Precise EPD Measurement of Single Crystal Sapphire Wafer

Since sapphire single crystal is one of the materials that have excellent mechanical and optical properties, the single crystal is widely used in various fields, and the demand for the use of substrate of LED devices is increasing rapidly. However, crystal defects such as dislocations and stacking faults worsen the properties of the single crystal intensely. When sapphire wafer of single crystal is used as LED substrate, especially, crystal defects have a strong influence on the characteristics of a film deposited on the wafer. In such a case quantitative assessment of the defects is essential, and the evaluation technique is now becoming one of the most important factors in commercialization of sapphire wafer. Wet etching is comparatively easy and accurate method to estimate dislocation density of single crystal because etching reaction primarily takes place where dislocations reached crystal surface which are chemically weak points, and produces etch pit. In the present study, the formation behavior of etch pits and etching time dependence were studied systematically. Etch pit density(EPD) analysis using optical microscope was also conducted and measurement uncertainty of EPD was studied to confirm the reliability of the results. EPDs and measurement uncertainties for 4 inch sapphire wafers were analyzed in terms of 5 and 21 points EPD readings. EPDs and measurement uncertainties in terms of 5 points readings for 4 inch wafers were compared by 2 organizations. We found that the average EPD value in terms of 5 points readings for a 4 inch sapphire wafer may represent the EPD value of the wafer.