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12-inch SiC substrates are core materials supporting emerging high-growth markets such as AR glasses and advanced packaging, but their preparation and processing technologies have become key barriers to commercialization.

Among these, the cutting, grinding, and polishing process is one of the core links that must be overcome in the mass-production technology for 12-inch SiC substrates. This is because AR glasses and advanced packaging impose stringent precision requirements of less than 1 μm for total thickness variation (TTV) across the substrate.

ZMSH 12-inch SiC ingot and substrate thinning equipment was among the first to be introduced at leading enterprises, with deliveries exceeding 20 sets. Its equipment not only effectively addresses the processing difficulty of achieving TTV < 1 μm, but its integrated solution can also reduce 12-inch SiC processing costs by more than 30%.

• ZMSH Two Major Solutions Target 12-Inch SiC Thinning Bottlenecks

AR glasses and advanced packaging are key application scenarios for 12-inch SiC substrates, and the manufacturing of optical waveguides and interposers is highly dependent on lithography. The former uses lithography to precisely fabricate sub-wavelength gratings to regulate display efficiency and field of view, while the latter uses lithography to achieve high-density wiring and vias, ensuring interconnection precision and density.

Therefore, these products have far higher requirements for SiC substrates than power semiconductors. TTV parameters generally need to be below 1 μm, while traditional thinning processes and equipment are relatively difficult to achieve this technical target.

The thinning (grinding) process is key to achieving TTV parameters < 1 μm. Typically, the core processing steps for 8–12-inch SiC substrates include cutting, thinning (grinding), and polishing. Among these, laser-modified lift-off technology has become a mainstream trend and is gradually replacing traditional multi-wire sawing.

The laser lift-off technology route usually requires two thinning processes, including SiC ingot thinning (before laser lift-off) and SiC substrate thinning (after laser lift-off), as shown in the figure below.

However, whether for 12-inch SiC ingot thinning or 12-inch SiC substrate thinning, the industry faces significant technical challenges. These problems directly constrain the large-scale volume production of 12-inch SiC technology and, to a certain extent, affect the industrialization of key downstream application scenarios such as AR glasses and advanced packaging.

• Analysis of the 12-Inch SiC Ingot Thinning Process

According to ZMSH, in 12-inch SiC ingot thinning, there are three main technical challenges:

First, due to the extremely hard nature of the SiC substrate material itself, extremely high requirements are placed on grinding tools and abrasives (wheels).

Second, after laser lift-off, the surface of the 12-inch ingot is relatively rough and uneven in thickness.

Third, during thinning processing, it is difficult to control thickness uniformity and surface profile accuracy, while 12-inch substrate thinning usually requires in-wafer thickness deviation to be controlled within an extremely low range of < 1 μm.

Traditional thinning equipment usually has problems such as spindle rigidity, chuck flatness, and grinding wheel wear, which can easily lead to loss of surface profile control and affect subsequent processes. In addition, traditional thinning equipment also faces difficulties in stress control, surface and edge quality assurance, insufficient adaptability for large-size processing equipment, high processing costs, and low yields.

These technical difficulties directly bring many adverse effects to downstream SiC substrate enterprises. They not only lead to slow capacity ramp-up, high production costs, and large fluctuations in product yield, but also extend delivery cycles and increase customer certification difficulty, ultimately weakening the market competitiveness of SiC enterprises.

In addition, mainstream laser lift-off equipment on the market is currently divided into two schemes: clamping and adsorption. The process adaptability of different schemes differs, which can easily bring inconvenience to downstream enterprises in equipment selection, process adaptation, and cost control.

To address the above problems, ZMSH has launched the 12-inch SiC ingot thinning equipment (WG-1260M). It is equipped with an “automated grabbing and adsorption dual-mode transfer system,” which can precisely adapt to the process requirements of various domestic laser lift-off equipment and efficiently solve the transfer challenges of 12-inch ingots.

At the same time, the equipment has excellent compatibility with upstream and downstream processes and can provide customized adaptation solutions for laser lift-off equipment from different upstream manufacturers. This not only provides customers with flexible choices for equipment selection but also effectively reduces their overall equipment investment costs.

In addition, the equipment can shorten thinning process time and reduce grinding wheel wear, improving the production efficiency and profitability of SiC enterprises.

Analysis of the 12-Inch SiC Substrate Thinning Process

On the other hand, compared with SiC ingots, 12-inch SiC substrate thinning imposes stricter standards on processing technology, finished surface roughness, and other indicators.

ZMSH believes that traditional thinning equipment is currently overcoming the core challenge of “being able to process,” and in the future will move toward meeting the process requirement of “processing with excellence.” This is because large-size SiC substrate processing usually faces problems such as out-of-tolerance precision, easy chipping and breakage, vibration, and thermal deformation, and at present it cannot yet meet the needs of large-scale mass production.

To address the above challenges, ZMSH has launched the 12-inch SiC substrate thinning equipment (WG-1261M). The equipment has achieved excellent performance in high-precision processing indicators, stably achieving in-wafer total thickness variation (TTV) < 1 μm and wafer-to-wafer thickness variation (WTW) < ±1 μm. At the same time, combined with a high-mesh fine grinding wheel, it can control the surface roughness (Ra) of the SiC substrate after fine grinding to within 3 nm, significantly reducing customers’ subsequent polishing process costs.

According to the company’s responsible person, this equipment has already been officially put into use at a number of leading SiC enterprises. All core technical indicators of the equipment precisely meet the stringent requirements of customers’ actual production processes and R&D testing, and stably reach expected standards. “With the equipment’s high reliability, high-precision performance, and comprehensive technical service support, customers have highly praised our equipment performance, delivery efficiency, and overall service system, fully recognizing our technical strength and service capabilities.”

It is worth noting that, in order to achieve high processing precision for 12-inch SiC substrates,  has also developed a dedicated high-power, high-rigidity, high-precision thinning spindle and chuck spindle for 12-inch SiC to ensure processing stability.

The air spindle and air-floating chuck are the core spindle systems of the 12-inch SiC substrate thinning equipment. According to the company’s responsible person, “the former achieves high-torque, low-vibration processing, while the latter ensures uniform bearing of the wafer with micro-stress. Together, they achieve processing precision.”

At the same time, to ensure the surface quality of 12-inch SiC substrates after fine grinding,  has also upgraded and optimized the processing cooling system.

• Market Share Above 60%, Maintaining a Leading Domestic Position; Multi-Dimensional Cost Reduction Supports Large-Scale Volume Production of 12-Inch SiC

ZMSH is one of the leading domestic enterprises in thinning equipment and has formed a comprehensive layout in the field of SiC thinning equipment.

According to reports, since launching China’s first domestic thinning machine in 2012, the company has continued to deepen its work in the field of precision processing. In 2020, by undertaking a national project, it officially began layout and R&D and application of 6-inch SiC substrate thinning equipment. In 2023, it worked closely with customers to complete the implementation of 8-inch production lines. In 2025, it achieved batch shipments of 12-inch SiC thinning machines.

After five years of development,  SiC thinning equipment has achieved leading shipment volumes. According to industry statistics, in the domestic substitution and introduction of equipment at the material end (ingots and substrates), we ranks first among domestic equipment suppliers. Calculated by the number of equipment units, its market share in the domestic market for similar equipment exceeds 60%.

At the same time,  has also achieved major breakthroughs in the field of 8-inch SiC device manufacturing. It is understood that its thinning equipment has achieved batch shipments and has been successfully introduced into the production lines of a number of industry-leading customers, with mature and stable processes.

Regarding the global development of 12-inch SiC technology, we believes that it is currently in a critical period of transition from R&D breakthroughs to mass production. Domestic SiC substrates will be the first to enter the pilot-line validation stage, with first-mover advantages in yield and process collaboration. Technical breakthroughs have already been achieved, and the localization of core equipment is accelerating.

12-inch SiC will achieve small-batch mass production in 2026–2027 and large-scale volume production in 2027–2030. Yield improvement and cost reduction will be the core development themes, and the domestic industrial chain will continue to accelerate.

To meet the large-scale mass production demand for 12-inch SiC,  reduces the investment pressure of thinning equipment for new production lines from three core dimensions: equipment investment, production losses, and operating costs, giving it significant cost-reduction advantages compared with other industry solutions.

First, the equipment achieves domestic autonomous and controllable core components, with overall procurement costs lower than comparable international equipment. It is also compatible with 6–12-inch multi-size production, which can reduce repeated investment in SiC production line upgrades.

Second, on the production side, the SiC thinning equipment, when combined with laser lift-off equipment, can reduce 12-inch SiC material loss by more than 30% through process collaboration. At the same time, through the coordination of grinding wheels and equipment process parameters, consumable loss and processing costs can be further reduced.

Finally, on the operating side, it adopts a fully automated and unmanned design, greatly reducing manual input, improving production line operation efficiency, and lowering production management and labor costs. At the same time, the equipment has strong stability, reducing maintenance costs and downtime losses, comprehensively helping new production lines achieve full-lifecycle cost optimization and effectively alleviating the investment pressure on enterprises during capacity expansion.

ZMSH can also provide customized overall process solutions to help 12-inch SiC yield ramp-up. Combined with localized rapid service and technical support, it provides downstream users with full-process assurance for efficient and stable production line operation and seamlessly connects from R&D pilot testing to large-scale mass production.

The core technologies and precision indicators of  12-inch SiC thinning equipment have reached internationally leading levels, with core precision on par with leading international manufacturers. At the same time, it has formed differentiated advantages in process adaptation, cost control, and localized services, marking an important step by domestic equipment in the field of large-size SiC processing.

Meanwhile, its equipment will provide strong support for the large-scale mass production of 12-inch SiC substrates, help continue to reduce SiC material costs, promote the widespread application of SiC in emerging fields such as AR glasses, and allow the SiC industry to enter a broader development space.