Process Induced Defects in Silicon Wafers

Process Induced Defects in Silicon Wafers

Material Name: Silicon
Record No.: 27
Primary Chemical Element in Material: Si
Sample Type: Wafer
Uses: Etching
Etchant Name: None
Etching Method: No data
Etchant (Electrolyte) Composition: No data
Procedure (Condition): No data
Note: Shown is a wafer that has been processed to some extent in order to produce integrated circuits. Four kinds of defects were created that can be clearly distinguished, and (with some experience) identified as to their nature and cause of generation.
The whole view of the wafer shows the polished front side (left) where not much is visible at this size. The backside (right) has been intentionally roughened by a KOH etch, this accounts for the large scale structure (the intersecting approximate rectangles) in the enlargements in the second half of the picture.
Reference: Website https://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/elmat_en/index.html, 2020.

Figure 1: Process induced defects in silicon wafers.