As semiconductor manufacturing processes continue to evolve towards higher temperatures, higher purity, and more complex plasma environments, the stability and cleanliness of materials inside the equipment are becoming key factors affecting yield and equipment lifespan. Against this backdrop, the application of boron nitride (BN) and pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) ceramics materials is gradually expanding from traditional high-temperature resistant components to the critical structural levels of the entire process system.
Recently, the systematic application demand of BN ceramic materials in advanced process equipment such as CVD, PVD and MOCVD has been continuously increasing, mainly focusing on vacuum high-temperature structures, plasma environment protection, and high-purity evaporation and epitaxial growth and other core process links.
01 Applications in PVD Film Deposition Equipment
In PVD film deposition equipment, the requirements for high-temperature metal evaporation and film layer purity control are extremely high. BN materials, due to their non-wetting characteristics towards metals such as aluminum, copper, and silver, as well as their excellent thermal shock resistance, are currently widely used in the following key components:
—Structural Upgrade Application of Evaporation Boats
—Application of BN Crucibles in High-Purity Metal Evaporation Systems
—Optimized Design of Thermal Screens and Insulation Structure Components
—Application Expansion of TiB₂ Reinforced BN Conductive Evaporation Components
This type of application effectively enhances the stability of metal evaporation and significantly reduces the risk of process contamination.
02 Key Structures Applied in CVD Reactor System
In CVD and plasma-enhanced reactor systems, the equipment is constantly exposed to high-temperature reaction atmospheres and plasma bombardment, which impose extremely high requirements on the material of the reactor cavity. BN material, due to its excellent chemical inertness and low particle release characteristics, is mainly applied in:
—Reactor liner and structural protective layer
—Gas nozzle and flow-directing structure protective components
—Internal support and positioning components of the reactor
—High-temperature insulation and isolation structural components
The related applications help enhance the structural stability of the equipment in complex chemical atmospheres and reduce the risk of particle contamination, thereby ensuring the yield of wafer processing.
03 High-purity applications in MOCVD and MBE systems
During the epitaxial growth of third-generation semiconductor materials (such as GaN, SiC), extremely high requirements have been placed on the purity and cleanliness of the materials.
Based on this, our company’s pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) material has been further applied in the following directions:
—Ultra-high-purity PBN crucibles for crystal growth
—MBE evaporation source container systems
—Wafer carrier structures for epitaxial growth
—High-purity isolation and support components of the reaction chamber
The PBN material is fabricated through a chemical vapor deposition process, achieving extremely low impurity content and excellent vacuum stability, and is suitable for the high-end semiconductor epitaxy process environment.
In the future, as equipment manufacturers increasingly raise the requirements for process stability, service life, and cleanliness, the application of BN materials is gradually expanding from simple crucibles or structural components to more systematic process scenarios, covering thermal field systems, cavity protection structures, as well as key components related to evaporation and deposition processes. This trend also reflects the higher integration requirements for material performance imposed by advanced process equipment.
Customized processing support
For semiconductor equipment-related applications, Innovacera specializes in the processing and manufacturing of BN/PBN ceramic components based on customer-provided drawings and technical requirements. It offers precise processing and batch production, as well as basic technical communication support in material selection and practical processing feasibility. Please contact sales@innovacera.com for inquiries.
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