Method and Apparatus for Plasma Dicing a Semi-conductor Wafer

A method for plasma dicing a substrate, the method comprising:

• providing a process chamber having a wall;
• providing a plasma source adjacent to the wall of the process chamber;
• providing a work piece support within the process chamber;
• placing a work piece onto said work piece support, said work piece having a support film, a frame and the substrate;
• providing a mechanical partition within the process chamber, said mechanical partition being positioned between the plasma source and said work piece;
• generating a plasma using the plasma source;
• and
• etching the work piece using the generated plasma.

A method for plasma etching a substrate, the method comprising:

• providing a process chamber having a wall;
• providing a plasma source adjacent to the wall of the process chamber;
• providing a substrate support within the process chamber;
• placing the substrate on said substrate support;
• providing a mechanical partition within the process chamber, said mechanical partition being positioned between the plasma source and the substrate;
• applying an RF bias power to said substrate support, said RF bias power having an RF bias frequency greater than ion plasma frequency;
• generating a plasma using the plasma source;
• etching the substrate using the generated plasma;
• and
• exposing an insulating layer using said etching step.

A method for plasma dicing a substrate, the method comprising:

• providing a process chamber having a wall;
• providing a plasma source adjacent to the wall of the process chamber;
• providing a work piece support within the process chamber;
• placing a work piece onto said work piece support, said work piece having a support film, a frame and the substrate;
• providing a plurality of mechanical partitions within the process chamber, said plurality of mechanical partitions being positioned between the plasma source and said work piece;
• generating a plasma using the plasma source;
• and
• etching the work piece using the generated plasma.

A method for plasma dicing a substrate, the method comprising:

• providing a process chamber having a wall;
• providing a plasma source adjacent to the wall of the process chamber;
• providing a work piece support within the process chamber;
• placing a work piece onto said work piece support, said work piece having a support film, a frame and the substrate;
• providing a mechanical partition within the process chamber, said mechanical partition being positioned between the plasma source and said work piece;
• generating a plasma using the plasma source;
• etching the work piece using the generated plasma;
• measuring a property uniformity;
• and
• adjusting said positioning of said mechanical partition based on said measuring step.