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In Microelectronics , a wafer is a thin slice of semiconducting material, such as a Silicon crystal, upon which microcircuits are constructed by Doping (for example, diffusion or Ion Implantation ), Etching , and Deposition of various materials. Wafers are thus of key importance in the Fabrication of Semiconductor devices such as Integrated Circuit s. They are made in various sizes ranging from 1 inch (25.4 mm) to 11.8 inches (300 mm), and thicknesses of the Order Of 0.5 mm. Generally, they are cut from a Boule of semiconductor using a Diamond Saw , then Polished on one or both faces. and Crystallographic orientation. Red represents material that has been removed.]]Wafers under 200 mm generally have ''flats'' indicating Crystallographic planes of high symmetry (usually the {110} face) and, in old-fashioned wafers (those below about 100 mm diameter), the wafer's orientation and doping type (see illustration for conventions). Modern wafers use a notch to convey this information, in order to waste less material {Link without Title} . Orientation is important since many of a single crystal's structural and electronic properties are highly Anisotropic . For instance, wafer Cleavage typically occurs only in a few well-defined directions. Scoring the wafer along cleavage planes allows it to be easily diced into individual chips (" Die s") so that the billions of individual Circuit elements on an average wafer can be separated into many individual circuits. SOURCES # A website with semiconductor lore. # Federal Standard 1037C |
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