Things To Know About Silicon Grinding

By Roxanne Cruz


Silicon grinding is important because the substance is a widely used material in the manufacturing process of integrated circuits, such as computer chips. The continuous demand for the product, at ever increasing qualities, means it can be very hard to satisfy demands. Research has been conducted into other processes to see whether anything about the way it is made can be changed to make it more efficient.

Many semiconductor devices are made from silicon. In the past, such things as random access memory had also been made of the material, alongside transistors. Bell Telephone Labs are supposed to have first came out with the term 'transistor' during the 1940s and the term has stuck ever since.

As an indication as to how crucial silicon is in the making of semiconductor devices, more than 90% of them are made up of crystal silicone wafers. To further amplify this, it should be borne in mind that around one hundred and fifty million of the wafers are made annually. Therefore, quality and quantity of supplies is very important.

During the process the crystal is first sliced and then flattened, and this is referred to as grinding or lapping. Afterwards it's polished and etched and is usually ready to use. By doing this the maker hopes to eliminate the little cracks that can be appear not only on the surface of the material, but in the subsurface. To do this a diamond wheel is rotated towards a piece of the wafer, which is also spinning, but remains in place, ready as the wheel collides with it and molds it.

The major challenge for grinders is in eliminating cracks and subsurface cracks that can be generated on wafer surfaces. Normally, to offset this, a fair portion of the substance needs to be removed but subsequent processes, like polishing. Another way to reduce roughness, and therefore reduce subsurface and surface damage, is to grind the wafers with smaller diamond grains.

The ELID technique, which means electrolytic in-process dressing, involves using tiny diamond grains to rub against the wafer. These apparently have the ability to self-dress, which in the industry means old grains fall off automatically, to be replaced by newer ones underneath.

The use of ELID has had some believing that smaller diamond grains on the wheels will lead to a much more efficient manufacturing process. Especially as with the traditional process, it's hard to make a wheel with the same tiny grains that are used on an ELID wheel.

Silicon grinding has undergone changes throughout the years and one thing makers are looking for are ways to improve production. It may, however, be some time before ELID is used, simply because the quality is reportedly not as consistent as the conventional methods.




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