Infineon unveils world's thinnest silicon wafer for AI data centers, measuring just 20 micrometers
The thinness of silicon wafers is important because it reduces resistance and power loss. Current-gen wafers measure 40 to 60 micrometers thick.
The big picture: Infineon has developed the world's thinnest silicon power wafers, measuring just 20 micrometers in thickness – about the same as a human hair. These wafers promise significant performance gains for power conversion applications across AI data centers, consumer electronics, motor control systems, and computing hardware.
The thinness of silicon wafers is important because it reduces resistance and power loss. Current-gen wafers measure 40 to 60 micrometers thick. By roughly halving the wafer's thickness, Infineon has managed to slash substrate resistance by 50 percent. This, in turn, leads to over 15 percent less power loss compared to other solutions.
These benefits are particularly useful for powering the high-performance AI processors in data center servers. Such chips require voltages to be stepped down from 230V AC to under 1.8V DC, a feat achieved by Infineon's breakthrough technologies, including vertical power delivery.
Reducing silicon thickness to 20 micrometers posed significant technical challenges for Infineon's engineers. The typical metal stack holding the chip on the wafer is actually thicker than the target 20-micrometer thickness, so they had to get creative with an innovative wafer-grinding approach to make it work.
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