Specialty Ceramics

Saint-Gobain Performance Ceramics & Refractories’ specialty ceramics' products help customers to address unique challenges in thermal and chemical processing, heat exchangers, industrial metrology, temperature sensing, brazing, mechanical seals, semiconductor wafer processing, sandblasting and renewable energy generation applications.

 

The specialty ceramics portfolio consists of a wide range of products, sold as well-known brands:

 

Saint-Gobain Performance Ceramics & Refractories’ utilize materials expertise, innovative designs, creative engineering and precision manufacturing processes to deliver reliable solutions to global customers in automotive, chemical, aerospace, non-ferrous metals, nuclear and other renewable energy, industrial pumps and sealing industries; as well as OEM equipment makers and machine shops.

Solution By Application

Click on your application to find more:

Semiconductor Wafer Processing

Silicon Carbide Components

 
Saint Gobain Specialty Ceramics' products allow customers to solve tough problems in thermal and chemical processing, industrial metrology, temperature sensing, brazing, mechanical seals, semi-conductor processing, sandblasting, and renewable energy generation applications.

A range of Hexoloy® SA and SG components can be used in semiconductor wafer processing equipment, including vacuum chucks, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) blocks and wafer carrier trays.

 

These applications take advantage of Hexoloy silicon carbide's thermal expansion match to silicon, high elastic modulus, chemical inertness, and high thermal conductivity. Hexoloy silicon carbide is well suited as a structural material for low mass wafer carrier components, and rigid dimensionally stable platforms with exceptional flatness for wafer grinding, lapping, and polishing.

 

Silit® SK SiSiC and Advancer® NB SiC materials are used in the air-bearing stages of semiconductor metrology positioning equipment.

 

Features and Benefits

  • Structural strength and thermal expansion close to that of silicon wafer
  • Chemical corrosion resistance
  • Thermal stability
  • A range of electrical resistivity

Sintered Silicon Carbide Materials For Semiconductor Processing

Test Environment Corrosive Weight Loss (mg/cm2 yr)
Material Density
(g/cc)
Flexural Strength
(MPa)
Electrical Resistivity
(ohm-cm)
Thermal Conductivity
(W/m⋅K)
Elastic Modulus
(GPa)
Hexoloy® SA 3.15 380 102 - 106 125 410
Hexoloy®SG (Sintered SiC with free Carbon) 3.0 311 1 118 376

 

FAQ

Does Saint-Gobain Performance Ceramics & Refractories offer products for semiconductor wafer inspection metrology equipment?

Silit® SiSiC and Advancer® NB SiC products are used in the construction of air-bearing stages for positioning equipment.

How is sintered silicon carbide typically used in semiconductor wafer processing applications?

Hexoloy® sintered silicon carbide can be used in a wide range of components, including:

  • Vacuum chucks
  • Reactor tubes for thermal oxidation
  • Wafer grinding and polishing plates
  • Thermocouple protection tubes
  • Wafer carrier trays
  • Clamps and lift pins
  • Sputtering targets

Is Hexoloy® SiC pure enough to be used in semiconductor wafer processing?

Hexoloy® sintered silicon carbide is essentially a single-phase material with at least 98% SiC.

 

At this purity, Hexoloy® can be successfully used at low to moderate temperatures in wafer contact applications, and up to 1,300°C in non-contact applications.