Silicon wafer foundry service providers
have been useful to the semiconductor industry and the sectors it
serves. The advanced technology it offers, particularly with the
advent of fabless business model, provides the affordability
advantage, which is essential to maintaining minimal production
costs of the foundry processes. Through foundry service providers' process capabilities, the
production of semiconductor components such as MEMS have been
efficient ajd cost-effective in the recent years.
Foundry service providers have a number
of process capabilities, including:
- Lithography - also known as photolithography is a process that puts specific patterns on silicon wafers; the patterns are written on the substrates using a light sensitive polymer called photoresist. This process is essential to the production of semiconductor components that connect millions of transistors of a circuit.
- Etching - in simpler terms, it is a process of making prints on the surface of the substrate or wafer. Several wafer foundry companies have a broad range of wet etching capability for 300mm and smaller diameters, for a broad range of dielectrics and metal films. They can also process non-standard sized substrates.
- Wafer reclaim and recovery - this service is a practical way of extending the life of the wafers; wafer foundry service providers have the capacity to mechanically re-polish wafers to remove film, surface scratches, and residual patters. While there is a certain limit on the number of times a wafer may be reclaimed, still this procedure is a cost effective solution to customers.
- Thin films (dielectrics) - includes thermal oxide and LPCVD processes; foundry companies use equipment like custom furnaces to carry out Thermal Oxide process.
- KISS Polishing - a process used by wafer foundry service companies to remove minor surface scratches or defect on the substrates. This service includes visual inspection of wafers for chips and cracks.
