Dicing tape is a backing tape used during

wafer dicing In the context of manufacturing integrated circuits, wafer dicing is the process by which die are separated from a wafer of semiconductor following the processing of the wafer. The dicing process can involve scribing and breaking, mechanical sa ...

or some other microelectronic substrate separation, the cutting apart of pieces of

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave in the opposite way ...

or other material following

wafer A wafer is a crisp, often sweet, very thin, flat, light and dry biscuit, often used to decorate ice cream, and also used as a garnish on some sweet dishes. Wafers can also be made into cookies with cream flavoring sandwiched between them. They ...

or module

microfabrication Microfabrication is the process of fabricating miniature structures of micrometre scales and smaller. Historically, the earliest microfabrication processes were used for integrated circuit fabrication, also known as " semiconductor manufacturing ...

. The tape holds the pieces of the substrate, in case of a wafer called as die, together during the cutting process, mounting them to a thin metal frame. The dies/substrate pieces are removed from the dicing tape later on in the

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

manufacturing process.

Tape types

Dicing tape can be made of PVC,

polyolefin A polyolefin is a type of polymer with the general formula (CH2CHR)n where R is an alkyl group. They are usually derived from a small set of simple olefins (alkenes). Dominant in a commercial sense are polyethylene and polypropylene. More speciali ...

, or

polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging ( plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including b ...

backing material with an adhesive to hold the wafer or substrate in place. In some cases dicing tape will have a release liner that will be removed prior to mounting the tape to the backside of the wafer. It is available in a variety of thicknesses, from 75 to 150 micrometers, with a variety of adhesive strengths, designed for various wafer/substrate sizes and materials. * UV tapes are dicing tapes in which the adhesive bond is broken by exposure to UV light after dicing, allowing the adhesive to be stronger during cutting while still allowing clean and easy removal. UV equipment can range from low power (a few mW/cm2), but safer process due to lower temperature lamps emission, to high power (more than 200 mW/cm2). Higher power results in a more complete cure, lower adhesion and reduced adhesive residue. * Thermal release tapes (typically PET material) have been developed for specific cases when etching or material printing is needed after the tape is installed. These tapes can also handle heavy substrates such as ceramic substrates or

printed circuit board A printed circuit board (PCB; also printed wiring board or PWB) is a medium used in electrical and electronic engineering to connect electronic components to one another in a controlled manner. It takes the form of a laminated sandwich str ...

s (PCBs/PWBs) if needed. Their adhesion disappears when heat (typically ) is applied. * In August 2017,

Furukawa Electric is a Japanese electric and electronics equipment company. The company was founded by Furukawa Ichibei in 1884 in Yokohama when a copper-smelting facility and a wire manufacturing factory were established. Furukawa was a Japanese businessman w ...

started mass production of expand separation dicing tape to provide a higher grade separation of integrated circuit chips from wafers after the stealth dicing process. This new version of dicing tape provides uniform expansion of chips without any external stretching, separating the wafers in a near perfect condition. * In January 2022, AE Advanced Engineering presented a 2 automatic UV curing systems 8" and 12" to accommodate

UV curable tapes and others in mass production.

References

External links

How to mount a dicing tape
Semiconductor device fabrication {{electronics-stub