Method for wafer-level manufacturing of objects and corresponding semi-finished products
The method for manufacturing an object comprises the steps of (a) providing a wafer comprising a multitude of semi-finished objects; (b) separating said wafer into parts referred to as sub-wafers, at least one of said sub-wafers comprising a plurality of said semi-finished objects; (c) processing at least a portion of said plurality of semi-finished objects by subjecting said at least one sub-wafer to at least one processing step; and preferably also the step of (d) separating said at least one sub-wafer into a plurality of parts.
1. A method for manufacturing an object, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a wafer comprising semi-finished objects;
(b) separating said wafer into sub-wafers, at least one of said sub-wafers comprising a plurality of said semi-finished objects;
(c) processing at least a portion of said plurality of semi-finished objects by subjecting said at least one of said sub-wafers to at least one processing step, wherein said at least one processing step is applied to a separation face of said sub-wafer originating from step (b).
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said portion comprises at least two of said plurality of semi-finished objects.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said portion comprises at least half of said plurality of semi-finished objects.
4. A method for manufacturing an object, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a wafer comprising semi-finished objects;
(b) separating said wafer into sub-wafers, at least one of said sub-wafers comprising a plurality of said semi-finished objects;
(c) processing at least a portion of said plurality of semi-finished objects by subjecting said at least one of said sub-wafers to at least one processing step, wherein said at least one processing step comprises creating a slanted side wall of said sub-wafer slanted with respect to a lateral plane, wherein creating said slanted side wall is accomplished by removing material from said sub-wafer.
5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein step (c) is carried out while said plurality of said semi-finished objects is comprised in said sub-wafer.
6. The method according to claim 4 , wherein in step (c),
all the semi-finished objects of said portion of said plurality of semi-finished objects are simultaneously processed; or
the semi-finished objects of said portion of said plurality of semi-finished objects are subsequently processed.
7. The method according to claim 4 , wherein in step (c), each of said semi-finished objects of said at least one sub-wafer is processed by subjecting said at least one sub-wafer to at least one processing step.
8. The method according to claim 4 , wherein each of at least two of said sub-wafers comprises a respective plurality of said semi-finished objects, wherein the method comprises carrying out for each respective one of said at least two sub-wafers, the step of
(c′) processing at least a portion of the respective plurality of semi-finished objects of the respective sub-wafer by subjecting the respective sub-wafer to said at least one processing step.
9. The method according to claim 4 , wherein in said at least one sub-wafer, said plurality of said semi-finished objects forms a repetitive one-dimensional arrangement of said semi-finished objects.
10. The method according to claim 4 , wherein in said at least one sub-wafer, said plurality of said semi-finished objects is arranged along one or two straight lines.
11. The method according to claim 4 , wherein said at least one processing step comprises at least one of the group consisting of
a replication step;
a mechanical processing step;
a polishing step;
a grinding step;
a cutting step;
a chemical processing step;
a lithographic step;
a coating step; and
an etching step.
12. The method according to claim 4 , wherein said object is at least one of the group consisting of:
an optical element;
an optical device;
a substrate comprising at least one slanted face;
an optical sub-assembly comprising a substrate on which a light emitter is mounted, wherein said substrate on which a light emitter is mounted has at least one slanted face and/or wherein said light emitter is an edge-emitting light emitter and/or a laser;
an opto-electronic module;
an optical system;
a light-guiding device;
a micro-mechanical element;
a micro-electro-mechanical element;
a micro-electro-mechanical system.
13. The method according to claim 4 , wherein said wafer is at least partially made of a transparent polymer or of a glass.
14. The method according to claim 4 , comprising carrying out, after carrying out step (c), the step of
(d) separating said at least one sub-wafer into a plurality of parts, wherein each part comprises one of said processed semi-finished objects.
15. The method according to claim 4 , comprising carrying out, before carrying out step (b), the step of
(e) manufacturing said wafer.