 8-inch wafers, with processes such as polishing, etching and doping requiring strict control.
silicon carbide wafers
Test wafers and their application scenarios
Test wafers, also known as monitors or virtual wafers, are more relaxed in terms of specifications compared to high-quality wafers.
These wafers may be products that fail to fully meet all the specifications of a quality wafer and therefore cannot be categorized as such.
However, they still play an important role in the semiconductor manufacturing process, mainly used in equipment setup and testing, production process evaluation and process development and other key areas.
