UPSET

In order to produce increasingly high-performance microelectronic components while guaranteeing relatively constant production costs, silicon wafers are steadily increasing in diameter. Porous silicon (SP) is a material, due to its remarkable properties, which has to be integrated into many applications. This integration can take the form of thin layers (in power components for example) or particles (Li-ion battery anodes for example). The latter are produced in three stages (production of a thin SP film by engraving silicon wafers, peeling of the thin film, recovery and grinding in the form of particles). This sequence of steps is quite time-consuming with the manufacturing equipment currently at our disposal and limits de facto the transition of this material to industrial use. To date, the SP manufacturing process has been optimised with increasing platelet sizes up to 200 mm. The proposed project aims to scale up and thus has two objectives: Design and build a prototype thin film SP manufacturing system compatible with 300 mm plate diameters.