Effect of additive N ₂ and Ar gases on surface smoothening and fracture strength of Si wafers during high-speed chemical dry thinning

In this work, we investigated the changes in the surface roughness and fracture strength of bare or mechanically ground Si wafers caused by high-speed chemical dry etching. High-speed chemical dry thinning was achieved by injecting NO gas and additive N ₂ and Ar gases directly into the reactor during the supply of F radicals from NF ₃ remote plasmas. With the additional injection of N ₂ and Ar gases, together with the direct-injected NO gas, the rough surfaces of the mechanically ground Si wafers could be effectively smoothened while keeping the thinning rate of Si very fast, viz. up to 18.2 μm/min. The additive N ₂ gas reduced the wafer surface temperature after thinning. The fracture strength of the Si wafers thinned down to 50 μm by the chemical dry etching process was more highly increased, due to the more effective removal of the mechanical damage and stress generated during the mechanical grinding process, as compared to the other final thinning methods such as lapping or plasma etching. The results indicated that the high-speed dry chemical thinning process could be used for the ultra-thin final thinning of Si wafers for next generation three-dimensional packaging technologies.