Ever wondered what those thin silicon wafers are for? These chips, you may be surprised to know, help perform a number of functions we engage in each day. The power everything from your solar panels to your TV to your cell phone. Silicon is a cheap choice, and silicon wafers are generally considered moderate compared to other options for producing electrical gadgets. Therefore, such wafer materials are suitable for large-scale manufacturing.
What is a Silicon Wafer?
Silicon wafers refer to the crystallization of the crystalline rock into thin pieces due to the Czochralski process. Furthermore, these pieces are cut into uniform pieces of varying thickness, lapped, and polished till they are less than a single nanometer of surface roughness. Due to this process, we can easily pattern the electronic circuits more accurately.
What Is a Silicon Wafer Used For?
While silicon wafers are mainly used for the production of microchips in all electronics, they have other uses, too. Please read this article to understand their other important uses, such as:
- Solar cells
Silicon wafers are sometimes used as the base in solar cells to convert sunlight into power. Their involvement speeds up the process of conversion of solar energy into e; electrical energy.
- MEMS (Microelectromechanical Systems)
Small mechanical devices, such as sensors and actuators, can also be made from silicon wafers. Their durability and versatility make them the perfect elements to create MEMS.
Importance of Silicon Wafers
The following are the role silicon wafers play for our convenience:
- Used as Semiconductors
Silicon wafers are the most commonly used designing constructs for ICs used in high-temperature (room temperature is included in this) mobility and high-gasp etching. An integrated circuit (IC), also referred to as a microchip, is a part of electronics that is joined on a small, flat silicon part, which is also one of the elements applied to a wafer.
Also, a particular IC can contain millions of tiny active circuits, such as diodes and transistors, in addition to some passive circuits, such as resistors and capacitors. A single IC can be connected to thousands of other components, spanning tens of millimeters.
- Make Electronic Gadgets
A wafer, being a thin piece of silicon semiconductor material, can serve as the basis to accommodate multiple microelectronic devices neatly placed in and atop the silicon wafer. Silicon wafers regulate the passage of electricity among tiny elements of integrated circuits (ICs) in electronic devices, including smartphones, computers, mobile devices, and tyre pressure sensor systems. The ICs then act as commands for the specific actions of each gadget.
Signing Off
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