"Stealth Dicing" technology : Enabling completely dry cutting processes
Stealth Dicing (SD) is a next-generation dicing technology in which the inside of a silicon wafer is irradiated with a laser at any desired depth to create a modification layer (SD Layer), and then stress is applied externally through a means such as tape expansion to produce cracks in the Si wafer surface and minimize the dicing loss.
The principle behind stealth dicing |
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With stealth dicing, because of the optimized unique optics unit and laser system, laser modification can be done inside of the semiconductor wafer only, and can be done selectively, at any given depth. This eliminates damage to the front and back sides of the wafer, as well as to the dicing tape on the back of the wafer.
Chipping can be a problem with ordinary blade dicing. With the stealth dicing, no chips are produced at all, either on the back or the front sides, and wafers can be finished to a high level of die strength. Moreover, unlike mechanical sawing, no dust is produced, thus eliminating device contamination. Furthermore, no cooling water is required, and thus the method is superior from an environmental standpoint. |
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Another advantage is that, unlike the laser ablation processing normally used in laser machining, no Si or top-layer debris is produced on the device surface. Also, there is none of the residual stress that occurs on the laser incident face or the back of the wafer accompanying heat shock when ablation processing is used. These features mean that dicing can be done using completely dry processes.
The name "stealth" came from the fact that dicing is done without any damage to the wafer surface, such as visible machining lines, and the lines where cutting will be done remain hidden and out of sight on the inside of the wafer. The chips are separated for the first time by applying external stress such as tape expansion. |
Blade dicing |
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Stealth dicing technology is superior to conventional blade dicing technology in numerous ways, among them machining speed and quality. Given these advantages, and because no chips and debris are produced in the process, stealth dicing is a new technology that holds the key to achieving both higher cutting quality and higher throughput.
With the Stealth Dicing(SD), ultimate performance improvements are expected in dicing processes, as well as significant cost reductions. |
Left: SEM image of a MEMS chipobserved from the back
Right: SEM image (enlarged)
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PATENTS
We have the following many Patents/ Patent Applications in this Technology: (1. Feb. 2007)
USP 6,992,026, Japanese Patent Nos. 3408805, 3626442, 3761565, 3761567, 3761566, 3624909, 3670267, 3790254, 3822626, 3762409, 3867003, 3867107, 3867109, 3867110, 3867101, 3867102, 3867103, 3867100, 3867104, 3867105 and 3869850. Taiwan Patent No. I2500060, Korean Patent No. KR10-0667460 and 32 US Patent Applications, 143 Japanese Patent Applications, 35 Taiwan Patent Applications, 28 European Patent Applications, 27 Korean Patent Applications, 30 China Patent Applications, and many patent applications in Thai, Malaysia, India, Philippine, Singapore, Israel etc. |
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This website is officially authorized by Hamamatsu Photonics to introduce the guest to the latest available technical and laser processing information on stealth dicing. |
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