| Cleavage (crystal) |
Article Index for Cleavage |
Information AboutCleavage (crystal) |
This is of technical importance in the Electronics industry and in the cutting of Gemstone s. While precious stones are generally cleaved by impact, man-made single crystals of Semiconductor materials are generally sold as thin Wafer s which are much easier to cleave. Simply pressing a Silicon wafer against a soft surface and scratching its edge with a Diamond scribe is usually enough to cause cleavage; however, when dicing a wafer to form chips, a procedure of scoring and breaking is often followed for greater control. The vast majority of commercial semiconductors (Si, , GaAs , InSb , etc.) are Diamond Cubic , a Space Group for which octahedral cleavage is observed. This means that some orientations of wafer allow near-perfect rectangles to be cleaved. SEE ALSO REFERENCES
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