Achieve Exceptional Slurry Savings When Polishing Silicon Carbide Wafers

SiC is extremely hard and brittle. When combined with improper materials or excessive force during machining, wafers can experience cracks, defects, and chipping, potentially resulting in substantial revenue loss. 

Wafer manufacturers have traditionally utilized chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) slurries at the final stages to deliver scratch-free, atomically smooth wafer surfaces. However, the CMP step is significantly costly to wafer manufacturers, accounting for up to 50% of the total costs of finishing the wafer due to chemical waste and polishing time. Discover Hyperion's unique solution to help wafer manufacturers efficiently enhance their silicon carbide polishing processes.  

Innovating the Polishing Process

In the final polishing step, wafer manufacturers often use CMP slurry to achieve the desired surface finish without causing subsurface damage. Although effective, CMP produces a lot of chemical waste, which forces manufacturers to develop processes to maintain sustainability efforts. In addition to chemical waste costs, CMP takes a substantially long time to polish a wafer effectively, creating potential bottlenecks in the SiC wafer polishing process, which is especially challenging when wafer manufacturers are striving to meet industry demand.

^{A slurry polishing machine in action, shaping a circular object with precision in a production environment.}

Hyperion Materials & Technologies developed Quantis™ Polishing Slurries, a series of unique micro-etched diamond slurries with exceptionally high material removal rates to innovate the final silicon carbide polishing process. Quantis ensures high-quality epitaxial layers meet the stringent requirements of the semiconductor industry while reducing surface roughness and speeding up the polishing time of superhard substrate wafers. By implementing a two-step polishing process with Quantis Polishing Slurries, wafer manufacturers can save up to 70% on production costs, making their operations more cost-effective.

Unlock the Future of SiC Wafer Processing 

Discover how Hyperion's Quantis Polishing Slurries can enhance wafer manufacturer’s SiC wafer manufacturing process. Learn how this innovative slurry provides toolmakers the opportunity to boost manufacturing efficiency, reduce costs, and achieve superior surface quality. Download the technical article to learn more about the Quantis technology, testing results, and implementation of an effective two-step polishing strategy.