FABRICATION OF SILICON SHEET FOR ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT APPLICATION

SINGLE CRYSTAL SILICON WAFERS ARE ESSENTIAL FOR INTEGRATED CIRCUIT (IC) MANUFACTURING. RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING A METHOD TO FABRICATE THESE WAFERS DIRECTLY IN SHEET FORM IN CONTRAST TO CYLINDRICAL BOULES CURRENTLY UTILIZED. THE TECHNIQUE REDUCES THE COMPLEXITY AND COST OF THE CRYSTAL GROWTH HARDWARE. WAFER SLICING FROM THE BOULE IS ELIMINATED ALONG WITH THE ASSOCIATED KERF LOSS; AND FABRICATION IN SHEET FORM ALTERS THE BASIC THERMAL TRANSPORT OF THE CRYSTAL GROWTH SO THAT SCALE-UP TO LARGER SIZES CAN BE MORE STRAIGHTFORWARDLY ACCOMPLISHED. THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVE IS TO OBTAIN A FINAL WAFER PRODUCT WHICH IS EQUAL OR SUPERIOR TO CURRENT WAFERS. THERE CURRENTLY IS NO DOMESTIC VENDOR OF SILICON WAFERS TO SUPPLY THE DOMESTIC IC FABRICATION INDUSTRIES. THIS PUTS THE U.S. IC INDUSTRY AT SEVERE JEOPARDY VIS-A-VIS EXPORT CONTROL FROM FOREIGN SUPPLIERS. THIS RESEARCH WOULD PROMOTE THE RETURN OF SILICON WAFER MANUFACTURING TO THE DOMESTIC UNITED STATES MARKETPLACE.