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Semiconductors

Semiconductor manufacturers are searching for materials to enhance production processes. Current solutions have time-consuming process change over, cause a high scrap rate through damage to the parts, and leave residue. Setex materials can be finely tuned to the shear and peel strength that the part handling operation requires, be easily removed without damage to even the thinnest and most delicate wafers, leave no residue, and can withstand the environmental conditions of wafer manufacturing and processing.

Chip Handling and Transfer Tape

Clean storage, shipping, and handling are critical steps in the semiconductor industry. Conventional materials can leave residue on the chips. Setex materials can provide a clean and easily removable bond, providing new innovations in semiconductor processing and packaging.

THE TECH

Setex’s dry adhesives consist of arrays of gecko-inspired microstructures that can be optimized for excellent bond or grip with a semiconductor surface. Adhesion can be tuned to customer-defined levels to ensure secure contact and easy release. Setex has the capability to manufacture these fiber arrays from LSRs (liquid silicone rubbers) and perfluoroelastomers (FFKM) which result in little to no residue even after prolonged contact such as storage or shipping. These materials are also resistant to high temperatures, enabling them for use during assembly processes.

Wafer Handling

When handling silicon wafers, cleanliness and efficiency are very important. Thin wafers that can curve with stress make the process of vacuum clamping difficult, and wafer contacting pads do not provide enough traction to rapidly accelerate the wafers through manufacturing, affecting process throughput. Setex materials can provide new innovative ways to handle and process wafers.

THE TECH

Setex has developed unique microstructured materials that can provide enhanced grip to the backside of the wafer, allowing for rapid acceleration of the wafer through manufacturing processing steps, while maintaining easy and clean vertical release. The material consists of arrays of microstructures made from ultra-clean LSRs (liquid silicone rubbers) or perfluoroelastomers (FFKM) that are specifically optimized for excellent lateral grip and near-zero vertical adhesion with a semiconductor surface. With Setex’s ability to customize pull-off and shear adhesion by the changing microstructure shape, we have demonstrated shear:adhesion ratios ranging from 13:1 – 30:1. Setex materials are also vacuum compatible.

Pick and Place

As chips become smaller and smaller, existing solutions, like vacuum-based operations, provide inadequate resolution and control over such small and delicate parts. Setex dry adhesive tapes provide a solution for the pick and place of very small and delicate components without leaving residue.

THE TECH

Setex dry adhesive consists of arrays of microfibers that can repeatedly bond to smooth surfaces. The fibers’ tips are flat to achieve maximum surface contact and are on the micron-scale so they can be used to manipulate even the smallest components.
This technology enables the picking and placing of even the most delicate parts without leaving residue for thousands of cycles.

Performance over 1,000 Peel Cycles

Backgrinding & Dicing

Dicing tapes and grinding tapes need to be strong enough to adhere the wafer through these processes, but weak enough that the wafer can easily be removed. Standard dicing and grinding tapes can struggle to find the right balance which can cause chipping or cracking issues. Setex dry adhesive’s strength is able to be finely-tuned, making it ideal for these wafer processes.

THE TECH

Setex’s low residue, high temperature resistant dry adhesive microstructures can be tuned for required peel and shear properties to enable strong bond to the wafer and easy removal. Small changes in the microgeometry, like the shape of the tip or the aspect ratio of the fiber, result in different adhesive and frictional properties for the Setex materials, enabling this fine-tuning of adhesive properties, even the ability to independently tune shear and peel strength.