Dicing of MEMS devices

The development of anisotropic trench etch processes has paved the way to an alternative approach for die separation of semiconductor wafers, so called plasma dicing. Replacing mechanical sawing by chemical etching in a plasma environment offers a variety of advantages. This chapter explains the basic principle of the etching process and summarizes the different methodologies for plasma dicing. It is also important to understand prerequisites and limitations of this technology in order to evaluate its applicability and potential economic benefit.