Ⅰ. What are the application scenarios of silicon carbide ceramic products?

Silicon carbide (SiC) ceramics are widely used in the core components of key process equipment in the semiconductor and photovoltaic industries due to their excellent high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, high thermal conductivity and low thermal expansion coefficient. The following are specific application scenarios of typical products:

Silicon carbide boat

Function:

SiC Boat is usually used to carry wafers (such as silicon wafers or silicon carbide wafers) for transmission and positioning in high-temperature processes.

Application scenarios:

Semiconductor processing field: In diffusion furnaces and oxidation furnaces, the boat needs to operate stably for a long time in a high temperature environment above 1000°C to avoid deformation or contamination of the wafer due to thermal stress.

Photovoltaic industry: In PECVD (plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition) equipment, the boat is used to support silicon wafers to deposit silicon nitride anti-reflection film, and needs to withstand high-frequency plasma bombardment and high temperature environment.

Silicon carbide furnace tube (SiC Reaction Tube)

Function: As the core component of the high-temperature reaction chamber, it provides a uniform temperature field and a chemically inert environment.

Application scenarios:

Semiconductor industry: In the oxidation furnace, the furnace tube needs to remain stable for a long time in an oxygen or water vapor environment to avoid the release of impurities due to oxidation or corrosion.

Photovoltaic industry: In the diffusion furnace, the furnace tube is used for phosphorus diffusion process (such as the preparation of PERC cells), and it is necessary to resist acidic gas corrosion in the POCl₃ atmosphere.

Cantilever Paddle and Boat Holder

Function: The cantilever paddle is used to automatically transfer the crystal boat, and the boat holder is used to fix the position of the crystal boat.

Application scenarios:

In the semiconductor wafer process, the cantilever paddle needs to maintain high mechanical strength during rapid lifting and lowering to avoid fracture due to thermal fatigue; the boat holder needs to maintain geometric accuracy at high temperature to prevent wafer deviation.

Ⅱ. What are the application directions of silicon carbide materials in the photovoltaic and semiconductor industries?

The core applications of silicon carbide ceramic products are concentrated in the process links of two types of equipment:

Photovoltaic industry

PECVD furnace: used to deposit anti-reflection films (such as silicon nitride). Silicon carbide parts need to resist ion bombardment caused by glow discharge in a plasma environment of 400~500°C, while avoiding film contamination.

Diffusion furnace: used for phosphorus/boron diffusion to form PN junctions. Silicon carbide furnace tubes need to withstand corrosion from POCl₃ or BBr₃ gases at 800~1000°C and ensure doping uniformity.

Semiconductor industry

Diffusion furnace and oxidation furnace:

Diffusion furnace: used for annealing process after ion implantation. Silicon carbide crystal boats need to avoid releasing metal impurities (such as Fe, Ni), otherwise it will cause increased wafer leakage current.

Oxidation furnace: grow silicon dioxide layers in dry oxygen or wet oxygen environments. Silicon carbide furnace tubes need to maintain low oxygen permeability at a high temperature of 1200°C to prevent uneven oxide layer thickness.

Ⅲ. What are the advantages of silicon carbide materials over graphite?

Although graphite materials have the advantages of low cost and easy processing, they are far inferior to silicon carbide in the following key properties:

Specific case analysis:

According to the actual production statistics of Veteksemicon, in the semiconductor diffusion furnace, the graphite boat needs to be replaced every 3 months, while the silicon carbide boat can last for more than 2 years, and the wafer yield is increased by 5%~10%.

According to the production data provided by Semixlab, In the photovoltaic PECVD process, the silicon carbide cantilever paddle can increase the battery efficiency by 2%~5% due to the absence of particle pollution.

Ⅳ. why choose Semixlab?

Semixlab is a leading manufacturer and supplier in China that has been focusing on the research of graphite and SiC surface coatings for 20 years. After years of technical research and development, our SiC coating process can achieve a purity of more than 99.98%, and we can also customize silicon carbide products of different purity and price according to your application scenarios. If you need a higher purity product, such as direct contact with semiconductor wafer products, we can provide CVD SiC coating, CVD TaC coating and other processes on the surface of the substrate material to meet your various stringent technical requirements.