Today’s science and technology are developing rapidly, and the progress of science and technology is inseparable from the vigorous development of the microelectronics technology industry.
In recent years, the demand for chips in many industries such as artificial intelligence (AI), automobiles, communication equipment, and consumer electronics has increased year by year. According to statistics, from 2015 to 2023, China’s integrated circuit production showed a fluctuating upward trend, with the highest output in 2021, reaching 359.43 billion pieces, and the output in 2023 was 351.44 billion pieces, a year-on-year increase of 6.9%, and continued to rise in 2024. This phenomenon directly led to the increasingly serious situation of chip shortages and price increases worldwide. Chip manufacturing involves a series of specialized technologies including system circuit design, device physics, process technology, material preparation, automatic testing, packaging, assembly, and solid physics, thermodynamics, statistical physics, materials science, quantum mechanics, electronic circuits, signal processing, computer-aided design, testing and processing, and other disciplines.
Chip manufacturing is the specific practice of various process technologies in microelectronics. As an extremely complex and delicate process, the manufacturing quality and efficiency of chips are inseparable from the quality and performance of special materials and related equipment. The industry believes that without polyimide, there would be no microelectronics technology today, so special engineering plastics polyimide often attracts much attention.
Harsh environment
In the semiconductor manufacturing process, pollution control is the key. With the continuous advancement of semiconductor technology, the size of electronic components has become smaller and smaller, and the structure has become more and more complex, which has greatly reduced their tolerance to impurities. Therefore, semiconductor production requires dust-free cleaning, high temperature, highly corrosive chemicals and other extreme conditions.
The application of plastic materials runs through the entire process of semiconductor manufacturing, from wafer preparation, lithography, etching, ion implantation to packaging testing and packaging, etc., all play an important role. With the continuous development of semiconductor technology, the performance requirements for these plastic materials are also constantly improving.
Main applications
In the field of semiconductor manufacturing, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is one of the key items in the wafer production process. In the CMP process, the CMP fixing ring plays an indispensable role. It is responsible for firmly fixing the silicon slices and wafers. In order to ensure the integrity of the wafer surface and avoid scratches and contamination, the selected material must have excellent performance.
In addition to PPS and PEEK, which are commonly used to make CMP fixing rings, PI materials with high temperature resistance, chemical corrosion resistance, excellent mechanical properties and wear resistance are also suitable for making CMP fixing rings. The wear resistance of CMP fixing rings made of PI is further improved than that of PEEK products, and the service life is extended longer, which helps to reduce downtime and increase wafer production capacity.
Plastic materials are also widely used in the transportation and storage of wafers, such as wafer carriers, wafer transfer boxes, and wafer boats. In the process of transporting wafers, the container is inevitably in contact with the wafer, so it is necessary to have heat resistance, excellent mechanical processing performance, dimensional stability, durability, anti-static, low outgassing, and low precipitation. The excellent performance of PI materials is also the only choice for wafer carriers.
In the packaging and testing stage of wafers, the existence of semiconductor packaging test sockets is also indispensable for various types of testing such as electrical performance testing, fault detection, efficiency testing, etc. It needs to have good conductivity, dimensional stability, high temperature resistance and good mechanical processing performance. PEEK, PAI, PI, PEI, PPS, etc. are commonly used materials. Among them, the test socket made of PI has the lowest precipitation rate at high temperature in addition to the above characteristics, which can maximize the guarantee of the excellent state of the wafer during the test process.
The excellent physical properties of PI special engineering plastics make it more and more widely used in electronics, automobiles, semiconductors, aerospace and other fields. Nowadays, the proportion of domestic PI in the market is also increasing. Huangshan Juxin New Material Co.,Ltd. is a national high-tech enterprise engaged in the research and development, production and sales of high-performance polyimide values, committed to providing customers with integrated technical solutions and customized needs. The company’s A-PI products have a variety of categories and sufficient inventory, and accept customization to meet your different product performance requirements. It is our mission to forge ahead and create value for customers.