If you are looking to enter the Silicon Carbide Wafer Reclaim Industry, you will need to learn some skills in order to perform well. In this article, we will discuss a few of the main skills you can learn in the industry. These include increasing your production capacity, process optimization, and future developments.


Silicon Carbide Wafer Reclaim Industry



Process optimization

The semiconductor industry is expanding rapidly and so are the demands for more process optimization. One of the key requirements is the supply of wafers to produce the various devices that are required in order to create a finished product. It is also crucial to develop new ways to clean the facilities that handle the wafers. This translates to improved processes and better yields.


Silicon carbide (SiC) is a much more cost effective material for a variety of applications. It also offers higher efficiency and lower power consumption. In fact, it can operate at a high di/dt, making it an ideal candidate for power applications.


While the majority of current wafer production is on the 100-mm side, the industry is moving to larger wafer sizes, like 200-mm diameters. Several companies are producing these types of wafers. These are a bit more expensive and require more capital investment. However, they can be used to help retool existing silicon fabs, as well as for the fabrication of more advanced semiconductor devices.


In addition to this, slicing SiC using lasers is a newer technology that is seeing some technical difficulties. A specialized wire saw is used, but it can be quite costly and may cause damage to the subsurface.


Another alternative is to use the reclaim process. During this process, damaged layers of the surface of the wafer are removed and then polished to return the wafer to a device-ready surface. Using this process, a company can increase its yield by 50%.


Diamond based polishing slurry and pad

The silicon carbide wafer reclaim industry is one of the more challenging segments of the semiconductor manufacturing arena. Using the right tools and consumables is crucial to making your reclaim operations run smoothly. Luckily, there are companies who have mastered the art of polishing silicon carbide substrates. These companies are able to provide customers with high quality products and services at a competitive price.


One of these companies is Pureon. Having a keen understanding of the silicon carbide wafer reclaim industry, Pureon has crafted a series of innovations that are helping customers increase productivity, improve cost of ownership and deliver a high quality product to end users. This includes innovative new polishing slurries, wafer carriers and a series of high-performance polishing pads. Specifically, Pureon has focused on the development of the diamond based silica slurry and its kin. For example, the company has incorporated proprietary chemistry into its slurry to eliminate in-house mixing. With this technology in place, it has become possible to extract more performance from the SiC wafer reclaim industry than ever before.


Another company is Process Research Products, which has been supplying companies in the silicon carbide wafer reclaim business for years. Among its offerings are the world's largest inventory of silicon-based slurry, the most advanced wafer carriers in the industry and a series of innovative CMP slurries. In addition to their slurry, the company has also developed the next generation of CMP polishing pad technologies.


3C-SiC vs 6H-SiC

SiC wafers have many advantages over silicon substrates. They are particularly useful in high-temperature applications, such as electric vehicles and power electronics. Their unique thermal properties and electrical properties make them a good choice for these applications. Moreover, the wider band gap of SiC makes it possible for some devices to work at 300C, which is significantly higher than the junction temperature of most silicon semiconductors.


The fabrication process of silicon carbide wafers is rather delicate, but it is a viable alternative to silicon. However, this material is more susceptible to chipping and cracking. In order to minimize the risk of breakage, most of the equipment used for fabrication is designed to be as safe as possible.


Three-dimensional periodicity of atoms in a SiC crystal is the basis of polytypes, which are determined by the number of stacking Si-C layers in a unit cell. Hexagonal-phase and cubic-phase polytypes are the most studied. Compared to hexagonal-phase polytypes, cubic-phase polytypes have less understood structural and electronic properties.


A tetrahedral sp3 bond binds the Si (or C) atom to the surrounding C atom. This bond has a low energy of stacking fault formation. Its strength is also quite high. The 3C-SiC phase has the highest thermal conductivity among all SiC polytypes. However, it has lower thermal conductivity than the 6H-SiC phase. Although the k value of 3C-SiC is below that of the theoretically predicted k value, the thermal conductivity is still relatively high.


SiC wafers are prone to cracking and chipping

SiC wafers are the substrates for a variety of semiconductor devices. They are often used in radio frequency and power electronics applications. Their properties make them ideal for these applications. But they can also create processing challenges.


One common goal of using SiC is to achieve miniaturization. This is achieved by thinning the wafers. There are several ways to thin SiC wafers. The main technique involves wire sawing. In this process, wires are passed through grooves in guide rollers. It is a comparatively time-consuming process.


However, wire sawing has some limitations. For example, the kerf losses from wire sawing are relatively high compared to the thickness of the resulting wafer. These losses can cause undesirable loss of material.


Another method to thin a SiC wafer is plasma chemical vaporization machining (PCVM). PCVM uses atmospheric pressure plasma to etch the crystalline material. This process can remove up to 0.56 mm of material per minute. Another approach to thin a SiC wafer is to mechanically thin the wafer using a diamond grid disc. The diamond grid disc can thin the material to a few millimeters.


A third approach is to use a laser-based slicing system. The laser-based slicing method has several advantages. First, it trims total material losses. Second, it can be done in one pass, reducing the width of dicing street. Third, it can remove the backside metal. Lastly, it can increase the number of chips on a wafer.


Increased production capacity to meet demand

The semiconductor industry is expanding at a rapid rate. This expansion requires manufacturers to innovate, optimize and re-engineer their manufacturing processes. In addition, they have to deal with the global supply chain constraints. As a result, chipmakers are turning to both internal and external sources to provide them with the wafers they need.


Silicon carbide is a promising material that is suitable for a variety of applications. It offers increased resistance to heat, improved electrical conductivity, and reduced power consumption. Moreover, it has a lower breakdown voltage, a higher density, and is more EMI compatible. These properties make it an ideal choice for power electronic components.


Silicon carbide is also highly flexible. Therefore, its power modules can be molded into a variety of shapes, offering a wide range of applications, such as high-speed switching and improved thermal management. Aside from its applications in electronics, silicon carbide is also used in industrial machinery.


Because of the advantages it offers, the semiconductor industry is seeing increasing demand for silicon carbide wafers. These are important materials for chipmakers to use in their semiconductor production. Nevertheless, they are more expensive, especially when compared to silicon wafers. So, chipmakers are looking for ways to minimize their production costs and increase their yields.


One of the best solutions for reducing the production cost and boosting the production yield of silicon carbide wafers is Pureon's suspension system. Pureon has been working in the semiconductor market for decades, delivering proven solutions to the market. They also have a strong commitment to supporting manufacturers' efforts to streamline their manufacturing processes.


Future of the industry

Silicon carbide wafers are a crucial part of the semiconductor industry. These substrates can withstand a wide range of temperatures, so they can be used in a number of applications. They can also be processed for purity.


The silicon carbide industry has developed a variety of applications, including power electronic devices and aerospace technology. Silicon carbide is also ideal for high-speed switching. This material is especially good for Schottky diodes, metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors, and Junction Barrier Schottky diodes. It offers a lower breakdown voltage, lower on-resistance, and higher efficiency.


In recent years, a variety of electric vehicles have emerged, fueling a growing demand for next-generation power semiconductors. Silicon carbide is ideal for power applications because it allows for a smaller wafer that can accommodate a higher power density. As a result, the industry has begun to develop new techniques for creating 150-mm wafers. Some companies have begun adopting wiresaw or laser splitting for this process. But, there is still a long way to go before 150-mm wafers are widely adopted.


Until recently, the majority of current wafer production consisted of 100-mm wafers. To address the increasing demand for larger diameter wafers, the industry has begun developing new processing techniques for 150-mm wafers. With the continued development of EVs, the global silicon carbide wafer market is expected to expand. Gill estimates that silicon carbide chip revenue from EVs will reach $14 billion by 2030.