Quartz Rings
Overview of Industrial-Use Quartz Rings
The industrial-use Quartz Ring, primarily made from quartz glass (which consists mainly of silicon dioxide), is discussed here regarding its characteristics, application scenarios, production and processing methods, industry standards, and development trends.
I. Characteristics
- High Temperature Resistance: Quartz Rings can operate reliably in high-temperature conditions. In semiconductor manufacturing, for instance, they withstand temperatures reaching several hundred or even thousands of degrees Celsius without softening or deforming, thus maintaining their physical and chemical integrity.
- Chemical Stability: These rings are resistant to chemical corrosion from strong acids and bases. In industrial settings that involve corrosive gases or liquids—such as specific reactions in the chemical and photovoltaic sectors—they resist erosion, allowing for prolonged use.
- Mechanical Performance: While quartz has a certain hardness and compressive strength, it is also relatively brittle. It can break easily under significant impact, necessitating careful handling during installation and use.
II. Application Scenarios
Semiconductor Manufacturing
- Wafer Processing: During processes like etching and diffusion, quartz rings are crucial for carrying and positioning wafers, ensuring precision in high-temperature, clean environments. For example, etching rings assist in the pattern transfer during wafer etching, and in diffusion processes, they stabilize wafer positioning for consistent doping element diffusion.
- Chip Packaging: In the optical inspection and alignment stages before chip packaging, quartz’s optical transmittance helps in accurately inspecting the positions of chip pins and bonding areas.
Photovoltaic Industry
- Silicon Wafer Production: In processes such as cutting, cleaning, and coating, quartz rings are used to transport silicon wafers. In high-temperature coating processes (like PECVD for anti-reflection films), their high-temperature resistance and chemical stability guarantee uniform coating, thereby enhancing the photoelectric conversion efficiency of silicon wafers.
- Battery Module Packaging: In optical inspection devices, quartz rings act as light-transmitting components, helping to identify welding and packaging defects within modules and detect minute flaws through their optical transmittance.
Optical Instruments
- Spectral Analysis Equipment: As sample cells and light transmission components, quartz rings facilitate the smooth passage of light across a wide optical transmittance range, allowing for accurate spectral analysis and detection of material components and structures.
- Laser Equipment: In laser resonators and optical pathways, their low-loss light transmission characteristics stabilize laser outputs. In high-power laser cutting and welding systems, quartz rings ensure efficient laser energy transmission.
Chemical Industry
- High-Temperature Reaction Vessels: Used as observation windows and internal stirring components (special-structure quartz rings), they maintain corrosion resistance and high-temperature stability, allowing for observation of material reactions within vessels while ensuring the purity of the reaction system.
- Gas Purification: In high-precision gas filtration devices, specially treated quartz rings with a porous structure filter out tiny particles while resisting corrosive gas components, thus maintaining filtration efficiency.
III. Production and Processing
- Raw Material Preparation: High-purity quartz sand (such as electronic-grade quartz sand with minimal impurities) is selected and melted at high temperatures (generally over 1700°C) to form quartz glass.
- Forming Process:
- Blowing/Pressing: The melt is blown and pressed using molds to initially create a ring shape, followed by further refinement.
- Turning/Grinding: The formed quartz ring blanks are processed with lathes and grinding equipment to ensure dimensional accuracy (such as controlling inner and outer diameter tolerances at the micrometer level) and surface finish, meeting the precise installation standards of the industry.
- Quality Inspection:
- Optical Inspection: The uniformity of light transmittance and the presence of bubbles or impurities (which can affect optical performance and strength) are examined using high-resolution optical microscopes and spectral analyzers.
- Dimensional and Mechanical Inspection: Precision measuring tools assess dimensional tolerances, while mechanical properties like compressive strength are tested with pressure testing machines to ensure compliance with usage standards.
IV. Industry Standards and Specifications
Different application areas have specific standards. For example, in the semiconductor sector, strict requirements exist for quartz rings regarding dimensional accuracy, purity, and high-temperature cycling performance (such as those outlined by the International Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Industry Association). In the photovoltaic sector, focus is given to optical transmittance and compatibility with silicon wafers (including matching thermal expansion coefficients). Meanwhile, in the optical instrument domain, precise specifications for optical uniformity and consistency in refractive indices are essential for ensuring overall equipment performance.