Wisconsin Center for Applied Microelectronics
1550 Engineering Drive
Madison, WI 53706
Phone: 608/262-6877
Fax: 608/265-2614
OPERATING PROCEDURES
DICING SAW
Rev. 3/9/16
Material Restrictions:
All materials allowed for use in this equipment are
listed in PDF form on the WCAM My Web Space. To
view the listing following these steps:
A. Open the UW website
https://mywebspace.wisc.edu for My
WebSpace.
B. Log on using your UW NetID and password.
C. Click on the star in the upper left corner.
D. Under Bookmarks click on Group Directories.
E. Scroll down the list of organizations to
WCAM.
F. Click on WCAM.
G. Double click on the first file folder to open
“Approved Materials.”
H. Double click on the WebsiteRpt to view the
approved materials for equipment.
I. Within the PDF you can perform a search.
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Safety:
1. Wear your safety glasses at all times while operating the saw.
a. Wafers and blades can break sending pieces of sharp material into the air.
2. The Cutting Blade of the tool is very sharp and can severely injure you.
a. Do not operate the saw with the blade guards removed.
b. Do not place hands or fingers near the blade.
3. Broken blades or sample pieces can be sharp.
a. Use caution when removing them and place them in the sharps container in the
room. Do not place them in the trash.
4. Do not operate the tool with the splash shields or the exhaust removed.
a. The saw generates a fine mist that will contain material cut that should not be in
your breathing zone.
5. Press the Emergency Off Button on the front of the tool if the tool and contact WCAM
staff if the tool has water, electrical or serious mechanical problems. The red
pushbutton switch is used to turn the saw's main power on and off. To turn the saw
on, push the button in, to turn it off, push the button again. Although this button
may be used to immediately stop the saw in a crisis situation, do not turn off
the main power when the spindle is running (instead, press the STANDBY key
to stop the spindle).
Log into CRESS
Check the tool log for reports of tool problems.
Preparation:
Blade Choice:
1. You will need to determine what blade will be needed used for your substrate. The
current blade installed is displayed on the front of each tool. The main considerations
are the proper blade material for your substrate, the width of the blade, the grit size
and the thickness of the substrate to be cut.
2. A list of the current blades and there properties is available at the tool. Compare what
you need to use with what is currently installed on the tool.
a. Contact WCAM tool owner if the blade needs to be changed to meet your needs.
Sample Prep:
1. The sample to be cut needs to be mounted on the Blue Mylar or a support substrate
such as glass or a silicon wafer.
NOTE: If you are dicing silicon wafers or other samples with delicate or suspended
microstructures, you are strongly encouraged to spin on photoresist and do a hard bake
to protect your sample from saw blade and vibration damage before you begin cutting
your sample
2. Measure the thickness of the Blue Mylar or the material that the sample will be
mounted to using the digital gage. Record the value. (see figure that follows)
3. Measure the thickness of the sample plus the mounting material using the digital gage
after it has been mounted. Record the value. (see figure that follows)
4. Mylar trim:
a. If the sample is a round wafer, trim off the excess mylar.
b. If the sample is not round, trim the mylar to a rectangular shape so that about an
inch of excess is around the sample.
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Height programmed value will be the distance from the chuck to the bottom of the cut.
For example: You typically want to cut through your sample and you are using the blue
mylar tape, you would cut into the tape 10 to 20 microns so the Height value (for a
mylar thickness of 80um and desired cut into the mylar of 20um) would be 60um (8060) or 0.060mm.
Thickness programmed value will be the total of your sample thickness and the thickness of
the material that the sample is mounted on ( Blue Mylar of glass plate or Si wafer)
For Example if the mylar is 80 microns and your sample is 300 microns, Thickness would be
equal to 380um.
The thickness value entered in the program can be increased by 0.1 mm (100 microns) to assure
that it will clear the top of the sample when the blade moves across the sample to position for
the next cut.
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Facilities
Turn on AIR. Valve located under tabletop on right side.
Monitor
1. Turn on monitor.
2. Turn on and adjust light intensity.
3. Turn on lines generator box.
Note: Focus the image by adjusting both knobs on
the camera mount at the same time.
Inspect the blade:
1. Visually inspect the blade to make sure it is not damaged or broken.
a. Remove the two screws that hold on the blade cover and move the cover so you
can see the blade.
b. Look at the entire blade edge.
c. Note: Never Touch Spindle without AIR on to the system. Doing so can damage
the High Speed Bearings leading to very costly repairs.
d. Never touch a blade that is mounted on the spindle.
e. Never attempt to use a broken blade.
f. Contact tool owner if you find a problem if the blade needs to be changed.
g. Replace cover and secure it with the screws.
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 Turn on the Air.
 Remove the two
screws that hold on
the cover and move
the cover out of the
way.
 Inspect the blade all
the way around the
flange.
Example: Good Blade
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Examples: Views of a BAD Blade
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Saw Start Up
1. Power on the saw

Saw #1 – Push the RED button on the left control panel.

Saw #2 – Turn clockwise the RED button on the left
control panel.

Both RED buttons power on the saws. In an emergency,
just push or turn the buttons to power off the saw.
2. Press RESET on the right control panel. All axes should return
to “home” — the chuck is left, down and clockwise with the
blade in center position.
3. Press SPINDLE on the right control panel. The spindle lamp
will blink while the spindle is coming up to speed. This is
approximately 30 seconds.
4. The spindle light will be steady when the blade is at full speed.
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Programming
1. Press PROG on the left panel. This starts the basic programming of the dicing saw.
2. Press MODE
to key in the mode of cutting.
The type of wafer determines the mode. 10 is the
default mode. This is for round wafer and
alignment on each pass.
NOTE: If your sample is not
round or you are using
progressive cutting – consult
the manual.
Mode is describing the type of wafer:
_ 10: round wafers, alignment required for each pass, i.e. patterned wafer.
_ 11: round wafers, no alignment, blank wafer
_ 20: round wafers, hexagonal die, alignment for each pass, triple alignment.
_ 21: round wafers, hex. die, no alignment, blank wafer.
_ 22: round wafers, hex. die, no alignment, pass 2, blank wafer.
_ 30: rectangular wafers, alignment required.
_ 31: rectangular wafers, no alignment, blank wafers.
_ 60: same as 10 with progressive depth cuts.
_ 61: same as 11 with progressive depth cuts.
_ 70: same as 30 with progressive depth cuts.
_ 71: same as 31 with progressive depth cuts.
If you want to change the MODE:
1. press CLEAR
2. insert the desired mode number
3. Press ENTER after keying mode number.
4. Select MET (millimeters) for units. The button toggles between the unit selections.
5. Select SCR or DICE. This button toggles between the two types of cutting paths. Most
commonly used is DICE. See page 1-8 of manual for illustration.
6. Press 1st INDEX to program the distance between cuts.
Key value in mm and press ENTER.
7. Press HEIGHT to program the distance from the top of the chuck to the bottom of the cut.
In other words, the amount of wafer plus tape that is left after the cut. You must have at
least the thickness of the tape.
Key value in mm and press ENTER.
8. Press ANGLE to program the angle turn of the chuck when CCW (counter-clockwise) is
pressed.
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1 to 121 angle
Key value in degrees and press ENTER.
9. Press DIA to program a round wafer diameter.
3 inch wafer = 3000 mils = 75 mm
4 inch wafer = 4000 mils = 100 mm
Key value in mm and press ENTER.
10. Press 2nd INDEX to program the distance between cuts.
Key value in mm and press ENTER.
11. Press THICKNESS to program. Thickness is the total amount of the wafer and the mounting
tape or hard mounting.
Key value in mm and press ENTER.
12. Press SPEED to program. This determines the wafer cutting speed.
Fast (Si)
Slow (Quart)
3 mm/sec
1.3 mm/sec
13. Press PROG to end entry of information.
Chuck Zero
MUST USE GAUGE BLOCK
1. Wipe the chuck and the gauge block dry with a Texwipe.
2. Place the gauge block on the chuck.
3. Press LOCK on the right control panel. This turns on the
vacuum to the block. The vacuum should be at least 20
mmHg.
4. Press CHUCK ZERO. This sets the size into the saw.
5. After the sequence, the lamp if steady.
6. Unlock chuck and remove the
gauge block.
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Wafer Align and Cut
1. Adjust vacuum for the sample size by adding or removing the
screws located in the vacuum rings.
If you remove any screws, they must be stored along the
side edge of the vacuum chuck in threaded holes specially
designed for that purpose.
2. Place prepared wafer on chuck.
3. Press LOCK on the right control panel
4. Press ALIGN. The wafer will move to the center of the saw
under the optical system.
5. Use the alignment controls on the right panel to adjust the
wafer position
X-axis
Press LEFT or RIGHT
Y-axis
Press FWD or BACK
Theta-axis Press CW or CCW
Pressing FAST + an alignment control will set a faster
movement. When that switch is released, the movement will
be the slower fine adjustment.
In the INDEX mode the movements are the distances set in
the programming.
6. When the wafer is in the position, press SINGLE CUT.
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Completion
1. When all cuts are completed, press the align button on the right control panel.
2. Press STANDBY and wait until spindle stops.
3. Remove wafer from chuck.
4. Press or turn RED button on left control panel to turn off the saw.
5. Turn off air valve located under tabletop.
6. Turn off monitor controls.
7. Turn off the line generator.
8. Turn off the lamp supply (SAW1).
9. Wipe up any excess water from the chuck.
10. Wipe down saw surfaces.
11. Record your use in the logbook.
12. Clean up the area and return the tools to the storage location. Do not leave blue mylar
laying around or stuck to surfaces of the saw or tables.
13. Log out of CRESS.
LIST OF COMMON ERROR CODES:
1) Error codes starting with an E typically refer to Operator errors and can be
cleared by pressing CLEAR and returning to proper operation.
2) If an error code starts with an F “stop and contact the staff”.
Error
Code Definition Cause or Corrective Action
E001 Saw is currently in STANDBY mode.
The RESET button must be pressed before attempting to turn the spindle on or
otherwise operate the saw.
E002 The operator tried to operate the machine while in PROGRAM or READ modes.
See if the PROG or READ LED's are lit. Press the appropriate switch to extinguish the
LED's
E003 A number parameter entered is out of the valid range. An attempt was made to
enter a numerical parameter which is outside the design capability of the saw.
Press CLEAR and program an acceptable number.
E004 The dimension entered for height is greater than the dimension entered for
wafer/specimen thickness. This results in no dicing of the wafer/specimen.
Press CLEAR and enter the correct dimensions.
E005 The dimension entered for INDEX is greater than the dimension entered for the
wafer/specimen size. This implies that the dies are larger than the wafer/specimen.
Press CLEAR and enter the correct dimensions.
E006 The saw has detected the lower chuck limit. This is likely caused by an excessive
THICKNESS number.
Press CLEAR and enter the correct THICKNESS.
E101 More than one switch was pressed simultaneously.
Press CLEAR. The panel program buttons are very sensitive to touch. If this error code
is displayed there may be a shorted switch or connector.
E102 An attempt has been made to operate the saw without the chuck LOCKed.
Press chuck LOCK (and, then perhaps chuck UNLOCK, and LOCK again).
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E103 An attempt has been made to operate the saw with one or more program
parameters missing.
Make sure all parameters have been programmed into the saw (check this by pressing
a program parameter key, such as HEIGHT, to display the stored parameter, then press
ENTER, and so on). Check the asterisk (*) entry key if in rectangular MODE 30 or 31.
Check the decimal (.) entry key if in progressive depth cut MODE 60, 61, 70, or 71.
E104 Chuck zero is required. Place the gauge disk on the vacuum chuck and perform a
chuck zeroization (III., 7.g., above). Chuck zeroization is required when exiting
STANDBY or RESET modes.
E105 Chuck zero was attempted before the Wait until the spindle reaches its operating
spindle was up to operating speed. speed (you should hear a beep when this occurs).
E106 A switch was pressed while the spindle was ramping up to its operating speed.
Wait until the spindle reaches its operating speed (you should hear a beep when this
occurs).
E108 Program storage is full. This error code indicates that all memory spaces are full.
If you still want to store a program, you must erase or write over a existing program to
make room for a new one.
E109 An attempt was made to retrieve a program that does not exist from storage.
Check the program ID number requested.
E110 There is already a program stored in the memory location you requested, and if
you continue, an existing stored program will be altered.
This error code is a warning that an existing program is about to be altered.
E111 An attempt was made to turn on the spindle while the machine was in a service
mode. The spindle will not run while in a service mode.
Select the proper mode.
E113 The chuck was not unlocked after a chuck zero operation.
Press the UNLOCK key to remove this block.
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