Did you know that ultrapure water plays a critical role in the world of electronics? Semiconductor manufacturers use it to clean tiny and sensitive equipment, including the wafers in computer microchips.
Before you buy a silicon wafer online, you may want to take a moment to learn about the water that’s so crucial in the production of semiconductors.
Also known as highly purified water (HPW), ultrapure water is completely devoid of contaminants. Laboratories across different markets use ultrapure water systems to eliminate chemical contaminants. Moreover, these systems integrate various treatment technologies, including electro-deionization, ion exchange, reverse osmosis, and UV radiation to eliminate all traces of bacteria and endotoxins from the water.
A wide variety of industries use ultrapure water. These include solar photovoltaics, power generation, pharmaceuticals, specialty applications, and semiconductors.
It’s important to note that the quality standards for ultrapure water vary by industry. How an enterprise uses this component determines its standards. For example, pharmaceutical plants don’t use the same type of ultrapure water that power stations or semiconductor facilities use.
Semiconductor plants use thin slices of crystalline silicon called silicon wafers for fabricating integrated circuits. Furthermore, the wafers act as substrates for microelectronic devices built in and upon them. Water of extremely high quality is necessary for specific process steps in producing chips and integrated circuits.
Semiconductor facilities use water as a cleaning agent to remove unwanted organic and inorganic substances from wafer surfaces. For this reason, the water must not contain particles that can either lodge in circuits or dissolve and precipitate. Unless they use ultrapure water for cleaning wafers, wafer manufacturers won’t eliminate the risk of microchip failures.
At Wafer World, we’re committed to producing quality semiconductor wafers while providing superior customer services. Contact us today to request a quote.
