Epitaxial Wafers

[Earthling]

I’m sure someone around here works in the semiconductor industry. I need a crash course in silicon manufacturing, especially with regard to epitaxial wafers. I have essentially no background in the area.[ul][li]Any websites to visit?[/li][li]Any books to read?[/li][li]Pros and cons of the process (vs. polished wafers, I suppose)?[/li][li]What are the quality issues?[/li]Anything else?[/ul]Thanks a bunch.

[Earthling]

Hm, no luck. Apologies if my OP turned people off with a “gimme-gimme” tone. This is in relation to a possible job in a new field; I have experience in electronics assembly, so it’s not a tectonic-scale change, but I do need the basics to start learning. Maybe if someone will be kind enough to point me to the following, I can get started:[ul][li]What are the trade publications?[/li][li]Trade associations? Government-industry consortia or initiatives?[/li]Major companies in the field?[/ul]Thanks.

[Zenster]

I will be going out soon and do not have the time to do the research for your OP. Later this evening I’ll come back and provide more concrete answers. In the meantime:

Semiconductor International:

epitaxy: The deposition of a thin film of silicon on a silicon wafer, in such a way that the deposited layer forms a single continuous crystal with the underlying wafer. This method is used to create a high quality, low doped surface in which to make transistors and other devices on top of a highly doped substrate with a low electrical resistance.

Sematech:

epitaxial layer

in semiconductor technology, a layer of a single crystal semiconducting material grown on a host substrate which determines its orientation. [SEMI M2-94 and ASTM F1241]

epitaxy (epi)

a silicon crystal layer grown on top of a silicon wafer that exhibits the same crystal structure orientation as the substrate wafer with a dissimilar doping type or concentration or both. Examples are p/p+, n/n+, n/p, and n/n. [SEMATECH] Also see epitaxial layer.

Search through these two links for more information. They are two of the industry powerhouses.

[Zenster]

Here are a few threads and some posts of mine on the subject of microelectronics.

[_xiao_wenti]

I am not in the semi industry, but have done a lot of work on epitaxial thin films. When we talk about epitaxy, we are talking about one layer (a FILM) taking on the crystalline character of the substrate. In general, the planes and directions in the substrate are replicated (in some fashion) by the growing film. To explain more requires a background in crystallography…are you interested?