Backside metal removal die singulation systems and related methods
Implementations of methods of singulating a plurality of die included in a substrate may include forming a groove through a backside metal layer through laser ablating a backside metal layer at a die street of a substrate and singulating a plurality of die included in the substrate through removing substrate material of the substrate in the die street.
1. A method of singulating a plurality of die comprised in a substrate, the method comprising:
forming a groove through a backside metal layer through laser ablating the backside metal layer at a die street of a substrate; and
singulating a plurality of die comprised in the substrate through plasma etching at the die street;
wherein singulating the plurality of die comprised in the substrate through plasma etching further comprises removing a portion of the substrate having a width less than a width of the die street; and
wherein the backside metal layer is used as a mask for the plasma etching at the die street.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is less than 50 micrometers thick.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is less than 30 micrometers thick.
4. A method of singulating a plurality of die comprised in a substrate, the method comprising:
forming, on a first side of a substrate, one or more layers;
forming a backside metal layer on a second side of the substrate;
laser ablating a groove into the backside metal layer to expose at least a portion of the substrate, wherein the groove is located in a die street of the substrate;
using the backside metal layer as a mask, singulating a plurality of die comprised in the substrate through plasma etching, from the second side of the substrate, at the portion of the substrate exposed by the groove;
monitoring the laser ablating of the groove; and
making near-real-time adjustments to one or more laser parameters based upon data collected through the monitoring.
5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising thinning the second side of the substrate, wherein the substrate is thinned to less than 50 micrometers.
6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising monitoring the laser ablating of the groove using a camera facing the second side of the substrate.
7. The method of claim 4 , wherein singulating the plurality of die comprised in the substrate through plasma etching further comprises removing a portion of the substrate having a width less than a width of the die street.
8. The method of claim 4 , wherein the backside metal layer comprises copper.
9. A method of singulating a plurality of die comprised in a substrate, the method comprising:
using a laser, grooving through a backside metal layer in a die street coupled to a substrate;
actively monitoring a formation of a groove in the backside metal layer; and
using the backside metal layer as a mask, singulating a plurality of die comprised in the substrate through removing, from a side of the substrate facing the backside metal layer, substrate material at the groove in the backside metal layer.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein actively monitoring the formation of the groove in the backside metal layer further comprises monitoring using a camera facing the backside metal layer.
11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising making near-real-time adjustments to one or more laser parameters based upon data collected during the monitoring.
12. The method of claim 9 , wherein removing the substrate material at the groove further comprises removing through plasma etching.
13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising removing damage from a sidewall of the die street through remote plasma healing.
14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the substrate is thinned to less than 50 micrometers.
15. The method of claim 4 , wherein singulating the plurality of die comprised in the substrate through plasma etching further comprises removing a portion of the substrate having a width less than a width of the die street.
16. The method of claim 9 , wherein singulating the plurality of die comprised in the substrate further comprises removing a portion of the substrate having a width less than a width of the die street.