Project description
Detecting defects before the wafer stage will reduce scrap and boost marketability
Silicon carbide (SiC) is an important crystalline semiconductor material. In addition to its electrical properties, it is also extremely hard, can withstand very high temperatures and is resistant to chemical reactions. As a result, SiC is a prime contender for both high-power, high-temperature electronics and abrasion and cutting applications. However, the scrap rate for crystalline wafers is currently very high due to uncontrolled growth and defects, significantly increasing market price and thus inhibiting more widespread use. The Swiss SME Scientific Visual has developed a scanner that can detect defects in transparent crystalline materials such as sapphire before processing. It also collects real-time process data that enable manufacturers to modify parameters and reduce the occurrence of future defects. The EU-funded SiC_Scope project is helping the company adapt this technology to SiC and other non-transparent materials.
Objective
Industrially grown crystals are key to our modern life; from electric car batteries to airplane windows. One of the fastest-growing crystal segments is silicon carbide (SiC), highly demanded in semiconductor applications for power supplies, electric cars, solar inverters, trains, and wind turbines. SiC is expected to be one of the top-10 advanced materials in the market by 2021; the SiC device market will top €1.4B by 2023, with 31% CAGR from 2017-2023.
Growing crystals is an imperfect process. Particularly so for SiC, where unnoticed defects affect as many as 70% of all final wafers. Existing quality control techniques spot the defects after the crystal has been processed. Increased cost of the low yield sets today an obstacle to the wide application of SiC.
Scientific Visual (SV) is a Swiss company, established in 2010 and led by Dr. Ivan Orlov, PhD in crystallography, and COO Fréderic Falise. Our innovation, SiC_Scope, is a scanner to detect and map defects in raw SiC prior to crystal processing. Based on refractive index matching, it is more accurate and faster than existing solutions, providing increased yield at a lower cost. Using SiC_Scope, a single grower can obtain a 6.5M€/year cost saving. Moreover, the scanner gathers real-time information on the defects, which allows crystal growers to tune their processes, driving down the number of defective crystals.
In this project, we will adapt our existing technology currently applied to sapphires and other transparent crystals to detect the defects present in SiC which is a non-transparent crystal. Scientific Visual expects to attain absolute market leadership.
Fields of science
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistryinorganic compounds
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesgeologymineralogycrystallography
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energywind power
- natural sciencesphysical scienceselectromagnetism and electronicssemiconductivity
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrymetalloids
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinator
1006 Lausanne
Switzerland
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.