McGill University
Question
Asked 28th Aug, 2012
How to cleave a Si wafer in small pieces?
Could anyone please suggest some simple techniques to obtain small (~2mmX5mm) pieces of Silicon (100) wafer with perfectly cleaved (optical quality) edges. It is very easy to cleave a larger wafer, however it gets extremely difficult to get small size samples with perfectly cleaved facets (required for coupling the light beam).
Most recent answer
Hello,
I'm wondering if we can cleave Si wafer into even smaller dimensions like 500 um? Is cleaving still a good option? or dicing saw is recommended?
All Answers (10)
National Measurement Institute
Use diamond scriber or diamond pen to scribe lines on surface, repeat in 1 direction multiple times for easier cleaving. Use sharp razor blade on edge of chip and push. Fingers crossed.
2 Recommendations
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Dear Fang and Laurens,
thanks to both of you for your valuable suggestions.
1 Recommendation
University of Hyderabad
Scribing and then cleaving using diamond scriber is the normal procedure. However, if you encounter issues with manual scriber, then dicing is another option.
2 Recommendations
Meta-Lasers Research and Development Inc.
there are scribing machines on the market. I recently built a motorized scribing system that is reproducibly accurate and can scribe up to 4 inch wafers in patterns. I needed this level of scribing capacity for e-beam lithography as most SEMs are not accurate for nanolithography beyond 1 cm of stage movement.
1 Recommendation
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Hi Walter, I appreciate your input. I will be in touch if I need additional information.
LatticeGear, LLC.
LatticeGear makes a variety of handheld and mechanical tools for downsizing samples for photonic applications. Attached is a link to one such user application. We have found the key to success is a clean microline indent followed by a 3 pt cleave. This produces a cleaved edge with the mirror finish required for photonics research.
1 Recommendation
National Physical Laboratory
What is the best way to remove the Si fragments after cleaving into small die on a mylar sheet using a scriber? The air gun doesn't give a significant improvement. The individual chips are now too small to handle with tweezers.
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