Siliciumsubstraten

Siliciumsubstraten (silicon substrates) are polished wafers of crystalline silicon that serve as the foundational material for most semiconductor devices, MEMS, and many solar cells. They are produced from high-purity silicon and manufactured as single crystals using the Czochralski (CZ) or float-zone (FZ) methods. CZ wafers often contain higher oxygen levels from the quartz crucible, while FZ wafers are typically purer. Wafers are supplied in common orientations, notably (100) and (111).

Diameters range from lab sizes up to 300 mm; typical thickness is around 0.5–0.8 mm. Substrates can be doped n-type or p-type with dopants such as boron, phosphorus, or arsenic, yielding a wide range of resistivities. Surfaces are prepared with polishing and cleaning to achieve low roughness, and are thermally oxidized to form SiO2 for isolation or as a gate dielectric. Standard processing includes photolithography, diffusion, ion implantation, and metallization.

Applications include most integrated circuits, MEMS, and photovoltaic devices. Silicon substrates are also used in silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technologies and as bases for epitaxy and heterostructures. Although alternatives exist for specialized functions (for example silicon carbide for high-power devices or GaN for optoelectronics), silicon remains the dominant substrate material because of mature processing, reliability, and cost.