The Unsung Heroes of Semiconductor Manufacturing: Ceramic Materials and Diamond Wire Multi-Line Slicing Machines

In the semiconductor industry, where precision reaches the nanoscale, ceramic materials and diamond wire multi-line slicing machines play indispensable yet often overlooked roles. Though not part of the final chip circuits, they are the "unsung heroes" supporting the entire manufacturing process, directly impacting chip performance, yield, and cost .

I. Ceramic Materials: The "Skeleton and Skin" of Semiconductor Equipment

Ceramic materials hold an irreplaceable position in semiconductor manufacturing due to their unique physical and chemical properties. The global market for high-performance ceramics used in semiconductors reached approximately 2.87billionin2024andisprojectedtoexceed4.21 billion by 2031, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.7% .

1. Core Performance Advantages

Ceramics are preferred for semiconductor equipment primarily because of four key advantages:

High-Temperature Resistance and Thermal Shock Stability: Alumina ceramics have a melting point as high as 2050°C, maintaining stable structure under high-temperature processes (800-1600°C) in semiconductor manufacturing and withstanding frequent thermal cycling .

Excellent Electrical Insulation: Aluminium nitride ceramics can achieve an insulation resistance of over 10¹⁴ Ω, far superior to plastics and metals, effectively isolating current interference and preventing chip leakage failures .

Superior Corrosion Resistance: Ceramic materials are chemically inert, resisting reactions with highly corrosive gases like hydrofluoric acid and chlorine gas, and exhibit excellent corrosion resistance in plasma etching environments .

High Precision and Low Thermal Expansion: Ceramics are second only to diamond in hardness. Their surface roughness can be controlled below Ra 0.1μm, and they have a very low coefficient of thermal expansion (e.g., ~7×10⁻⁶/°C for alumina), close to that of silicon wafers, ensuring micron-level machining accuracy .

2. Key Application Scenarios

Ceramic materials are ubiquitous throughout the semiconductor manufacturing process:

Wafer Fabrication: Electrostatic chucks, core components in etching, deposition, and ion implantation processes, are made from high-purity alumina or aluminium nitride ceramics. They hold wafers via electrostatic adsorption and integrate heating/cooling systems for precise temperature control. Aluminium nitride is increasingly used in high-power processes due to its excellent thermal conductivity .

Etching Process Components: Liners, focus rings, and gas distribution plates within etching reaction chambers are directly exposed to high-temperature, highly corrosive plasma. Yttria ceramics demonstrate exceptional corrosion resistance in halogen-based plasmas (e.g., Cl₂, CF₄) and are the material of choice for high-end etching machines .

Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP): Zirconia ceramics are used for polishing heads in CMP equipment, offering high hardness, wear resistance, and chemical stability, allowing them to function stably long-term in slurry environments while maintaining uniform pressure on the wafer surface .

Packaging and Testing: Aluminium nitride ceramic substrates act as insulating layers, efficiently transferring heat from the chip to metal heat sinks while ensuring electrical isolation between circuits. Ceramic probe cards, leveraging high hardness and wear resistance, enable stable high-frequency signal transmission during chip testing .

Wafer Handling Systems: Ceramic robotic arms directly contact wafers, requiring high temperature resistance, wear resistance, high hardness, and low particle generation. Silicon carbide ceramics are ideal for manufacturing these arms due to their excellent overall properties .

II. 12-Inch Diamond Wire Multi-Line Slicing Machines: The "Precision Slicing Masters" for Semiconductor Materials

As semiconductor wafer sizes advanced from 8-inch to 12-inch, traditional slicing technologies could no longer meet the demands for large-size, high-precision, low-loss processing. Diamond wire multi-line slicing machines emerged as a key solution for semiconductor material processing .

1. Technical Principles and Advantages

Diamond wire multi-line slicing machines use a metal wire (typically diamond-coated steel wire) as the cutting medium. Material is cut through high-speed reciprocating motion combined with slurry or fixed abrasives. Their uniqueness lies in the multi-wire parallel arrangement, enabling hundreds of cutting wires to work simultaneously with high precision .

Core Technical Parameters:

Minimum Cut Thickness: 0.1mm

Maximum Processing Size: Up to 310mm × 500mm

Maximum Diamond Wire Speed: 2500 meters/minute

2. Application Value in the Semiconductor Industry

Silicon Wafer Slicing: 12-inch silicon wafers are only a few hundred micrometers thick. Diamond wire slicing can control wafer thickness variation within ±1 micrometer, with surface roughness (Ra) as low as 0.1 micrometer, virtually eliminating processing cracks and increasing final chip yield by 15%-20% .

Third-Generation Semiconductor Material Processing: Silicon carbide (SiC) has a Mohs hardness of 9.2, second only to diamond. Traditional grinding wheel slicing is inefficient with loss rates up to 30%. Diamond wire slicing is much faster. A multi-line machine can slice multiple 12-inch pieces simultaneously, processing a single SiC wafer in just 8-12 minutes, reducing material loss rate to below 5% and significantly lowering raw material costs .

Sapphire Substrate Slicing: LED substrate slices require extremely high cutting precision. Diamond wire slicers can handle a cutting thickness range from 0.1mm to 20mm, meeting various application needs. Their cutting efficiency is about 300% higher than traditional equipment, with yields exceeding 98% .

3. Technology Development Trends

Intelligent Upgrades: New-generation equipment integrates machine vision positioning systems, adaptive cutting parameter adjustment, and digital twin simulation for intelligent slicing .

Green Manufacturing: Diamond wire diameters are becoming finer, reducing material consumption. Coolant recycling rates are increased to over 95%. Energy-saving drive systems reduce energy consumption by 30% .

Composite Processing Capabilities: Designs integrating slicing and grinding, online inspection functions, and multi-material adaptability technologies meet diverse processing needs .

III. Localization Progress and Market Outlook

In the ceramic materials sector, Japanese manufacturers hold about 68% of the market share, followed by US manufacturers (10.2%), and European and Korean manufacturers (10.3% and 5.87% respectively). The top nine companies account for over 88% of the global market .

However, Chinese companies are accelerating their efforts. Companies like China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) have successfully developed 300mm multi-wire slicing machines, breaking the foreign monopoly on equipment running in production lines . Through independent R&D, other Chinese firms have developed high thermal conductivity silicon nitride ceramic substrates with thermal conductivity >80 W/(m·K), with key performance indicators now comparable to leading Japanese companies .

In the multi-line slicing machine field, the rapid expansion of the Chinese market is driven by continuous PV capacity expansion, the acceleration of semiconductor localization, and demand from emerging application sectors. According to recent industry reports, the global multi-wire slicing machine market is expected to reach $2.87 billion by 2025, with a CAGR of 8.3% .

IV. Conclusion

Ceramic materials and diamond wire multi-line slicing machines – one serving as the "skeleton and skin" of semiconductor equipment, the other as the "precision slicing master" for semiconductor materials – together form a solid foundation for the semiconductor manufacturing产业链 . As semiconductor technology advances towards more sophisticated processes and larger wafer sizes, the requirements for ceramic materials and slicing equipment will become even more stringent. In the future, with the adoption of technologies like 3D printing and atomic layer deposition, specialty ceramics have the potential to move beyond their "supporting role" and become core engines driving leaps in the semiconductor industry . In this nanoscale contest, the technological breakthroughs and industrialization progress of Chinese enterprises will directly impact the competitive landscape of the global semiconductor industry chain .