Investigate the effects of blade dressing on dicing blade lifetime and kerf profile

Every dicing operation needs some preliminary checks to be performed before dicing/trimming can be started. One of these actions is hairline measurement. A dicing blade is considered acceptable to be used if the hairline width is in spec: the measured width of the actual cut must be ±10% of the blade width indicated on the blade box. When the hairline width is out of spec or the diced line profile is too rough/chipped, the blade needs to be trashed. 

This project will focus on:

• the beneficial effects of dressing on blade lifetime: when a blade results OOS or creates rough profiles, dressing could make use of the self-sharpening effect of dicing blades to restore the blade edge and allow further use. 
• kerf profile improvement: some dicing applications are more likely to generate front and backside chipping on wafers (quartz dicing, thinned wafer) and for some lots a higher kerf quality might be required. Dressing the blade could result in improved kerf profiles and reduced chipping.

Language requirements: English 

Type of Project: Internship 

Mentor: Alessandro Stoppato 

For more information or application, please contact Lan Peng (lan.peng@imec.be)