The "Core Force" of Semiconductor Equipment—Silicon Carbide Components

The "Core Force" of Semiconductor Equipment—Silicon Carbide Components

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a high-performance structural ceramic material. Silicon carbide components, which are equipment parts primarily made of SiC and its composite materials, exhibit properties such as high density, exceptional thermal conductivity, high flexural strength, and large elastic modulus. These characteristics enable them to withstand the harsh reaction environments of extreme corrosion and ultra-high temperatures encountered in wafer epitaxy, etching, and other semiconductor manufacturing processes. As a result, they are widely used in key semiconductor equipment, including epitaxial growth systems, etching equipment, and oxidation/diffusion/annealing systems.

Based on crystal structure, SiC exists in numerous polytypes. The most common ones today are 3C, 4H, and 6H, each serving distinct applications. Among these, 3C-SiC (also known as β-SiC) is particularly notable for its use as thin-film and coating material. Currently, β-SiC serves as the primary coating material for graphite susceptors in semiconductor manufacturing.

Based on preparation processes, silicon carbide components can be classified into: Chemical Vapor Deposition Silicon Carbide (CVD SiC)、Reaction Sintered Silicon Carbide、Recrystallized Sintered Silicon Carbide、Pressureless Sintered Silicon Carbide、Hot Pressed Sintered Silicon Carbide、Hot Isostatic Pressed Sintered Silicon Carbide, etc.

Among the various methods for preparing silicon carbide materials, products fabricated via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) exhibit superior uniformity and purity, along with excellent process controllability. CVD silicon carbide materials, owing to their unique combination of exceptional thermal, electrical, and chemical properties, are ideally suited for applications in the semiconductor industry, particularly where high-performance materials are critical.

Silicon Carbide Components Market Size

CVD SiC Components

CVD SiC Components are widely used in etching equipment, MOCVD equipment, SiC epitaxial equipment, rapid thermal processing (RTP) equipment, and other fields.

Etching Equipment: The largest segment for CVD SiC components is in etching equipment. CVD SiC components used in etching equipment include focus rings, gas showerheads, susceptors, and edge rings. Due to their low reactivity to chlorine- and fluorine-containing etching gases and excellent electrical conductivity, CVD SiC is an ideal material for critical components like plasma etching focus rings.

Graphite Susceptor Coatings: Low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is currently the most effective process for producing dense SiC coatings, offering advantages such as controllable thickness and uniformity. SiC-coated graphite susceptors are critical components in metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) equipment, used to support and heat single-crystal substrates during epitaxial growth.

According to QY Research, the global CVD SiC components market generated USD 813 million in revenue in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 1.432 billion by 2028, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.61%.

Reaction Sintered Silicon Carbide (RS-SiC) Components

Reaction Sintered (Reaction Infiltration or Reaction Bonded) SiC Materials exhibit a linear sintering shrinkage rate controllable below 1%, along with relatively low sintering temperatures. These properties significantly reduce the requirements for deformation control and sintering equipment, thereby enabling the fabrication of large-scale components—an advantage that has driven their widespread adoption in optical and precision structural manufacturing.

In critical integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing equipment such as lithography machines, certain high-performance optical components demand extremely stringent material specifications. For instance, high-performance mirrors can be fabricated by combining reaction-sintered SiC substrates with chemical vapor deposition silicon carbide (CVD SiC) coatings. By optimizing key process parameters such as:Precursor types、Deposition temperature and pressure、Reactive gas ratios、Gas flow fields、Temperature distributions,

it is possible to achieve large-area, uniform CVD SiC coatings. This approach allows the surface precision of such mirrors to approach the performance benchmarks of international counterparts.