Scribing sapphire substrates with a solid state UV laser

A method for manufacturing die from a sapphire substrate, comprising;

• mounting the sapphire substrate on a stage;
• directing pulses of laser energy at a surface of the sapphire substrate using a solid state laser, the pulses having a wavelength below about 560 nanometers, an energy density, a spot size, a repetition rate and a pulse duration sufficient to induce ablation of sapphire;
• and
• causing the pulses to impact the sapphire substrate in a scribe pattern to cut scribe lines in the sapphire substrate,
• wherein the sapphire substrate has a thickness, and the scribe lines are cut to a depth of more than about one half said thickness.

A method for manufacturing die from a sapphire substrates, comprising:

• mounting the sapphire substrate on a stage:
• directing pulses of laser energy at a surface of the sapphire substrate using a solid state laser, the pulses having a wavelength below about 560 nanometers, an energy density, a spot size, a repetition rate and a pulse duration sufficient to induce ablation of sapphire;
• and causing the pulses to impact the sapphire substrate in a scribe pattern to cut scribe lines in the sapphire substrate, and including:
• placing the substrate on an adhesive tape prior to causing the pulses to impact the sapphire substrate in a scribe pattern;
• and preventing said pulses from impacting the adhesive tape.

A method for manufacturing die from a sapphire substrate, comprising:

• mounting the sapphire substrate on a stage;
• directing pulses of laser energy at a surface of the sapphire substrate using a solid state laser, the pulses having a wavelength below about 560 nanometers, an energy density, a spot size, a repetition rate and a pulse duration sufficient to induce ablation of sapphire;
• and
• causing the pulses to impact the sapphire substrate in a scribe pattern to cut scribe lines in the sapphire substrate, and including:
• placing the substrate on an adhesive tape prior to causing the pulses to impact the sapphire substrate in a scribe pattern;
• detecting edges of the sapphire substrate during said causing the pulses to impact the sapphire substrate in a scribe pattern, and in response to detected edges, preventing said pulses from impacting the adhesive tape.

A method for manufacturing die from a sapphire substrate, comprising:

• mounting the sapphire substrate on a stage;
• directing pulses of laser energy at a surface of the sapphire substrate using a solid state laser, the pulses having a wavelength below about 560 nanometers, an energy density, a spot size, a repetition rate and a pulse duration sufficient to induce ablation of sapphire;
• and
• causing the pulses to impact the sapphire substrate in a scribe pattern to cut scribe lines in the sapphire substrate,
• wherein the substrate has an active surface and a back side, and including placing the active surface of the substrate on an adhesive tape, and mounting the substrate on the stage to direct the pulses to the back side of the substrate.

A method for manufacturing die from a sapphire substrate, comprising:

• mounting the sapphire substrate on a stage;
• directing pulses of laser energy at a surface of the sapphire substrate using a solid state laser, the pulses having a wavelength below about 560 nanometers, an energy density, a spot size, a repetition rate and a pulse duration sufficient to induce ablation of sapphire;
• and
• causing the pulses to impact the sapphire substrate in a scribe pattern to cut scribe lines in the sapphire substrate, wherein the substrate has an active surface and a back side, and including causing the laser pulses to impact the back side.

A method for manufacturing die from a sapphire substrate, comprising:

• laying out and forming integrated devices in an array on an active surface of the sapphire substrate, wherein individual die are separated by streets having a width of about 25 microns or less;
• mounting the sapphire substrate with the active surface down on a stage;
• directing pulses of laser energy at a back surface of the sapphire substrate using a solid state laser, the pulses having a wavelength below about 560 nanometers, an energy density, a spot size, a repetition rate and a pulse duration to couple laser energy directly into said sapphire substrate by absorption sufficient to induce ablation of sapphire;
• causing the pulses to impact the sapphire substrate in a scribe pattern to cut scribe lines in the sapphire substrate;
• and
• separating die defined by the scribe pattern from the sapphire substrate.

A method for manufacturing die from a sapphire substrate, comprising;

• mounting the sapphire substrate on a stage;
• directing pulses of laser energy at a surface of the sapphire substrate, the pulses having a wavelength, an energy density, a spot size, a repetition rate and a pulse duration sufficient to induce ablation of sapphire;
• causing the pulses to impact the sapphire substrate in a scribe pattern to cut scribe lines in the sapphire substrate;
• and
• controlling polarization of the laser pulses with respect to direction of scribe lines in the scribe pattern.

A method for manufacturing die from a sapphire substrate, comprising:

• laying out and forming integrated devices in an array on an active surface of the sapphire substrate, wherein individual die are separated by streets having a width of about 25 microns or less;
• mounting the sapphire substrate with the active surface down on a stage;
• directing pulses of laser energy at a back surface of the sapphire substrate using a solid state laser, the pulses having a wavelength below about 560 nanometers, an energy density, a spot size, a repetition rate and a pulse duration sufficient to induce ablation of sapphire;
• causing the pulses to impact the sapphire substrate in a scribe pattern to cut scribe lines in the sapphire substrate;
• controlling polarization of the pulses so that the pulses are linearly polarized in a direction parallel to the scribe lines being scribed;
• and
• separating die defined by the scribe pattern from the sapphire substrate.