As the CHIPS and Science Act spurs billions in domestic investment and the US-based semiconductor manufacturing industry scales, innovative new processes are creating game-changing gains in productivity and boosts in process efficiency.

Traditional Silicon Carbide Boule Post Production Process

One of the most prominent gains is in the post-production processing of Silicon Carbide boules, the raw product of synthetic silicon carbide production. An earlier blog post of ours discusses the carbide boule production process in plain English. Traditionally, after the cylindrically-shaped boule is extracted from the crucible, a diamond saw is used to remove the dome-shaped end pieces, and further post-production processes are used to remove material from the outside diameter (OD) of the boule.

The Improved Boule Production Process

High quality diamond saws – the type used to remove the dome-shaped ends of silicon carbide boules – typically run in the $2 million range. Moreover, the process typically takes several hours, and the material properties of Silicon Carbide prevent it from being clamped on the outside diameter (OD) or processed between centers to remove material from the OD.

Thanks to powerful innovations from teams at STUDER, MÄGERLE, BLOHM and a few industry partners, chip manufacturers can now process the faces and OD’s of Silicon Carbide boules faster than ever before, and perhaps with greater precision. BLOHM, MÄGERLE and STUDER machines have been equipped with an X-ray measuring head to align the crystal plane before removing material to ensure the maximum yield from each boule while minimizing waste.

Get More Information

If you’re interested in learning more about this process, use the links below to access the full articles:

MOTION Blog: The Simple, Plain-English guide to how silicon carbide makes microchips for the semiconductor industry

For more in-depth reading, check out our free white paper: Precision Grinding for Semiconductor & Microchip Manufacturing