An FZ wafer is known for its high purity and low impurity rate. It’s also popular for its high-temp stability. These notable characteristics have made FZ wafers an ideal substitute for Czochralski (CZ) wafers. Furthermore, these wafers have a high pure silicone concentration acquired through vertical melting. When oxygen and carbon are present in these wafers, it gives them a significantly low silicon level. However, with the presence of nitrogen, the mechanical power of these wafers is enhanced. Let’s find out more.
The most common type of FZ wafers is the HIRES FZ or High Resistivity FZ wafer. These wafers consist of high purity FZ ingots with an impressive resistivity that’s more than 1000 ohm-cm. This type of wafer is ideal for receiver chips, RF MEMS switches, millimeter wave circuits, and microwave devices.
NTD FZ wafers consist of undoped high purity FZ ingots. The doping method used is the Neutron Transmutation Doping irradiation process. This process results in an N-type FZ wafer with a lower, yet more robust, resistivity range. This is the type of FZ wafer used in making elements for semiconductor power devices.
Gas Doped Float Zone wafers consist of FZ ingot and are doped with gaseous dopants and placed at a melt interface. Furthermore, this meticulous process provides excellent uniformity throughout the length of the FZ ingot.
The FZ wafer method follows the zone-melting principle invented in 1962 by Theuerer. FZ wafer production is done under an inert gaseous environment or a vacuum. It starts with a high-purity polycrystalline rod coupled with a monocrystalline seed crystal. Although an FZ wafer is often viewed as expensive, it’s actually cost-efficient in terms of the infrared material being utilized.
So, if you have more questions about FZ wafers, we are more than happy to discuss them with you. At Wafer World, we have been providing Silicon, Gallium Arsenide, Germanium, Indium Phosphide, Sapphire and Quartz for years in our 12,000 sq. ft facility. For years, we have satisfied our customers in more than 45 countries. Visit our website to learn more about what we offer.
