The primary purpose of silicon carbide (SiC) wafer polishing is to enhance surface flatness, which is critical as the fundamental carrier in chip manufacturing. The surface quality of the wafer plays a decisive role in the success of subsequent processes. This article explores the significance of SiC wafer polishing and its key role in semiconductor manufacturing.

Enhancing Surface Flatness

At a microscopic scale, even the slightest surface irregularities can become significant obstacles under the nanometer-level precision requirements of chip manufacturing. For instance, in the photolithography process, circuit patterns must be precisely transferred onto the wafer surface. If the wafer surface is uneven, light passing through the photoresist may refract and scatter, leading to reduced pattern transfer accuracy and potentially causing circuit structure deviations that affect chip performance or functionality.

The wafer polishing process employs polishing slurry and pads under specific pressure and rotational speed conditions to uniformly grind the wafer surface. This effectively removes microscopic protrusions and defects, achieving an almost mirror-like flatness. Such a highly flat surface provides an ideal foundation for subsequent processes such as photolithography, etching, and thin film deposition, thereby improving chip manufacturing yield rates.

Eliminating Surface Damage

Throughout the wafer manufacturing process, from slicing silicon ingots to wafer production and subsequent processing, surface damage is inevitable. These damages include microcracks caused by slicing and stress concentration areas induced by mechanical processing. If not addressed, these damages may propagate during subsequent processes, leading to wafer breakage or reliability issues in the final chip.

The polishing process employs a combination of chemical and mechanical actions to gradually remove the damaged surface layer, revealing the intact crystalline structure underneath. This effectively eliminates potential wafer breakage hazards. Polished wafers can better withstand complex conditions such as high temperatures and pressures in subsequent manufacturing stages, ensuring the chip's long-term reliability.

Optimizing Electrical Performance

In addition to improving physical surface characteristics, wafer polishing significantly impacts the chip's electrical performance. In chips, the transmission of electrical signals between electronic components requires an optimal medium environment. The quality of the wafer surface directly affects electron transmission efficiency and stability. Surface impurities, defects, or irregularities can increase electron scattering, leading to higher resistance, which in turn impacts the chip's operating speed and power consumption.

Polishing effectively removes surface impurities and defects while making the crystalline structure more orderly. This orderly structure facilitates smoother electron flow, reduces resistance, and enhances the chip's electrical performance. For instance, in high-performance processor chips, an optimized wafer surface enables faster signal transmission, thereby improving processing speed, reducing power consumption, and extending device battery life.

SiC Wafer Polishing Solutions Offered by JXT

JXT provides a variety of silicon carbide wafers to meet different customer requirements, including:

Double-sided polished wafers, suitable for high-precision optical and electronic applications;

Single-sided polished wafers, for specific process requirements;

Cut-surface wafers, used for various grinding and polishing tests;

Lapped-surface wafers, intended for process development and test validation.

These diverse product offerings cater to various application scenarios, providing customers with high-quality SiC materials to ensure optimal performance in semiconductor manufacturing.

Conclusion

Silicon carbide wafer polishing plays a crucial role in chip manufacturing. By enhancing surface flatness, eliminating surface damage, and optimizing electrical performance, polishing provides a solid foundation for chip production. As semiconductor manufacturing technology advances toward higher precision and smaller dimensions, wafer polishing processes continue to innovate and evolve to meet increasingly stringent requirements. This progress drives the semiconductor industry forward, delivering more powerful and high-performance electronic products to the market.