High-speed laser wafer scribing

摘要

The tight, narrow, clean cuts achievable with UV laser scribing provide better die count per wafer and higher yields due to fewer damaged die. Precision scribing of wafers with ultraviolet (UV) lasers has emerged as an alternative method of scribing for separation, particularly for brittle compound semiconductor wafer materials such as thin silicon wafers. UV diode-pumped solid-state (DPSS) lasers rapidly process wafers with kerfs of less than 3 microns in thin or thick wafers without edge chipping in all the Ⅲ-Ⅴ materials, including Ⅳ materials such as Silicon (Si) and Germanium (Ge), and straight, accurate, cleaner cuts particularly for Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) wafers. GaAs wafers are expensive, so wafer real estate is valuable. The tighter, narrower, cleaner cuts achievable with UV laser scribing provide better die count per wafer and higher yields due to fewer damaged die. The laser scribing process operates within 20-micron streets or narrower.