Increasing Semiconductor Wafer Yield With Wafer Stealth Dicing Methods

The production of computer chips starts with the separation of individual dies from the semiconductor wafer. Laser dicing has many advantages over physical cutting equipment. A new and improved method of laser dicing is the so-called stealth laser dicing (SLD). This is achieved by focusing a laser below the wafer surface, which will create a modified layer within the wafer. A tape expander will later separate the chips. High precision motion and nanopositioning stages, high resolution nanofocusing devices for the laser beam and advanced software facilitate the design, setup and operation of a wafer stealth dicing system.