UPM diamond powder improves semiconductor processing

One scratch or chip on the dicing edge could lead to a total loss of value to an entire silicon or silicon carbide (SiC) wafer, making it essential to utilize high-quality material to process the semiconductor material.

Due to its high hardness, diamond micron powder is the exclusive choice for processing silicon or SiC materials from ingot slicing to wafer dicing. A single SiC wafer, valued at tens of thousands of dollars, is a testament to the significance of each step in the chip-making process, which consists of lapping, polishing, and grinding stages that expose the semiconductor wafer to scratches, cuts, or chips.

One of the primary sources of scratching or chipping of the wafer is oversized particles. Oversized particles, diamond particles twice or more than the mean size of the powder, are extremely difficult to detect and require proper quality control and testing to discover the outliers.

To help toolmakers boost chip making, Hyperion's dedicated R&D experts, driven by a passion for innovation, developed Ultra-Premium Micron Diamond Powders (UPM), a solution to accommodate better silicon and SiC in semiconductor processing.

In this tech note, Hyperion develops several grinding tests that unequivocally demonstrate the superiority of Hyperion's ultra-premium micron diamond powder over incumbent materials, showing significant improvements in tool life.

Download the tech note to read more about the improvements in tool life and the reduction in scratches.

Diamond Research and Development