FAQ

What is Wafer Dicing?

Wafer dicing is a key step in making chips (ICs) from a semiconductor wafer, used in electronics like phones, computers, cars, and medical devices.

During the wafer dicing process, the wafer is usually placed on dicing tape and cut, into individual chips using methods like blade, laser, or plasma dicing. Afterward, the chips are cleaned and inspected for damage.

Why is Wafer Dicing Important?

In semiconductor manufacturing, wafer dicing is the process of cutting a wafer into die or chips. This is an important step in the manufacturing process because if done poorly, the die can crack or be damaged, making the chips unusable. This leads to wasted materials, higher costs, and slower production times.

Choosing the right wafer dicing method and tools can help prevent these issues and ensure chips meet high-quality standards. Fewer mistakes mean more working chips, lower costs, and faster production—important for staying competitive in the semiconductor industry.

Wafer Dicing Techniques

Blade Dicing: Blade dicing is the most common method in wafer dicing. Advances in blade technology, like thinner profiles, and various smaller grit sizes can help help reduce the risk of chipping or cracking. Combined with improved dicing surfactants, this method strikes a good balance between cost and readability for most applications.

Laser Dicing: Laser dicing is a non-contact method that reduces mechanical stress, making it great for delicate or small wafers. It’s highly precise but can be slower and more expensive, ideal for projects needing careful cuts using expensive materials.

Plasma Dicing: Plasma dicing removes all physical contact, minimizing stress and offering excellent precision for advanced designs. It requires specialized equipment and can be costly, which may limit its use in large-scale production.

Wafer Dicing Solution: How KerfAid Solves Key Challenges

Wafer dicing has two big challenges: 1) stopping chipping and cracking, and 2) keeping the wafer clean. These problems can lower the number of working chips and increase costs, but KerfAid helps solve both.

Reducing Chipping and Breakage

When wafers are diced, they can crack or break from the friction or the blade chatter, especially as harder materials are used to make the wafer. KerfAid’s special formula thoroughly coats the blade and the wafer, reducing heat and friction, which helps prevent chipping and cracking. This leads to more usable chips and cost savings.

Improving Cleanliness to Prevent Failures

If wafers aren’t kept clean during dicing, leftover particles can cause problems later when the chips are assembled. Debris on the wafers can lead to weak bonds that fail, ruining the whole chip and increasing costs. The KerfAid formula uses special cleaning agents called surfactants which, like soap, capture and wash away the debris particles from the wafer's surface. This helps the chips work properly, saving money by preventing failures.

By addressing these two challenges, KerfAid’s wafer dicing solution helps manufacturers produce better chips while keeping costs down.

What is a Surfactant

A surfactant is a special compound that helps liquids flow better by lowering the surface tension of the liquid. In wafer dicing, surfactants are important because they help lubrication get into the small spaces between the blade and the wafer, reduce damage to the wafer, and keep the wafer clean.

Dicing Surfactants in Wafer Dicing

The KerfAid dicing surfactants are specially made to help cut wafers in semiconductor manufacturing. They help the dicing process in several ways:

Improving Lubricity: Surfactants make the saw blade slide smoothly through the wafer and mitigate the side-to-side movement of the blade, known as blade chatter which is caused by friction. This helps prevent the wafer from chipping or cracking while it’s being cut, meaning more usable chips.
Cooling: Cutting wafers produces heat that can damage the material. Surfactants help cool the wafer down during cutting, protecting it from overheating.
Particle Removal: When a wafer is cut, tiny particles are created and throws around during a rather violent process. Surfactants help capture and carry these particles away, keeping the wafer clean and reducing the chance of defects during chip assembly.
Protecting the Surface: Surfactants spread evenly across the wafer’s surface, acting like a buffer. This helps keep debris from sticking to the wafer and causing damage during cutting.
Enhanced Flow: Surfactants help the dicing water flow better into the kerf (the cut made by the saw blade), ensuring the wafer stays cool and clean during the process.

Surfactants in products like KerfAid make wafer dicing easier, protect the wafer from damage, and keep it clean by acting as a buffer. This helps produce better chips and saves money by reducing defects and improving wafer cleanliness.

FAQ