SSR for Semiconductors and Components manufacturing

 A growing global market

Semiconductors and Components are important to Modern Living as they power almost everything in our daily lives. From smartphones to cars, semiconductors evolved to improve technologies. Semiconductors are the brains of modern electronics. As a result, the global semiconductor market is growing almost continuously from the start of the 21st century. In the first quarter of 2021, it was estimated to 120 billion USD.

An electronic component is an element intended to be assembled with others in order to perform one or more electronic functions. They are ubiquitous in all electronic objects. The value of the global electronic components market increased from 300 billion USD in 2012 to 430 billion USD in 2019.

Currently, these markets are suffering a big shortage: demand is growing exponentially and the industry is unable to meet it.

Celduc relais has an extensive experience serving the Electronics industry, let’s go into more details with some case studies.

SSRs for each equipment for Semiconductors and Components manufacturing

For all equipment used for these processes Solid State Relays are widely used because of their ability to work in harsh environments without operating problems

Semiconductors Manufacturing

 Annealing – Diffusion – Oxidation processes

Semiconductor annealing (heat treatment) is used for activating silicon wafers injected with impurities (increasing density/speed). The temperature should be accurate at this stage. In fact, if the heat penetrates too deeply, the impurities will diffuse into deeper layers, forming a thick semiconductor layer. Flash annealing limits heat treatment to the surface layer, preventing the diffusion of impurities and allowing the production of extremely thin semiconductor layers.

During diffusion process dopants are introduced inside the material. Oxidation process forces oxygen, vapour, to diffuse into the wafer surface at high temperatures between 800 and 1200°C so that a thin, smooth layer of silicon dioxide can be created.

Celduc’s key products

• Single phase Solid State Relays : celpac 2G
• Three-phase Solid State Relays  : cel3pac

 Scrubbers for wafer cleaning process

Scrubber systems are designed to perform one of the most important process functions in Integrated Circuit manufacturing : wafer cleaning. It can be used between any two steps in the wafer manufacturing process. These systems remove contaminants such as particles, residues and other unwanted surface defects that can cause fatal errors in IC devices.es machines de récurage sont conçues pour exécuter l’une des fonctions les plus importantes dans le process de fabrication de semi-conducteurs : le nettoyage des “wafers”. Ces systèmes éliminent les particules contaminantes telles que les résidus ou autres défauts de surface indésirables. Nos relais statiques sont indispensables pour le contrôle des éléments chauffants.

Celduc’s key products :

• Single phase Solid State Relays : okpac
• Three-phase Solid State Relays  : cel3pac

 Chillers

This sensitive process requires accuracy when dealing with liquid cooling or air conditioning cooling.

Celduc’s key products :

•  Single phase Solid State Relays : okpac
•  Three-phase Solid State Relays  : sightpac

Dry etching & cleaning

Dry etching is to remove layers from the surface of a wafer during the manufacturing process. Plasmas or etchant gases are used to remove the substrate material.

Celduc’s key products :

• Two-phase Solid State Relays : SOB9
• 2 Leags three-phase SSR : SMB

 CVD (Chemical Vapour Deposition)

Chemical vapour deposition, or CVD, is a commonly used method of creating thin films used in semiconductor manufacturing. The coating material is vaporized inside a vacuum chamber and begins to uniformly settle on the substrate.

Celduc’s key products :

• Single phase SSRs : okpac
• Three-phase SSRs : sightpac
  

 Gas supply system

Gases have been a key enabler of the electronics industry. At almost all stages of semiconductors manufacturing, gases are used : Deposition, Photolithography, Etching, Doping, Annealing, Chamber cleaning…

These systems are used to safely supply special gases required for semiconductor and solar manufacturing processes.

Celduc’s key products :

• Two-phase SSR : SOB9
• Three-phase SSR : sightpac
  

 Components manufacturing

 Tin Wave soldering

This technology is used to solder the electronic components on a PCB. This technology is used to solder the electronic components on a PCB. This reliable and automatic system is widely used in the electronics industry. Wave soldering process is composed by four steps:

1. FLUX SPRAYING : Cleaning the metal surface is a key step in the process in order to ensure soldering performance.
2. PRE-HEATING : PCBs travel through a heat tunnel to carry out pre-heating and activate flux. The drying is made by infra-red lamps. To dry efficiently, an accurate temperature control is necessary.
3. WAVE SOLDERING : The PCBs go into a melting tin bath which is warmed up to 220+(-)3°C or 240°C for lead free process. The temperature has to be regulated accurately. As copper starts melting at about 240 °C, therefore, when reaching this temperature, the tin bath starts being polluted by copper and the soldering can crack.
4. COOLING : As temperature reaches its peak values during wave soldering process, the PCBs should be cooled up to room temperature, in the cooling zone.

SSRs are widely used at steps 2 and 3 of the manufacturing process. They switch on & off the heater to keep the temperature stable and to allow a better soldering.

In this equipment we recommend the use of Analogue Controllers : Phase angle controllers allow the load power to be finely adjusted.

Celduc’s key products :

• SO4 (single phase controllers) et SVTA (3-phase controllers)

 Reflow soldering

Reflow soldering is another process to sold components on PCB. Here are the differents steps in the process:

1. APPLYING SOLDERING PASTE : Soldering Alloy is applied on PCB with serography process.
2. COMPONENTS ARE PLACED ON PCBs : SMD components are picked & placed.
3. THERMAL SOAK : Reflow soldering also depends on flux contained in solder paste. Temperature has to increase to activate the flux.
4. REFLOW SOLDERING : Peak temperature leads solder paste to be melted and reflowed. Temperature control plays a crucial role in reflow soldering process. Too low a temperature stops solder paste from sufficiently reflowing while too high a temperature may cause damage on SMT components or boards.
5. COOLING : Temperature will go down soon after top temperature is achieved during step n° 4. Cooling ensures the solder to SSR be solidified.

SSRs are widely used at the steps 3 and 4 of the manufacturing process. SSR control of the heating zones will ensure that temperature requirements are accurately carried out.

 celduc and the Electronics Industry

The celduc® group specializes in electrical engineering and power electronics and has turned to markets and customers all over the world. Founded in 1964 by Michel GUICHARD and located near Saint-Etienne, celduc® is the only French company to have solid state switching technology.

celduc® relais controls the entire chain: study, design, manufacture, testing and marketing. celduc® relais manufactures not only the widest range in the field of solid-state relays, but also its main strategic production and control equipment in terms of knowledge and technical expertise. Thanks to this powerful and unique tool, celduc® relais products are present all over the world, and bear the imprint of the largest industrial groups.

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