2 ms·

I’ve always wondered, why are silicon wafers a circle when you’re stamping out rectangles from it? It seems so wasteful. I’m sure there’s got to be a reason…

• AlotOfReading 5y ago
  That's how the crystal grows when they form the ingot. You could square them up, but that's extra processing steps and wastes area.
• BenoitEssiambre 5y ago
  Because before it's a wafer, it's a big sausage of monocrystalline silicon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czochralski_method https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czochralski_method
• Isamu 5y ago
  The silicon is grown in a process that produces long cylinders that are then sliced into wafers. Silicon is not molded, cast or extruded, so the shape is result of the growing process. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czochralski_method https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czochralski_method
• Chyzwar 5y ago
  https://www.sas-globalwafers.co.jp/eng/products/wafer/process.html https://www.sas-globalwafers.co.jp/eng/products/wafer/proces...
• deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]