Silicon wafers usually receive an insulation coating prior to photolithographic treatment (also called the dielectric coating). This is generated in a vertical furnace or in single wafer CVD systems through a diffusion process. Further functional coatings can be applied to individual wafers or parts of the wafer through CVD (Chemical Vapour Deposition) or PVD (Physical Vapour Deposition). Several etching steps follow to ensure functionality.

Materials used in these processes for handling the Si wafers must ensure maximum levels of purity, temperature resistance and chemical inertia. Quartz glass, aluminium oxide and silicon carbide are therefore ideally suited to the production of components for such systems.