Precision silicon wafer dicing services for semiconductor manufacturing, MEMS, photonics, sensors, and university research. We provide custom die sizes, wafer singulation, high-tolerance cutting, and fast worldwide delivery for silicon wafers and other semiconductor substrates.
UniversityWafer provides precision silicon wafer dicing services for research, prototype development, semiconductor fabrication, MEMS, sensors, spectroscopy, and thin-film applications. We can dice many substrate materials and wafer thicknesses into custom squares, rectangles, dies, chips, or coupons according to your required dimensions and tolerances.
Available options may include single-side polished or double-side polished silicon wafers, intrinsic or doped material, high-resistivity silicon, oxide-coated wafers, custom crystal orientations, blue-tape mounting, wafer-cassette packaging, and individual die handling.
A university Ph.D. researcher requested the following custom diced silicon wafers:
“I would like a quote for your low-cost diced undoped silicon wafers in 10 mm × 10 mm die sizes. The requested material is 525 µm thick, single-side polished, <100> orientation, undoped, and greater than 10,000 ohm-cm.
The silicon dies will be used for positron annihilation spectroscopy. Please provide pricing for a quantity of 20 pieces.”
Please reference inquiry #270386 for specifications and pricing.
Get Your Diced Silicon Wafer Quote FAST! Or Buy Online and Start Researching Today!
A senior research and development physicist asked about the handling, dicing, storage, and shipment of RCA-cleaned silicon wafers.
“We are evaluating the best way to store and ship RCA-cleaned wafers. When you refer to sealed wafer cassettes, are the wafers vacuum sealed, or could they still be exposed to moisture and airborne particles? Is the wafer dicing process also performed in a controlled clean environment?”
UniversityWafer quoted the following custom specification:
Item IS92b — Quantity: 4 wafers
Reference inquiry #23278 for specifications and pricing.
Silicon wafer dicing is the process of cutting a full silicon wafer into smaller individual pieces known as dies, chips, squares, or coupons. These diced silicon wafers can be produced in custom dimensions for semiconductor fabrication, MEMS devices, sensors, photonics, thin-film deposition, materials testing, and university research.
UniversityWafer can provide custom die sizes from a wide range of substrates, including prime-grade, test-grade, intrinsic, doped, oxidized, and double-side polished silicon wafers. Wafer diameter, thickness, crystal orientation, resistivity, surface finish, edge tolerance, and packaging can be selected according to the application.
Wafer singulation separates a processed wafer into individual dies after fabrication, coating, patterning, or device processing. The appropriate wafer cutting method depends on the substrate material, wafer thickness, required die dimensions, kerf width, edge quality, contamination limits, and acceptable levels of mechanical or thermal stress.
Dicing can be performed on standard silicon wafers, thermal oxide wafers, silicon-on-insulator wafers, and other semiconductor or optical substrates. The selected method should minimize chipping, cracking, particle generation, and damage to patterned device areas.
Mechanical blade dicing uses a high-speed precision spindle fitted with a thin diamond-embedded blade. The blade travels along predefined dicing streets to divide the wafer into individual dies. It is one of the most widely used methods for semiconductor dicing because it is repeatable, cost-effective, and suitable for many standard silicon wafer thicknesses.
Blade type, spindle speed, feed rate, cooling-water flow, and cut depth must be controlled carefully. Proper process selection helps reduce front-side and backside chipping while maintaining the requested die-size tolerance. Mechanical sawing is often appropriate for silicon coupons, sensor substrates, test pieces, and larger rectangular dies.
Laser wafer dicing is a non-contact cutting method that uses a focused laser to remove material or create a controlled separation path. Because there is no physical blade contacting the wafer, laser dicing can reduce mechanical loading and may be useful for thin wafers, narrow dicing streets, fragile devices, or applications requiring complex die geometries.
Laser parameters such as wavelength, pulse duration, power, repetition rate, and scanning speed affect kerf width, heat-affected zones, debris generation, and edge quality. The optimal settings depend on wafer thickness, surface coatings, metallization, dielectric layers, and the required final dimensions.
Scribe-and-break processing creates a controlled score line on the wafer surface and then applies mechanical force to separate the wafer along the crystal plane. This technique can reduce material loss because the scribe line may be narrower than the kerf produced by a conventional dicing blade.
Scribing is especially dependent on crystal orientation, wafer thickness, surface condition, and die geometry. It may be suitable for simple rectangular or square silicon dies when clean, predictable fracture paths can be maintained.
Stealth dicing focuses laser energy below the wafer surface to create a modified internal layer. The wafer is then expanded or separated along the weakened path. Because the primary modification occurs inside the wafer, this method can produce a narrow effective kerf and limit surface debris.
Thermal laser separation uses controlled heating and cooling to create and guide a crack through the substrate. These processes can be considered when low particle generation, narrow separation paths, or reduced mechanical contact are important. Suitability depends on the wafer material, thickness, device layout, and allowable thermal exposure.
Plasma dicing, sometimes called dicing by deep reactive ion etching, separates dies by etching through exposed dicing streets. Unlike blade dicing, plasma processing does not rely on mechanical sawing and can support narrow streets, non-rectangular die shapes, and high die density.
Plasma dicing may improve the number of usable dies obtained from a wafer, especially for small devices where conventional saw streets consume valuable surface area. However, the wafer normally requires a compatible masking process and suitable front-end fabrication preparation.
To request a quote for custom diced silicon wafers, provide as many of the following specifications as possible:
For applications requiring extremely high resistivity, consider undoped silicon wafers. For devices that require polished front and back surfaces, review double-side polished silicon wafers. Wafers can also be prepared using RCA cleaning before dicing or packaging when cleaner surfaces are required.
Custom silicon dies and coupons are commonly used for: