Small semiconductor chips are separated from a wafer

摘要

Semiconductor chips (1) are separated from a wafer (2) by dry etching completely through the wafer in the region of the chip edges. Preferred Features: Dry etching is carried out by reactive ion etching (RIE), electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) etching or etching with an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source, using an etchant comprising a mixture of a Lewis acid and chlorine.