Silicon carbide wafer is an innovative semiconductor substrate with many advantages over traditional silicon. From revolutionizing power electronics to providing ultrahigh speed communication systems, silicon carbide promises to bring revolutionary changes across a range of technologies and industries.
SiC stands up well against high temperatures and voltages, making it an essential material for power semiconductors, photovoltaic cells, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Unfortunately, its hardness necessitates special tools for its cutting.
Yüksek ısı iletkenliği
Silicon carbide wafers are essential components of power electronics because of their exceptional thermal conductivity and ability to disperse heat effectively during operation, enabling devices to perform even in harsh conditions without degradation in performance.
Silicon carbide’s wide bandgap makes it difficult for electrons to pass from its valence bands into its conduction bands, helping prevent leakage in high-voltage applications and prevents thermonic leakage. Furthermore, its resistance to oxidation and chemical inertness make it an excellent material choice for many high-temperature semiconductor applications.
Silicon carbide boasts a low coefficient of thermal expansion, meaning that its expansion or contraction during heat or cold changes does not significantly change, helping reduce stress caused by temperature gradients that could result in cracking or fractured devices, while also enabling more transistors to fit onto one wafer – both important features in improving chip production reliability.
Low coefficient of thermal expansion
Silicon carbide features a low coefficient of thermal expansion, meaning it doesn’t expand or contract as significantly when temperatures change, making it an ideal material for applications requiring high degrees of stability such as mobile phones and other electronic devices. Furthermore, silicon carbide can endure extreme temperatures while resisting chemical attacks.
Food grade silicone rubber is not only nontoxicologically safe but can be used in food production as well. Furthermore, its various uses range from refractory linings and insulation components for industrial furnaces to friction bearings and mechanical seals in pipe systems.
Manufacturers produce cubic silicon carbide wafers by heating silica sand with petroleum coke or another carbon source to high temperatures in an open “Acheson” furnace, producing green or black crystalline silicon carbide of high purity that comes out. Some manufacturers also employ chemical vapor deposition to produce cubic silicon carbide; both methods consume vast amounts of energy and equipment.
High hardness
Silicon carbide is known to be extremely resilient and resistant to thermal shock, meaning that sudden temperature shifts don’t crack it or lead to sudden breaks or fractures. This makes silicon carbide an excellent material choice for devices requiring high resistance against damage such as power semiconductors; additionally it boasts lower on-resistance and total gate charge which allows faster switching speeds with greater efficiency.
Silicon Carbide is produced from combining silicon and carbon together, and can take on various crystalline structures. Alpha silicon carbide has the most widespread use, as its hexagonal crystal structure mimics Wurtzite. Beta modification with its zinc blende crystal structure may be less prevalent but still has several applications.
Silicon Carbide substrates are required for the manufacturing of many sophisticated semiconductor devices, and must be prepared appropriately to facilitate epitaxial growth with high levels of precision and consistency. To accomplish this task, a diamond-based polishing slurry and polishing pad that matches specific tooling installed at customers’ facilities are used for epitaxial growth.
Termal şoka karşı yüksek direnç
Silicon carbide wafers offer exceptional resistance to thermal shock with their superior thermal conductivity and low expansion, making them suitable for withstanding temperatures that reach extremely high temperatures without losing strength. Their properties make them suitable for use as wafer tray supports or paddles in electric furnaces, and are even resistant to acids or molten salts.
Silicon carbide is an increasingly popular material choice for abrasive tools, such as cutting discs and grinding wheels, due to its durability against corrosion, abrasion and erosion. Foundries use silicon carbide crucibles for melting metals in foundries; its physical properties as well as exceptional electronic properties make it a suitable candidate for power devices.
When purchasing silicon carbide wafers, it is critical to assess their crystal morphology and defect density as this will impact device performance. Furthermore, selecting an effective doping process for desired electrical properties should not be neglected.