What is wafer dicing?
During wafer dicing the die are separated from the semiconductor or wafer.
This process usually involves mechanical sawing which is normally automated to ensure precision and accuracy.
During dicing the round wafers are typically mounted on dicing tape to ensure the fixed position of the wafer on the very thin metal sheet frame.
Which kind of dicing tapes are there?
Depending on the application there are different types of dicing tapes:
- Non-UV for larger die sizes
- UV curable for smaller sizes
What is dice?
After dicing the wafer the pieces left on the tape are referred to as dice, die or dies.
Each packed in a smooth fitting package or directly placed as a bare dice on a circuit board. The areas that have been cut away are called dice streets with a 75µm width depending on the thickness of the blade. The dice left on the tape has a width between 0,1mm and 35mm, generating forms of straight lines, rectangular forms or squares.
How can the wafer dicing process be optimized?
During the dicing process operator has to consider cracking, top- and back-side chipping and wafer contamination due to poor cleaning and ESD issues to reach best cut quality. The wafer dicing process can be improved by precise control of the multiple variables as material hardness, brittleness and thickness.
Which wafer material can be diced?
Following materials of wafers can be diced:
- Alumina
- Ceramics
- Glass
- Delicate compound Semiconductors
- Gallium Arsenide (GaAs)
- Silicon,Silicon on Sapphire (SoS)
What is the most used material for wafer dicing?
Silicon is most used, a gray brittle material with diamond cubic structure. Silicon wafers are available in 6", 8" sizes up to 12" in diameter with 6" and 8" being the most
common, thick between 100-650 micron.
Can Simac help improving or keeping dicing quality?
Nowadays, new wafer materials, like copper, gallium arsenide and lithium tantalite are mixed with the standard silicon. This way the Electronic semiconductor manufacturers are facing new and more difficult challenges in improving or keeping dicing quality and productivity. Simac helps you to choose the right blade, give you detailed technical advice for the right set up of your dicing procedure and ultimately attaining higher profitability.
