Electronics and Semiconductors

Advanced ceramic materials (such as alumina, zirconia, and silicon carbide) play a key role in the electronics and semiconductor industries. Their high hardness, high-temperature resistance, and corrosion resistance make them indispensable materials for precision manufacturing.

Alumina (Al₂O₃), zirconia (ZrO₂), and silicon carbide (SiC) each have unique applications in the electronics and semiconductor industries. Below is a detailed analysis of their specific applications and technical characteristics.

Alumina ceramic (Al₂O₃) is a key material in the electronics and semiconductor industries due to their high purity, high-temperature resistance, and excellent insulation properties. They are widely used in equipment components, packaging substrates, and process steps.

1. Core Components of Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment

Etching Equipment Protection. 

• High-purity alumina ceramic (purity ≥99.9%) is used for etching chamber linings and gas nozzles. It resists the highly corrosive effects of fluorine-based plasma, extending equipment maintenance cycles from six months to five years. Its nanocrystalline structure also reduces particle wear to 1/20th that of ordinary steel liners.

• Vacuum Chuck: Alumina ceramic chucks utilize a porous structure to achieve high-precision wafer fixation, preventing metal contamination and are suitable for processes such as polishing and CMP.
• Robotic Arm: Ceramic gripper pads are heat-resistant and wear-resistant, enabling precise wafer handling in a vacuum environment, with surface roughness controllable to Ra < 0.1nm. 
• Wafer carrier: The alumina carrier has a thermal conductivity of 20-30 W/(m·K), which quickly dissipates heat from the wafer and prevents thermal damage.

• Alumina ceramic tubes (thermal expansion coefficient 4.5×10⁻⁶/K) are used in diffusion furnaces and annealing furnaces. They can operate continuously at 1300°C for five years without deformation, preventing thermal stress cracking of the wafer.

• Alumina ceramic substrates (thermal conductivity 20-30 W/m·K) reduce the junction temperature of IGBT modules by 30°C through directional heat conduction design, extending their lifespan by three times.

• Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCCs): Alumina ceramic have a low dielectric constant (9.4) and an insulation strength of 15 kV/mm, supporting the miniaturization of 5G devices.
• LTCC/HTCC packaging: Used in three-dimensional packaging to improve chip integration and reliability.

Zirconia ceramic (ZrO₂) has a wide range of critical applications in the electronics and semiconductor industries due to their unique physical and chemical properties. The following are their specific applications and technical details:

1. Key Components of Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment
Etching and Deposition Equipment

• Zirconia Ceramic Tubes: Used in wafer etching chambers, their thermal expansion coefficient is only 1/8 that of stainless steel (3.2×10⁻⁶/°C), with deformation of less than 1.5μm at 1600°C, improving wafer yield by 1.8%.
• Vacuum Chamber Components: Zirconia ceramics' chemical resistance resists chloride plasma corrosion, keeping metal ion contamination below 0.08ppm.

• Zirconia Ceramic Blades: Used for wafer dicing, they offer a lifespan five times that of diamond blades and eliminate metal contamination.
• Zirconia Jaws: With a surface roughness of Ra 0.02μm, they prevent wafer scratches and increase equipment availability to 99.1%.

• Oxygen Sensors. Utilizing the oxygen ion conductivity of zirconia at high temperatures, these sensors are used for automotive exhaust gas monitoring and industrial gas analysis, with a response time of <0.1 second.
• Fiber Optic Connectors: High-toughness zirconia is used for fiber optic connectors, with a plug-in/plug-out lifespan exceeding 100,000 cycles.
• Piezoelectric Components. Yttrium-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) can be used to manufacture piezoelectric devices such as ultrasonic oscillators and buzzers, with a frequency stability of ±0.01%.
• Integrated Circuit Substrates. Zirconia ceramic substrates have a dielectric constant of 25 and high insulation strength, making them suitable for MEMS components and electronic packaging.
• Biochips: Zirconia's biocompatibility makes them suitable for implantable medical electronic devices.

• Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs). Zirconia serves as the electrolyte layer, operating at temperatures of 800-1000°C and boasting an energy conversion efficiency exceeding 60%.

Silicon Carbide Ceramic (SiC) refers to a polycrystalline solid material formed by sintering silicon carbide powder. It is known for its excellent mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties. Silicon carbide ceramics are a high-end, fundamental material for the electronics and semiconductor industries, forming the essential physical foundation for manufacturing the most advanced chips and driving the most powerful power devices.

1. Core Components of Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment

Key Components for Wafer Manufacturing

• Wafer Etch/Diffusion Process Chamber Components: Electrostatic Chuck (ESC), Focus Ring, Gas Nozzle, Chamber Liner/Gas Distribution Showerhead.
• Ion Implanter Components: Trays and Holders for Wafer Loading and Transport.
• Precision Components for Photolithography Machines: Workpiece Stages and Guides, Mirrors, and Chucks.

• High-Power Electronic Module Heat Sink Substrates: Silicon carbide ceramic substrates are an ideal choice due to their extremely high thermal conductivity and matching thermal expansion coefficient.

• Sintering Furnace Guides, Paddles, and Epitaxy Trays.

2. Power Electronics and RF Devices

New Energy Vehicle Electronic Control Systems

• SiC MOSFET Modules: Silicon carbide power devices improve inverter efficiency by 5-10%, and models like the Tesla Model 3 have seen a 7% increase in battery life.
• 800V High-Voltage Platform: Silicon carbide devices enable fast charging to 80% in 15 minutes, suitable for high-end models like the NIO ET7.

• GaN-on-SiC RF Amplifiers: Silicon carbide substrates improve 5G base station PA efficiency by 40%, suitable for the terahertz frequency band.

3. Emerging Technology Applications
Quantum Computing and Sensors

• Qubit Carriers: Silicon carbide color center qubits achieve a coherence time of 10ms at room temperature, making them suitable for quantum computing.
• High-Temperature Sensors: Silicon carbide sensors resistant to 600°C are used for aircraft engine monitoring.

• Silicon carbide ceramic 3D printing technology can manufacture precision components such as lithography machine shade blades, with an accuracy of ±0.01mm.

Silicon Nitride Ceramic (Si₃N₄) is an advanced engineering ceramic with exceptional comprehensive properties, combining high strength, high toughness, excellent thermal properties, good electrical insulation, and outstanding chemical stability. These properties make silicon nitride a key player in the electronics and semiconductor industries, primarily focusing on its two main functions: load-bearing and heat dissipation.

Silicon nitride boasts high thermal conductivity, low thermal expansion coefficient, and superior mechanical properties. Its applications are primarily concentrated in the following areas:

1. Heat dissipation substrates for high-power electronic modules.
This is currently the most notable application of silicon nitride ceramics, particularly in the new energy vehicle, rail transit, and renewable energy sectors.

2. Semiconductor manufacturing process components
Due to its high purity, resistance to plasma erosion, high temperature resistance, and excellent mechanical properties, silicon nitride ceramics are used in various components in the chip manufacturing process, such as heaters, wafer bonding pads, insulation components, and fixtures.

3. Other applications in the electronics industry include circuit packaging and heat sinks.