Method of severing a semiconductor wafer
AssigneeSiemens Aktiengesellschaft
InventorsJosef Maurer, Gisela Lang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A semiconductor wafer, after having been provided with a multiplicity of optoelectronic semiconductor structures, is severed into a number of individual chips by abrasive cutting. After cutting, the chip flanks are etched with the chip surface protected. First, a covering layer is deposited over the entire surface of the semiconductor wafer which is provided with the diode structures. The covering layer is structured in such a manner that the covering layer is removed at the areas defined as cutting tracks. Then the semiconductor wafer is cut into individual chips by abrasive cutting with a cutting tool. The cutting tool is guided along the cutting tracks by appropriately moving the semiconductor wafer and the cutting tool relative to one another.
Claims7
A method of severing a semiconductor wafer with a multiplicity of optoelectronic semiconductor structures into a plurality of individual chips, which comprises:
- providing a semiconductor wafer with a multiplicity of optoelectronic semiconductor structures;
- depositing a covering layer of photoresist material over an entire surface of the semiconductor wafer with the optoelectronic semiconductor structures;
- structuring the covering layer and partly removing the covering layer to define cutting tracks;
- guiding an abrasive cutting tool along the cutting tracks by moving the cutting tool and the semiconductor wafer relative to one another and thereby cutting the semiconductor wafer along the cutting tracks into individual chips;
- subsequently etching chip flanks of the chips;
- and
- removing the covering layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.