In today’s world, almost every electronic or consumer item contains an essential component called an Si wafer. Known as the second most common element on the planet, silicon (Si) is usually used to create semiconductors for numerous applications. To produce those thinly sliced pieces of pure crystal called silicon wafers, several processing methods are used, including the Float Zone (FZ) growth method and the Czochralski (Cz) pulling method.To ensure optimum purity, the CZ method creates silicon wafers from one crystalline structure. Alternatively, the FZ growth method involves the use of a crucible-free technique. Moreover, silicon wafers are classified into two main types – the undoped silicon wafer and the doped silicon wafer.
If you’re looking to find silicon in its pure crystalline form, you’ll want to check out the undoped silicon wafer. Also referred to as an intrinsic silicon wafer, this type of wafer is the perfect semiconductor.
The integration and alteration of the silicon wafer’s electrical properties are significantly impacted by the doping process. Based on the increasing demand for doped silicon wafers, it looks like these types of silicon wafers are going to dominate various industries, including research and development.While the doped silicon wafer is being formed, certain dopants or impurities are added to the silicon crystal. To obtain a P-type of a doped silicon wafer that has numerous positively charged holes, doping is performed by adding boron.Alternatively, to fabricate the N-type of a doped silicon wafer with negatively charged electrons in it, other elements such as antimony, arsenic, and phosphorus are added to the silicon crystal.It’s important to note that the doped silicon wafer can be further defined as extrinsic or degenerate, depending on the level of dopant in them. Extrinsic silicon wafer features small to moderate amounts of dopants found in the silicon crystals. On the other hand, degenerate silicon wafers contain high levels of dopants.
Do you need to find the best-quality silicon wafers for your next project? Get in touch with Wafer World today to learn more about our products or request a quote.
