No-damage plasma dicing capability

The Singulator MDS-100 is said to perform fast, low-cost, high-quality plasma dicing of thin silicon wafers without damage to metals or dicing tapes.

Dicing quality and cost are increasing challenges for thinner and smaller devices. Standard dicing methods can induce significant mechanical and thermal damage — “chipping” and “cracking” — which constrains effective wafer layouts, die spacing, and device reliability. Mechanical dicing can be extremely slow for sensitive and small devices, because each side of the die must be diced individually (a sequential process). Plasma dicing is a chemical process that dices the entire wafer, all die, at once (a parallel process) without any mechanical damage. Besides the quality advantages, plasma dicing enables more die per wafer through more efficient wafer layouts and the freedom of design for non-rectangular die.

Thierry Lazerand, Director of Business Development at Plasma-Therm, said, “We are honoured to have been selected by ASE and look forward to a closely connected long-term relationship with their teams."