Hi Everyone,

I'm interested in determining how people protect the side and back of die
during wet chemical etching (TMAH or KOH specifically). As you know this is
usu. carried out at 80C and the desire is to have an inert material that
will not effect the chemistry of the etch. It also has to allow for multiple
die, ease of handling, and post-etch die removal.

I'm aware that a lot of people just don't worry about the damage done to the
edges of the die but there is good reason to for packaging and mass production.
Teflon holders have been tried and do not provide sufficient protection. I
have also tried 'sticking' the die to a glass slide using siliconeX. This
has not worked so well due to the post-etch handling issues (getting die off
glass and getting silx off die.

I have the thought that what is required is a silx like substance that can
be disolved after etching using a vapour or liquid reaction that won't
effect silicon, aluminum, nitride passivation, or silicon dioxide (or any
other materials on the die die that may be exposed to it...copper, gold,...)

Thoughts?

Thanks
Derek
--
Derek R. Strembicke
MEMS/ASIC Design Engineer
Work Phone:(256) 880-8207
Fax: (256) 880-3866
email: strem@ieee.org







--
Derek R. Strembicke
ASIC Design Engineer
Work Phone:(256) 880-8207
Fax: (256) 880-3866
email: strem@ieee.org