A PhD researcher requested high-resistivity silicon wafers for use as terahertz radiation transmitters and filters. Required specifications included undoped silicon, resistivity between 100 and 10,000+ Ω·cm, single-side polishing, 0.5 mm thickness, and diameters ranging from 2 to 4 inches.
High-Resistivity Silicon Wafers for Terahertz Applications
High-resistivity silicon wafers are commonly used in terahertz (THz) optics, spectroscopy, imaging systems, semiconductor research, and electromagnetic filtering applications. Their low free-carrier absorption allows specific terahertz frequencies to pass through while minimizing unwanted signal losses.
Researchers frequently select undoped or intrinsic silicon wafers for terahertz transmission studies because of their excellent optical and electrical properties across the THz spectrum.
Reference #205310 for specifications and pricing.
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Silicon Wafers for Magnetic Thin Film Research
Researchers developing magnetic thin films, spintronic devices, sensors, and advanced materials frequently require silicon wafers with thermal oxide layers. Thermal oxide provides electrical isolation, improved surface quality, and compatibility with thin-film deposition processes.
A postdoctoral researcher requested 100 mm silicon wafers with 300 nm thermal oxide for magnetic thin-film fabrication and flexible device development. The project involved thinning standard 500 μm silicon wafers to approximately 10 μm for flexible electronics applications.
Reference #197229 for specifications and pricing.
Thin Silicon Wafers for Wafer-Scale Photolithography
Thin silicon wafers are widely used in photolithography, MEMS fabrication, silicon nitride membrane development, microelectronics, and advanced semiconductor processing. Their reduced thickness enables specialized device architectures while maintaining compatibility with conventional semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
A postdoctoral researcher requested 100 mm diameter, 100 μm thick, double-side polished silicon wafers for wafer-scale photolithography and large suspended silicon nitride membrane arrays.
Typical specifications included:
- Diameter: 100 mm
- Thickness: 100 μm
- Orientation: <100>
- Doping: Boron-doped (P-type)
- Resistivity: 0.001–0.005 Ω·cm
- Double-side polished surface
Reference #212768 for specifications and pricing.
Custom Silicon Wafer Specifications Available
UniversityWafer, Inc. supplies silicon wafers in virtually every major semiconductor specification, including prime-grade silicon wafers, test wafers, high-resistivity silicon, thermal oxide wafers, thin silicon wafers, and custom diced substrates.
- Wafer diameters from small chips to 300 mm wafers
- Resistivity ranges below 1 Ω·cm to over 20,000 Ω·cm
- Single-side polished (SSP) and double-side polished (DSP) surfaces
- Thermal oxide, silicon nitride, and specialty coatings
- Custom dicing and wafer thinning services
- P-type, N-type, intrinsic, and heavily doped silicon
Send us your wafer specifications and quantity requirements for a fast quotation.
How to Select the Right Silicon Wafer for Your Research
Choosing the correct silicon wafer (Si wafer) depends on the requirements of your semiconductor, MEMS, photonics, sensor, photovoltaic, or materials science application. Key specifications include wafer diameter, crystal orientation, dopant type, resistivity, thickness, surface finish, and oxide coatings. UniversityWafer, Inc. supplies silicon wafers for research, prototyping, and production applications ranging from university laboratories to commercial semiconductor fabrication.
Silicon remains the most widely used semiconductor material because of its excellent electrical properties, mechanical stability, abundance, and compatibility with modern microfabrication processes. Silicon wafers are used to manufacture integrated circuits, MEMS devices, sensors, photonic components, solar cells, and advanced electronic systems.
Silicon Wafer Orientation and Crystal Structure
The crystal orientation of a silicon wafer significantly affects etching behavior, oxidation rates, epitaxial growth, and device performance. Common orientations include (100), (110), and (111), each offering unique advantages for semiconductor processing and MEMS fabrication.
- (100) Silicon: Most common orientation for integrated circuits and semiconductor devices.
- (110) Silicon: Frequently used for MEMS structures and anisotropic etching.
- (111) Silicon: Often selected for specialized electronic and photonic applications.
Available wafer types include intrinsic silicon, p-type silicon, n-type silicon, and highly doped silicon wafers for advanced electrical studies.
Silicon Wafer Thickness and Diameter Options
Silicon wafers are available in a wide range of diameters and thicknesses to support different fabrication requirements. Common wafer diameters include 2-inch, 3-inch, 4-inch, 100mm, 150mm, 200mm, and 300mm silicon wafers.
Thickness requirements vary significantly depending on the application. Thin silicon wafers are often used in MEMS, flexible electronics, sensors, and photolithography, while thicker wafers provide additional mechanical strength for processing and handling.
Prime Grade vs Test Grade Silicon Wafers
Prime grade silicon wafers are manufactured to meet strict semiconductor industry standards for surface quality, flatness, particle levels, and crystal perfection. These wafers are commonly used for device fabrication, epitaxy, thin-film deposition, and advanced semiconductor research.
Test-grade wafers offer a cost-effective solution for equipment calibration, training, process development, and preliminary experimentation where prime-grade specifications are not required.
Silicon Wafer Applications
Silicon wafers serve as the foundation for countless semiconductor and research applications, including:
- Integrated circuits and microelectronics
- MEMS fabrication
- Photolithography development
- Thin-film deposition research
- Terahertz transmission studies
- Optical and photonic devices
- Solar cell development
- Power electronics
- Biosensors and microfluidics
- Failure analysis and materials characterization
Highly Conductive Silicon Wafers for Electrical Studies
Researchers frequently request highly doped silicon wafers with extremely low resistivity for electrical measurements, polymer-film characterization, and electrode development. Custom specifications may include metallized back surfaces, photoresist coatings, diced substrates, and both-side-polished surfaces for advanced experimental setups.
Typical specifications may include p-type boron-doped silicon, resistivity below 0.005 Ω·cm, both-side polishing, and custom dicing for electrical characterization and thin-film research.
Silicon Wafers for Photolithography and Thin-Film Fabrication
Silicon wafers are widely used as substrates for photoresist mold fabrication, magnetic thin films, thermal oxide growth, silicon nitride deposition, and semiconductor process development. Researchers often select single-side polished or double-side polished wafers depending on the deposition, etching, and imaging requirements of their project.
UniversityWafer, Inc. can supply silicon wafers with custom diameters, orientations, oxide thicknesses, resistivity ranges, polishing options, and specialty coatings for research and production applications.