Laser and plasma etch wafer dicing with etch chamber shield ring for film frame wafer applications

A method of dicing a substrate comprising a plurality of integrated circuits (ICs), the method comprising:

• coupling the substrate to a film frame;
• forming a mask over the substrate covering and protecting the ICs;
• patterning the mask with a laser scribing process to provide a patterned mask with gaps, exposing regions of the substrate between the ICs;
• ablating, with the laser scribing process, the entire thickness of the substrate within the gaps in the patterned mask to singulate the ICs;
• and
• transferring the substrate coupled to the film frame to a plasma etch chamber;
• covering the film frame with a chamber shield ring without covering any portion of the substrate with the chamber shield ring;
• and
• plasma etching substrate surfaces exposed by the laser scribing process.

A system for dicing a semiconductor wafer comprising a plurality of integrated circuits (ICs), the system comprising:

• a laser scribe module to pattern a mask disposed above the semiconductor wafer to form a trench exposing regions of the semiconductor wafer between the ICs;
• a plasma etch chamber coupled to the laser scribe module to plasma etch the semiconductor wafer through the gaps in the patterned mask to form singulated ICs, the plasma etch chamber comprising:
• a temperature controlled chuck to support the semiconductor wafer while being coupled to a film frame during an etching process;
• and
• a chamber shield ring configured to cover the film frame without covering any portion of the semiconductor wafer.

A method of dicing a semiconductor wafer comprising a plurality of integrated circuits, the method comprising:

• coupling the semiconductor wafer to a film frame;
• forming a mask above the semiconductor wafer, the mask covering and protecting the integrated circuits;
• disposing the semiconductor wafer over a temperature controlled chuck surface of a plasma chamber and disposing the film frame over a top surface of a temperature controlled annular ring disposed around the temperature controlled chuck surface;
• covering the film frame with a chamber shield ring without covering any portion of the semiconductor wafer with the chamber shield ring;
• and
• plasma etching the semiconductor wafer while the semiconductor wafer is coupled to the film frame.