Cutting of SiC Wafer by Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Etching with Wire Electrode

2012 ◽  
Vol 717-720 ◽  
pp. 865-868 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuhisa Sano ◽  
Kohei Aida ◽  
Takehiro Kato ◽  
Kazuya Yamamura ◽  
Hidekazu Mimura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Etching ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Etch Rate ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure Plasma ◽  
Wire Electrode ◽  
Rf Power ◽  
Pressure Plasma ◽  
Power And Energy ◽  
Sic Wafer ◽  
Conventional Machining

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a promising semiconductor material for high-temperature, high-frequency, high-power, and energy-saving applications. However, it is so hard and chemically stable that there are few efficient conventional machining methods for it. We have developed plasma chemical vaporization machining (PCVM), an atmospheric-pressure plasma etching process, and investigated its application to the processing of SiC substrates. In this paper, the cutting characteristics of a SiC substrate by PCVM with a wire electrode are described. We found that increasing the rf power and reactive gas concentration increases the etch rate and that the etch width can be reduces by increasing the SF6 concentration. The maximum etch rate was 2.1 μm/min and the minimum etch width was 220 μm. It was also demonstrated that a SiC wafer prethinned to 100 μm can be successfully cut without breaking or cracking.

Basic Experiment on Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Etching with Slit Aperture for High-Efficiency Dicing of SiC Wafer

2013 ◽  
Vol 740-742 ◽  
pp. 813-816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuhisa Sano ◽  
Hiroaki Nishikawa ◽  
Kohei Aida ◽  
Chaiyapat Tangpatjaroen ◽  
Kazuya Yamamura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Etching ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure Plasma ◽  
Slit Width ◽  
Etching Depth ◽  
Pressure Plasma ◽  
Power And Energy ◽  
Sic Wafer ◽  
Conventional Machining

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a promising semiconductor material for high-temperature, high-frequency, high-power, and energy-saving applications. However, because the hardness and chemical stability of SiC are high, few conventional machining methods can handle this material efficiently. We previously developed a plasma chemical vaporization machining (PCVM) technique, which is an atmospheric-pressure plasma etching process, and investigated its application to the processing of SiC substrates. In this paper, we propose a novel style of PCVM technique for dicing, using slit apertures to confine the plasma. From experiments by means of an apparatus with a one-slit aperture formed by two masks, it was found that the kerf loss was almost proportional to the slit width, and that the etching depth increased with RF power. Furthermore, from experiments on a SiC wafer, we obtained a 130-μm etching depth and 300-μm kerf loss for an 11-min processing time and 200-μm slit width.

Dicing of SiC Wafer by Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Etching Process with Slit Mask for Plasma Confinement

2014 ◽  
Vol 778-780 ◽  
pp. 759-762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuhisa Sano ◽  
Hiroaki Nishikawa ◽  
Yuu Okada ◽  
Kazuya Yamamura ◽  
Satoshi Matsuyama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Etching ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Removal Rate ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure Plasma ◽  
Etching Process ◽  
Plasma Confinement ◽  
Plasma Etching Process ◽  
Pressure Plasma ◽  
High Removal Rate ◽  
Sic Wafer

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a promising semiconductor material for high-temperature, high-frequency, high-power, and energy-saving applications. However, because of the hardness and chemical stability of SiC, few conventional machining methods can handle this material efficiently. A plasma chemical vaporization machining (PCVM) technique is an atmospheric-pressure plasma etching process. We previously proposed a novel style of PCVM dicing using slit apertures for plasma confinement, which in principle can achieve both a high removal rate and small kerf loss, and demonstration experiments were performed using a silicon wafer as a sample. In this research, some basic experiments were performed using 4H-SiC wafer as a sample, and a maximum removal rate of approximately 10 μm/min and a narrowest groove width of 25 μm were achieved. We also found that argon can be used for plasma generation instead of expensive helium gas.

Polishing Characteristics of 4H-SiC Si-Face and C-Face by Plasma Chemical Vaporization Machining

2007 ◽  
Vol 556-557 ◽  
pp. 757-760
Author(s):  
Yasuhisa Sano ◽  
Masayo Watanabe ◽  
Kazuya Yamamura ◽  
Kazuto Yamauchi ◽  
Takeshi Ishida ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Etch Rate ◽  
Removal Rate ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure Plasma ◽  
Plasma Chemical ◽  
Machined Surface ◽  
Pressure Plasma ◽  
High Etch Rate ◽  
High Removal Rate ◽  
Conventional Machining

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a promising semiconductor material for power devices. However, it is so hard and so chemically stable that there is no efficient method of machining it without causing damage to the machined surface. Plasma chemical vaporization machining (PCVM) is plasma etching in atmospheric-pressure plasma. PCVM has a high removal rate equivalent to those of conventional machining methods such as grinding and lapping, because the radical density in atmospheric-pressure plasma is much higher than that in normal low-pressure plasma. In this paper, the polishing characteristics of SiC by PCVM are described. As a result of machining, the surface roughnesses of both Si- and C-faces were improved under a relatively low-etch-rate (100-200 nm/min) condition. The C-face was also improved under a relatively high-etch-rate (approximately 10 μm/min) condition, and a very smooth surface (below 2 nm peak-to-valley in a 500-nm-square area) was achieved.

Back-Side Thinning of Silicon Carbide Wafer by Plasma Etching Using Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma

2012 ◽  
Vol 516 ◽  
pp. 108-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuhisa Sano ◽  
Kohei Aida ◽  
Hiroaki Nishikawa ◽  
Kazuya Yamamura ◽  
Satoshi Matsuyama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Silicon Carbide ◽  
Plasma Etching ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Removal Rate ◽  
Thickness Distribution ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure Plasma ◽  
Back Side ◽  
Wafer Level ◽  
Pressure Plasma ◽  
Sic Wafer

Silicon carbide (SiC) power devices have received much attention in recent years because they enable the fabrication of devices with low power consumption. To reduce the on-resistance in vertical power transistors, back-side thinning is required after device processing. However, it is difficult to thin a SiC wafer with a high removal rate by conventional mechanical machining because its high hardness and brittleness cause cracking and chipping during thinning. In this study, we attempted to thin a SiC wafer by plasma chemical vaporization machining (PCVM), which is plasma etching using atmospheric-pressure plasma. The wafer level thinning of a 2-inch 4H-SiC wafer has been possible without a removal thickness distribution caused by the circular shape of the wafer using the newly developed PCVM apparatus for back-side thinning with a spatial wafer stage.

Remotely floating wire-assisted generation of high-density atmospheric pressure plasma and SF6-added plasma etching of quartz glass

2019 ◽  
Vol 125 (6) ◽  
pp. 063304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thi-Thuy-Nga Nguyen ◽  
Minoru Sasaki ◽  
Hidefumi Odaka ◽  
Takayoshi Tsutsumi ◽  
Kenji Ishikawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quartz Glass ◽  
Plasma Etching ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure Plasma ◽  
High Density ◽  
Pressure Plasma

The influence of moisture on atmospheric pressure plasma etching of PA6 films

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 230-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiqiang Gao ◽  
Shujing Peng ◽  
Jie Sun ◽  
Lan Yao ◽  
Yiping Qiu
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Etching ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure Plasma ◽  
Pressure Plasma

Thinning of SiC Wafer by Plasma Chemical Vaporization Machining

2010 ◽  
Vol 645-648 ◽  
pp. 857-860 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuhisa Sano ◽  
Takehiro Kato ◽  
Tsutomu Hori ◽  
Kazuya Yamamura ◽  
Hidekazu Mimura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Etching ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure Plasma ◽  
High Hardness ◽  
High Yield ◽  
Plasma Chemical ◽  
Power Transistors ◽  
Device Processing ◽  
Mechanical Machining ◽  
Sic Wafer

In order to reduce the on-resistance in vertical power transistors, backside thinning is required after device processing. However, it is difficult to thin an SiC wafer with a high yield rate by conventional mechanical machining because its high hardness and brittleness cause cracking and chipping during thinning. In this study, a small rectangular SiC sample was thinned by plasma chemical vaporization machining (PCVM), which is plasma etching using atmospheric-pressure plasma. As a result, the sample was successfully thinned to 40 m without any cracking or chipping. Furthermore, the surface roughness was improved after thinning, and the edge of the wafer became rounded automatically. Therefore, PCVM can be used as an effective method for thinning SiC wafers.

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