Silicon wafers are the most in-demand semiconductor material
Silicon wafer is an important semiconductor material, with a scale of over 10 billion US dollars.
Semiconductor materials are a class of electronic materials with semiconductor properties (conductivity between conductors and insulators) that can be used to make semiconductor devices and integrated circuits, and are the basis of the semiconductor industry.
The research on semiconductor materials began in the 19th century and has developed to the fourth generation of semiconductor materials, and each generation of semiconductor materials complements each other.
The first generation of semiconductors: represented by silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), etc., are elemental semiconductor materials composed of a single element.
The development of silicon semiconductor materials and their integrated circuits has led to the emergence of microcomputers and the leap of the entire information industry.
Second-generation semiconductors: represented by gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), etc., including ternary compound semiconductors, such as GaAsAl, GaAsP, as well as some solid solution semiconductors, non-static semiconductors, etc.
With the rise of the information superhighway based on optical communication and the development of social informatization, the second-generation semiconductor materials have shown their superiority, and gallium arsenide and indium phosphide semiconductor lasers have become key devices in optical communication systems.
GaAs high-speed devices have also opened up new industries for optical fibers and mobile communications.
The third generation of semiconductors: wide-bandgap semiconductor materials represented by gallium nitride (GaN), silicon carbide (SiC), and zinc oxide (ZnO).
It has excellent properties such as high breakdown electric field, high thermal conductivity, high electron saturation rate and strong radiation resistance, and is more suitable for the production of high temperature, high frequency, radiation resistance and high power electronic devices.
The Internet, high-speed rail transit, new energy vehicles, consumer electronics and other fields have broad application prospects.
Fourth-generation semiconductors: ultra-wide band gap semiconductor materials represented by gallium oxide (Ga2O3), diamond (C), and aluminum nitride (AlN), with a band gap exceeding 4eV; and antimonide (GaSb, InSb) represented by of ultra-narrow bandgap semiconductor materials.
Ultra-wide band gap materials have more prominent characteristic advantages in the field of high-frequency power devices due to their wider band gaps than third-generation semiconductor materials; ultra-narrow band gap materials are mainly used in detectors due to their easy excitation and high mobility. , lasers and other devices.
Silicon materials make most of the world’s semiconductor products, and it is also the largest semiconductor manufacturing material.
In the early 1950s, germanium was the dominant semiconductor material.
However, germanium semiconductor devices have poor high temperature resistance and radiation resistance, and were gradually replaced by silicon materials in the 1960s.
Since the leakage current of silicon devices is much lower, and silicon dioxide is a high-quality insulator, it is easy to integrate as part of silicon devices.
So far, semiconductor devices and integrated circuits are still mainly made of silicon materials.
Most of the world’s semiconductor products. According to SEMI data, semiconductor silicon wafers (silicon wafers) are also the largest raw material in the silicon wafer manufacturing process.
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