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Performance assessment of ultrathin sapphire wafer polishing with layer stacked clamping (LSC) method

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Abstract

Sapphire single crystal has great potential applications in the semiconductor field. Due to its brittle characteristics. Crack failure on ultra-thin sapphire surface were prone to happen using tradition paraffin bonding clamping method during double-side processing, which severely restricted its processing efficiency. Thus, for overcoming the problem, the layer stacked clamping (LSC) method was proposed by using van der Waals forces and capillary forces that caused by dropping a liquid between workpiece and baseplate. A series of experiments were conducted for studying the characteristic of layer stacked clamping (LSC) method on polishing ultrathin sapphire wafer with double-side polishing machine. A self-made friction force test platform was built for learning the friction force between sapphire wafer and baseplate with different baseplate (stainless steel, cast iron, and aluminum alloy) and different baseplate surface roughness (Ra 3.6 nm, 68.2 nm, 210.1 nm, and 517.9 nm). Single-factor polishing experiments were carried out on baseplate with different flatness (PV value 5.3 μm, 9.8 μm, 19.9 μm, and 29.7 μm) and different thicknesses (0.082 mm, 0.104 mm, and 0.119 mm). The double-side polishing experiments were carried out to compare the polishing performance on the ultrathin sapphire polishing between LSC method and traditional paraffin bonding method. The results show that the friction forces of stainless steel and iron increase under the adsorption of droplets. Stainless steel performs higher friction force and is more suitable for making the baseplate. The inner fringe of limiter was cut off by the edge of the sapphire wafer, and a slope was thereby formed. According to polishing results, the LSC method has a higher efficiency on the clamping wafers than traditional paraffin bonding method. The surface roughness, flatness, and material removal rates are better than paraffin bonding. Finally, a smooth surface with a surface roughness (Sa) of 1.1 nm and flatness (PV) of 0.988 μm was obtained by the LSC method, significantly improving the clamping and processing efficiency of ultra-thin sapphire.

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Funding

This research was funded by Basic Research Project of Wenzhou City, China (Grant Nos. G20210002 and G20210001), Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province, China (Grant Nos. LQ22E050008 and LQ23E050003), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. U20A20293, 52275467, and 51905485).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, 325035, China

    Zhixiang Chen, Shunkai Han, Ming Feng & Xianglei Zhang

  2. Ultra-Precision Machining Centre, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, China

    Hongyu Chen

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  1. Zhixiang Chen
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  2. Shunkai Han
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  3. Ming Feng
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  4. Hongyu Chen
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Contributions

The corresponding author Ming Feng has guided the paper writing and contributed to data discussion and article revision. Zhixiang Chen was responsible for writing, developing the experimental designs and measurements, taking part in ensuring the experimental environment and preparing workpieces, and analyzing experimental results. Shunkai Han assisted in data processing and paper revision. Hongyu Chen and Xianglei Zhang were responsible for simulating the cutting trace of abrasive grain and improving the test jigs.

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Correspondence to Ming Feng.

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Chen, Z., Han, S., Feng, M. et al. Performance assessment of ultrathin sapphire wafer polishing with layer stacked clamping (LSC) method. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 127, 3761–3771 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-023-11781-8

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