China SiC Coating for Plasma Etch Chambers Manufacturers, Suppliers, Factory

Worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment increased 5 percent from $102.6 billion in 2021 to an all-time record of $107.6 billion last year, SEMI, the industry association representing the global electronics design and manufacturing supply chain.

As a wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor material, SiC's wider energy difference gives it higher thermal and electronic properties compared to traditional Si. This feature enables power devices to operate at higher temperatures, frequencies and voltages.

In the semiconductor industry, epitaxial layers play a crucial role by forming specific single-crystal thin films atop a wafer substrate, collectively known as epitaxial wafers. Particularly, silicon carbide (SiC) epitaxial layers grown on conductive SiC substrates produce homogenous SiC epitaxial wafers, which are instrumental in the fabrication of power devices such as Schottky diodes, MOSFETs, and IGBTs, with 4H-SiC substrates being the most widely utilized.

Currently, many semiconductor devices employ mesa device structures, which are predominantly created through two types of etching: wet etching and dry etching. While the simple and rapid wet etching plays a significant role in semiconductor device fabrication, it has inherent drawbacks such as isotropic etching and poor uniformity, which result in limited control when transferring small-sized patterns. Dry etching, however, with its high anisotropy, good uniformity, and repeatability, has become prominent in semiconductor device fabrication processes. The term “dry etching” broadly refers to any non-wet etching technology used for removing surface materials and transferring micro and nano patterns, including laser etching, plasma etching, and chemical vapor etching. The dry etching discussed in this text specifically pertains to the narrow application of processes using plasma discharge—either physical or chemical—to modify material surfaces.

SiC substrates are the most crucial component in the silicon carbide industry, accounting for nearly 50% of its value. Without SiC substrates, it is impossible to manufacture SiC devices, making them the essential material foundation.