Infineon debuts the world’s thinnest silicon wafers at 20 micrometers thick

Infineon Technologies AG announced a significant breakthrough in semiconductor manufacturing—they've made and processed ultra-thin 300mm silicon power wafers. At just 20 micrometers thick, about the width of a human hair, these wafers set a new record for thinness while boosting performance and efficiency in a big way.

These innovative wafers, developed and produced by Infineon, are only half as thick as the current industry standard of 40-60 micrometers. By shaving off that extra thickness, they've cut substrate resistance by 50 percent, leading to a power loss reduction of over 15 percent compared to traditional silicon wafers.

Getting down to that ambitious 20-micrometer thickness wasn't easy. Infineon's engineers had to overcome a bunch of technical challenges. They devised a new wafer-grinding method to handle the metal stack that holds the chip on the wafer—which is actually thicker than 20 micrometers. Plus, they had to deal with issues like wafer bowing and separation problems during back-end assembly, ensuring the wafers stayed robust while still fitting into Infineon's existing high-volume production lines.

The ultra-thin wafer tech has already been tested and rolled out in Infineon's integrated Smart Power Stages for DC-DC conversion, and they're already shipping to customers. The company expects this energy-efficient design to replace existing low-voltage power converter wafers in the next three to four years.

Infineon plans to show off the ultra-thin silicon wafer to the public at Electronica 2024 from November 12-15 in Munich.