High repetition rate laser beam measurement for wafer dicing manufacturers
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
If you use laser wafer dicing in your business instead of conventional saw dicing, which requires changing blades periodically, you should be happy that you are not confronted with such an issue anymore.
However, you deserve to be happier with your new high-tech blade, that is, the “laser beam” by measuring its performance to ensure the efficiency of the dicing process.
Laser-based wafer dicing boosts profits
Wafer dicing by lasers, which stays on the leading edge of technology owing to advances in laser science, is an alternative to conventional saw dicing method. While lasers have enabled many technical breakthroughs in a wide variety of areas, the demand for such technology in wafer dicing applications has also grown, especially as wafers become thinner.
Manufacturers are replacing their old-style systems with laser-based technologies and are taking advantage of the non-contact and high-feed rate process with no chipping and narrow kerf dicing throughputs. Wafer dicing manufacturers do not need any tool wear, and they need not be concerned anymore for blade lifetime or dressing process thanks to new laser-based method.
In the wafer dicing process using lasers, determining the proper laser beam parameters such as average power, pulse energy, pulse duration, and beam quality according to the wafer type is crucial for efficient and sustainable throughput.
Laser specifications change over time for many reasons and it causes problems accross all industries. Learn about how laser output measurement solves numerous problems in YOUR industry. Download the guide below. Gentec-EO's high-accuracy laser beam measurement instruments help engineers, scientists and technicians in all sorts of laser applications from the factory to the hospital, laboratory and research center. Learn about our solutions for these measurement types:
For managing the laser heat on the wafer surface, high repetition rate lasers (tens of kHz) are required which allow the wafer to be cooled during the interval between the pulses essentially by minimizing unwanted heat effects.
On the other hand, short laser pulses are used to achieve high peak power for an efficient ablation process. After everything has been well-adjusted for the process, you are now ready for dicing your wafers via your “high-tech” blade, that is, the laser beam!
Simple steps to measure your laser beam
If you are a wafer dicing manufacturer, you might need to be sure about the performance of your laser to maintain the productivity of your business. Laser pulse energy can be verified periodically by using proper power measurement units in case of any problem which might affect your process.
Since laser performance can change over time due to many reasons, this procedure can also help you to obtain repeatable high-quality diced pieces. Additionally, you might get a tight pulse energy tolerance for a certain dicing process which needs to be completed without any damage. Thus, it is vital to be sure about the exact pulse energy interacting with the wafer in such a situation.
At this point, what you need to do is simple. First, choose a reliable, highly accurate laser power detector with a high damage threshold to verify the output power and stability of your system’s laser. After that, a simple pulse energy calculation as described in this article will give you the energy of your laser beam. That’s it!
While utilizing the advantages of laser-based wafer dicing systems, it might be time for you to gain control over the system and improve the quality of the yield by investing in a power measurement unit for your system.
Does your laser wafer dicing system need different requirements than standard products for laser beam measurement? If so, we are always ready to guide you for special product customization according to your needs.
