Silicon wafer manufacture and patterning process

Single crystalline silicon crystal is pulled from silicon melt with Czochralski method. the crystal is doped to desired resistivity. crystals are cropped and the ingot is cut to smaller blocks. Ingot block is sliced to wafers. Mask oxide is grown for protection of wafer surface during patterning steps. wafer surface is coated with photo-sensitive material. Desired areas of resist are exposed with UV light followed by development and etching. patterned features are inspected for defectivity with automated inspection tool. Cap wafer is bonded on top of patterned wafer and thinned down to desired thickness to create wafer. Bonded interface is inspected for defectivity with ultrasound. Wafer is patterned to create electrical feedthroughs through the top layer. Customer process includes several steps. Finally wafer is diced into sensor elements. Sensors are used in various applications including cell phones, cars, industrial and medical.