Etched trenches in bond materials for die singulation, and associated systems and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025056937-A1
Application number	US-202418929239-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 28, 2024
Priority date	Mar 8, 2012
Publication date	Feb 13, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

Etched trenches in a bond material for die singulation, and associated systems and methods are disclosed. A method for solid state transducer device singulation in accordance with one embodiment includes forming a plurality of trenches by etching through a metallic bond material forming a bond between a carrier substrate and a plurality of the dies and singulating the carrier substrate along the trenches to separate the dies. In particular embodiments, the trenches extend into the carrier substrate. In further particular embodiments, the dies are at least partially encapsulated in a dielectric material.

First claim

I/we claim:

1 . A method of processing dies, comprising:
bonding a die material to a carrier substrate by forming intermetallic compounds between the die material and the carrier substrate, with the intermetallic compounds forming a bond material; forming a plurality of trenches by etching through the bond material that forms a bond between a carrier substrate and a plurality of dies including the die material, wherein individual dies have a first side attached to the bond material and a second side opposite the first side, and wherein individual trenches have lateral side portions and a bottom portion; and singulating the carrier substrate along the trenches to separate the dies.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
forming a plurality of mesas in the die material by etching dicing streets through the die material, with individual mesas comprising one or more SSTs.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein an individual SST includes at least one of an OLED, PLED, LED and laser diode.

4 . The method of claim 2 wherein the bottom portions of the trenches are at least partially etched into the carrier substrate.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein singulating the carrier substrate is performed by a mechanical sawing process, a laser dicing process, a stealth dicing process, or a combination thereof.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein etching includes a wet etching process with an etchant that includes nitric acid.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the bond material includes at least one of NiSn, CuSn and TiSi.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising encapsulating the second sides of the plurality of dies and the side portions of the plurality of trenches with a protective material.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the protective material comprises a dielectric polymer, a dielectric epoxy, or a combination thereof.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
forming openings in the protective material at the second sides of the plurality of dies; and forming electrical contacts in the openings in the protective material.

11 . A method of forming SST dies, the method comprising:
bonding a die material to a carrier substrate by forming intermetallic compounds between the die material and the carrier substrate, with the intermetallic compounds forming the bond material; forming a plurality of dicing streets between neighboring SST dies to expose a bond material at a second side of the SST dies, wherein the second side is opposite from a first side of the SST dies; etching the exposed bond material to form a plurality of trenches in the carrier substrate, wherein individual trenches have lateral side portions at least partially extending through the bond material and a bottom portion at least partially extending into the carrier substrate; and separating the SST dies by singulating the carrier substrate along the trenches.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
removing the growth substrate prior to forming the plurality of dicing streets, and wherein singulating the carrier substrate is performed by a mechanical sawing process.

13 . The method of claim 11 wherein the contacts are N-contacts.

14 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising at least partially encapsulating the first side of the SST dies and the side portions of the trenches with a protective material.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the protective material comprises a silicone-based material that is generally transparent to a wavelength of radiation configured to be emitted by the SST dies.

16 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
forming a plurality of openings in the protective material to partially expose the first side of the SST dies; and forming a plurality of contacts in the openings.

17 . A method of singulating SST dies on a substrate, comprising:
bonding a carrier substrate and a semiconductor die material by forming intermetallic compounds between the die material and the carrier substrate, with the intermetallic compounds forming a bond material, the die material including a plurality of unsingulated SST dies; forming a plurality of dicing streets between neighboring SST dies by exposing the bond material between neighboring SST dies; etching through the exposed bond material at the dicing streets to form a plurality of trenches in the substrate, wherein individual trenches have lateral side portions at least partially extending through the bond material and a bottom portion at least partially extending into the carrier substrate; and singulating the carrier substrate along the trenches using a mechanical saw.

18 . The method of claim 17 wherein the contacts are N-contacts.

19 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising at least partially encapsulating the SST dies and the side portions of the trenches with a protective material.

20 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
forming a plurality of openings in the protective material to partially expose a first side of the SST dies; forming a plurality of contacts at the corresponding openings.

Assignees

• Micron Technology Inc

Inventors

• Odnoblyudov Vladimir
• Schellhammer Scott D
• Frei Jeremy S

Classifications

• H10W72/0198

  batch processes · CPC title

• H10W72/252

  comprising solid metals or solid metalloids, e.g. PbSn, Ag or Cu · CPC title

• H10W72/242

  relative to the surface, e.g. recessed, protruding · CPC title

• H10W72/01235

  by plating, e.g. electroless plating or electroplating · CPC title

• H10P72/7438

  with parts of the auxiliary support remaining in the finished device · CPC title