Silicon-on-Nitride Wafers for Research & Production

Why Use Silicon Nitride on Silicon?

Silicon nitride on silicon wafers are used when researchers need a durable dielectric film, hard mask, passivation layer, or insulating layer on a silicon substrate. Silicon nitride offers high temperature strength, oxidation resistance, chemical resistance, and good thermal shock resistance, making it useful for MEMS, semiconductor processing, KOH etching, and thin-film device fabrication.

UniversityWafer, Inc. supplies nitride coated silicon wafers in diameters from 2" to 12", including custom wafer sizes, dopant types, orientations, resistivity ranges, film thicknesses, and oxide/nitride layer stacks. Researchers can request silicon nitride wafers, thermal oxide wafers, and custom multilayer coatings for electrical insulation and microfabrication.

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Which Nitride on Silicon Wafer Do I Need?

The best nitride on silicon wafer depends on the application, required film stress, deposition method, and thermal budget. LPCVD nitride is often selected for dense, high-quality hard mask films, while PECVD nitride is preferred when lower temperature processing is required. Low-stress nitride is commonly used for MEMS membranes, cantilevers, and suspended structures.

Our team can help match your research requirements to the correct silicon substrate and thin-film stack. Send us your desired wafer diameter, silicon type, dopant, orientation, resistivity, wafer thickness, nitride thickness, oxide thickness, polish, and quantity.

Available Thin-Film Services

Custom Silicon Nitride Wafer Example

A research group requested a custom nitride on silicon wafer with a thick oxide layer between the silicon and nitride films for electrical insulation. This type of wafer stack is useful when researchers need a dielectric isolation layer, a silicon nitride top film, and a silicon handle wafer for device fabrication.

Requested wafer specifications:

Diameter: 100mm silicon wafer
Type: P-type silicon
Dopant: Boron
Orientation: <100>
Resistivity: 1-10 Ohm-cm
Wafer thickness: 500 µm
Nitride thickness: ~1000 A
Oxide thickness: >=10000 A between silicon and nitride layers

The thick oxide layer was requested to improve electrical insulation between the silicon substrate and silicon nitride layer. UniversityWafer, Inc. can quote custom nitride on silicon wafers, oxide/nitride stacks, and other insulating layer options depending on the device requirements.

Silicon Nitride on Silicon Wafers

Silicon nitride on silicon wafers, also called SiN on silicon or nitride coated silicon wafers, are used in MEMS, semiconductor processing, dielectric insulation, KOH etching, oxidation masking, photolithography, and thin-film research. UniversityWafer, Inc. supplies LPCVD nitride, PECVD nitride, low-stress nitride, oxynitride, PECVD oxide, and other custom thin-film coatings on silicon substrates.

Researchers choose silicon nitride because it offers strong chemical resistance, good dielectric properties, high temperature stability, and excellent masking performance during wet etching. Nitride-coated wafers are commonly used as hard masks, membrane substrates, cantilever beam structures, passivation layers, and insulating films for microfabrication.

Stoichiometric LPCVD Silicon Nitride

Stoichiometric LPCVD nitride is a dense silicon nitride film often used as a hard mask for KOH etching and as a masking layer during field oxidation. LPCVD nitride is useful when researchers need strong film quality, chemical resistance, and reliable pattern transfer on silicon wafers.

Commonly used for KOH etch masks
Useful for field oxidation and active-region definition
Available on custom silicon wafer diameters
Suitable for semiconductor and MEMS research

Low-Stress Silicon Nitride for MEMS

Low-stress nitride on silicon is preferred for MEMS devices, membranes, cantilever beams, and mechanical microstructures. Lower film stress helps reduce wafer bow, cracking, and deformation, making it useful for thin suspended structures and precision microfabrication.

Super low-stress nitride is also available for applications that require extremely low film stress. Film stress can often be customized to meet specific research or production requirements.

PECVD Nitride on Silicon

PECVD silicon nitride is a single-sided film deposited at a lower temperature than many traditional thermal processes. This makes PECVD nitride useful for wafers that cannot tolerate high-temperature processing or for substrates that already include other thin films.

Wafer sizes: Up to 300mm
Film thickness: Up to 2 µm
Tolerance: +/- 7% or better
Film stress: 600MPa tensile
Refractive index: 2.00
Deposition temperature: 350°C

Low-Stress PECVD Nitride on Silicon

Low-stress PECVD nitride provides the processing flexibility of PECVD deposition while reducing film stress for MEMS and thin-film applications. It is commonly used when researchers need nitride films on silicon wafers but want to minimize stress-related defects.

Wafer sizes: Up to 300mm
Film thickness: Up to 2 µm
Tolerance: +/- 7% or better
Film stress: <250MPa
Refractive index: 2.00
Deposition temperature: 350°C

PECVD OxyNitride on Silicon

PECVD oxynitride on silicon combines properties of oxide and nitride films. Researchers use oxynitride when they need a custom refractive index, dielectric layer, passivation film, or optical coating. The refractive index can be adjusted depending on the customer’s process requirements.

Wafer sizes: Up to 300mm
Film thickness: Up to 2 µm
Tolerance: +/- 7% or better
Film stress: Variable
Refractive index: 1.5–1.9 per customer request
Deposition temperature: 350°C

PECVD Oxide on Silicon

PECVD oxide on silicon is a deposited silicon dioxide film used for insulation, passivation, masking, and multilayer thin-film stacks. PECVD oxide offers more processing flexibility than thermal oxide because it can be deposited at lower temperatures and over existing films.

Wafer sizes: Up to 300mm
Film thickness: Up to 2 µm
Tolerance: +/- 7% or better
Film stress: 400MPa compressive
Refractive index: 1.46
Deposition temperature: 350°C

PECVD Silicon Carbide on Silicon

PECVD silicon carbide is available for wafers that require low-temperature thin-film processing. Silicon carbide films can be used in MEMS, protective coatings, passivation layers, and research applications that need a higher refractive index or different mechanical properties than oxide or nitride.

Wafer sizes: Up to 300mm
Film thickness: Up to 2 µm
Tolerance: +/- 7% or better
Film stress: <100MPa
Refractive index: 2.73
Deposition temperature: 350°C