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Factor # 2

Wafer Thickness

The next key consideration is selecting the wafer thickness:

• Thickness ranges from ultra-thin 20um to thick 3000um wafers
• Thinner wafers allow improved heat transfer and are often used for MEMS devices
• Thick wafers provide better mechanical strength and are widely used for power devices
• Ultra-thin wafers under 200um may require specialized handling to prevent breakage

Here are common industry standard thicknesses we supply:

• 10-100um – Ultra-thin
• 100-800um – Standard for integrated circuits (ICs) and power devices
• 800+um – Special order extra thick wafers

Consider the tradeoffs between wafer thickness and your application constraints like maximum process temperatures and wafer strength required.

Browse our online catalog by thickness range to explore in-stock items fitting your thickness needs.

Factor # 3

Wafer Type

In addition to physical size specifications, selecting the wafer type meaning the material it is composed of is key:

• Most common is Silicon – extremely pure crystalline Si – for semiconductor devices
• Other options like FZ, SOI, Thermal Oxide, Silicon Nitride, Fused Silica, Fused Quartz, or Borofloat Glass for specialized applications

As a high purity silicon wafer specialist our focus is providing:

• Monocrystalline silicon – extremely uniform crystalline structure
• Reclaimed test and production silicon wafers

For this buying guide, we will focus specifically on purchasing silicon wafers, by far the most widely used for electronics and semiconductors.

Factor # 4

Orientation

Crystalline orientation is another key differentiator of silicon wafers:

• Defines the plane aligned with surface of wafer and directionality of silicon lattice
• Most common orientation by far is <100> where the wafer flat is aligned to the [110] plane
• <111> used for specialized applications along with <110>

Orientation impacts:

• Microchip layout and design rules must match
• Wafer sawing, polishing, shaping and final surface quality
• Oxide quality, charge carrier mobility and electronic performance

We stock the standard orientations:

• <100> orientation
• <111> orientation
• <110> orientation

Please contact our technical sales team to discuss special order wafers.

Factor # 5

Doping Type and Resistivity

A key differentiator of silicon wafers is the doping type (N or P) and more importantly the resistivity specification:

• Doping adds trace amounts of elemental impurities to alter electrical conductivity
• N-type uses group V elements (phosphorus, arsenic or antimony)
• P-type uses group III elements (boron)
• Resistivity in Ohm-cm specifies conductivity – lower is more conductive

Here are common silicon wafer resistivity ranges:

• 0.001-0.005 Ohm-cm – Heavy doping – electrically conductive
• 0.005-0.02 Ohm-cm – Moderate doping
• 0.1-100 Ohm-cm – Light doping – semi-insulating
• 1000 Ohm-cm – Intrinsic (undoped) – highly insulating

Choosing the target resistivity range depends key factors:

• Device type being fabricated and electrical performance constraints
• Isolation requirements between devices
• Tradeoffs on accessibility for ion implantation

Browse our catalog filtered by resistivity specification to match your target conductivity needs.

And feel free to discuss with our team the right guidance on intrinsic vs N vs P type and resistivity selection for your application.

Factor # 6

Test, Prime or Reclaimed

Silicon wafers fall into 3 major quality grades:

1. Test grade:

• Brand new virgin polished wafers meeting semiconductor prime grade specs
• Except contains some added material to make affordable for R&D
• Hence allows full process testing without cost of prime wafers

2. Prime grade:

• Virgin polished wafers meeting stringent semiconductor manufacturing requirements
• Extremely low defects – usually <0.3 defects/cm2 and particles
• Used for production microchip fabrication

3. Reclaimed grade:

• Used production or test wafers that have been reclaimed
• Mechanically backside ground and sometimes re-polished
• May have existing devices, implants, films or patterns on surface
• Cost effective for lab experiments or pilot production

Understand the tradeoffs between cost and quality for these silicon wafer grades:

Browse our grade filtered catalog listings to explore test/prime/reclaimed options meeting your project budget and quality needs.

Factor # 7

Surface Finish

The wafer surface finish – meaning how mirror-like the surface is:

• Specified by Site Total Thickness Variation (TTV) in angstroms (Å)
• Lower angstrom level indicates flatter/smoother wafer surface
• Typical from 2-5Å for prime grade polished to 30Å for backside lapped

Surface flatness impacts:

• Photolithography resolution – critical for microchip fabrication
• Film depositions uniformity across the wafer
• Ability to resolve microscopic structures for inspection
• Bonding interfaces for layer transfer processes

We supply wafers across the range of surface finishes:

• Double side polished (DSP): Both sides of the wafer are polished to ultra-flatness, critical for photolithography and vacuum chucking
• Single side polished (SSP): One side polished while the other side etched or lapped, reducing cost
• Etched: Surface textured via wet/dry etching, used for silicon solar cell fabrication
• Lapped: Coarse surface finish from mechanical lapping, used for power devices not requiring fine lithography

Assess surface finish needed balanced with your budget for R&D test or production prime wafers.

Factor # 8

Notches or Flats

Wafers contain either notches or flats aligned to the crystalline orientation:

• Flats are straight edges cut from circle
• Notches are small V shaped marks around perimeter

Position indicates orientation, while notch vs flat itself has no impact on electrical properties.

However notches vs flats have implications for mechanical wafer handling:

• Flats preferred for vacuum systems – less leakage
• Notches make orientation easier to identify
• Our 200mm have notch per semiconductor industry standard
• Our 50.8-150mm options have flats

Browse our online catalog filtering on wafer size to see notch vs flat options. Or contact us to discuss your ideal mechanical wafer handling needs.

Factor # 9

Quantity

Another consideration is the quantity of wafers needed which drives decisions like:

• Cost effectiveness – bulk packages offer reduced pricing
• Managing inventory flow over longer duration projects
• Budgeting for R&D stages before scaling to production volumes

We break quantity options into:

• Singlesfor 1-4 wafers – convenient for first tests
• Small packsof 5 or 10 for lots of small scale experiments
• Volume packages up to 50 wafersfor production pilot builds
• And bulk quantities 100+for large research or commercial fab lines

There is a MOQ of 25 wafers (full cassette) when you buy wafers online at WaferPro.
Price breaks are available for different quantities in product pages.

Contact us to request formal quotes if needing 500pcs+ quantity of specialized wafer types for your fab line.

Factor # 10

Shipping Handling

The final consideration is shipping and handling factors:

• Delivery time urgency
• International shipping logistics
• Wafer packing – hard vs soft packaging
• Shipping insurance

Key aspects of our wafer shipping:

• Fast handling within 24-48 hours of order completion
• Packed securely to prevent breakage
• Tracking info provided for all shipments
• International delivery to most global destinations
• Accept credit cards for convenient payment for online orders
• Accept Purchase Orders from companies and Universities

Review all WaferPro policies for shipping and payments before ordering to ensure alignment.

And don’t hesitate to contact our team with any wafer shipping questions to provide smooth ordering and delivery.