What is a Wafer Substrate?
A Wafer substrate is considered a thin slice of semiconductor (such as crystalline silicon) that serves as the base for microelectronic devices built in and upon the wafer. A waferPro wafer typically has a thickness of about 100 micrometers but may be up to 200 micrometers for older technologies or 300 micrometers for newer ones. A substrate is the base material upon which a device or structure is built. The most common materials used to make semiconductor wafers are silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), and compound semiconductors materials such as gallium arsenide (GaAs).
Types of Wafer Substrates
There are many different types of semiconductors that all work in slightly different ways. Some common semiconductor materials include germanium, gallium arsenide, silicon on insulators (SOI), and organic semiconductors. The most commonly used type of semiconductor found in the electronics industry is single-element semiconductors (silicon si).
Silicon on an Insulator SOI
Silicon on an insulator or SOI is made up of an epitaxial layer or thin film grown on a substrate with a crystalline silicon layer. This type of wafer substrate allows for much higher device density and significant advantages over conventional planar devices, such as microprocessors comprising hundreds to thousands of transistors.
Organic Semiconductor
Another type of semiconductor wafer substrate used in the modern electronics industry is the organic semiconductor. Organic semiconductors are made up of a specific type of carbon molecule. They’re typically used in OLED displays and OPV photovoltaic cells, which are essential parts of the solar power technology used today.
Since germanium is a single-element semiconductor instead of silicon, it has different properties than that silicon. A conductor which exhibits lower resistivity at higher temperatures is said to have high thermal conductivity. Germanium has a thermal conductivity of about 80% of copper, and this property allows for use in such devices as thermistors and heaters (filament).
What are the Advantages of Using a Wafer Substrate?
Silicon wafer substrates are actually a recent invention and the most commonly used material for semiconductor electronics. These wafers have many advantages in the silicon substrate, which include that they’re a very cheap and easy-to-manufacture material, which has few limitations on its use.
1) Wide Range of Current and Voltage Handling Capacity.
As the dedicated material for semiconductor electronics, silicon wafer substrates are a great choice for researchers. The silicon wafers also come with a large range of current handling capacity, which allows them to be used in various interesting ways. For example, you can use silicon wafers to test different types of semiconductor devices, test high-performance transistors and even test other computer technologies by using the silicon wafers’ wide range of voltage and current handling capacity.
2) They can also be used for the Integration of Complex but Readily Built-up Microelectronic Circuits.
In the field of electronics, semiconductor devices are expected to be cheaper, have more performance, and be more efficient. Silicon wafers can’t only meet these demands but also easily integrate with other microelectronic circuits. This allows you to build complex but readily built-up microelectronic circuits.
3) Semiconductor Devices with No Filaments
Semiconductor devices have no filaments, which means no power is necessary to heat them and cause the emission of electrons.
Conclusion:
wafer Substrate is used in almost every element of human life and the advancement of technology. Due to their stability over other semiconductor materials, wafers substrate are the most widely used materials in the field of technology. There is no better example than silicon-based computer chips, which have been made from these wafers since their invention in 1958. By far, a huge number of consumers prefer this type of substrate as it can be optimized for efficiency and speed which is unparalleled by any other material on earth. Its use has also seen an increase due to the growing interest in electric cars and solar energy, which will rise due to its low cost when compared with other alternatives.
