Machining Of Sapphire Wafer Carriers - Process, Applications and Benefits

Insaco, Inc has become recognized as a worldwide leader in custom machined ceramic and sapphire parts for the semiconductor industry. Through this experience, Insaco offers multiple hole wafer carriers in sapphire for GaAs, Indium Phosphide, and other semiconductors.

Why Use Sapphire for Wafer Carriers?

Reasons for using sapphire for wafer carriers include:

• Superior chip resistance
• Chemically resistant to all reagents used in processing
• Scratch resistant. Harder than any other optical material except diamond.
• Transparent
• Durable. Withstands repeated use and handling
• Best coefficient of thermal expansion match to GaAs.

Insaco has also developed unique capabilities to fabricate wafers with one or more circular recesses; to serve as holder for other wafers. This includes single recess in the center as well as, for example, four 2” recesses in a single 6” carrier. The key is keeping the recess flat and parallel, and perhaps also polished. This is where innovation was required, and we are able to offer flat and parallel recesses to .0001” (2.5 micron).

Advantages of Sapphire over Quartz Wafer Carriers

Sapphire offers many advantages over quartz carriers:

• Higher thermal conductivity (42 W / mK @ 20°C).
• Higher melting temperature (2040 °C).
• Much greater hardness & scratch resistance - second only to diamond.
• Impervious to virtually all chemicals and reagents.

Features of Insaco Sapphire Wafer Carriers

Features of Insaco sapphire wafer carriers include:

• Custom sizes for the processing of your 2",3", 4" and 6" GaAs wafers, with larger carrier sizes if required
• Available with or without perforations
• Laser marked for identification
• Scratch and chemical resistant

Benefits of Insaco Sapphire Wafer Carriers

Benfits of using Insaco sapphire wafer carriers include:

• Cost savings by giving you exactly what you need
• Flexibility in meeting your design specs
• Provides full documentation and continuous traceability
• Lends itself to repeated use without compromising the integrity of the wafer