Method for etching photolithographically produced quartz crystal blanks for singulation

摘要

A method (202) for etching photolithographically produced quartz crystal blanks for singulation. In a first step (202), a quartz wafer is plated on both sides with metal and subsequently coated on both sides with photoresist. In a second step (204), the photoresist is patterned and developed and the metal layer on one side is etched through to form a narrow channel in the quartz defining a perimeter of a quartz blank. In a third step (206), the quartz channel is preferentially etched partially into the wafer along parallel atomic planes to provide a mechanically weak junction between the quartz wafer and the blanks to be singulated. In a fourth step (208), the photoresist layers are stripped from the quartz wafer. In a final step (210), the quartz blank is cleaved substantially along the bottom of the quartz channel to singulate the crystal blanks from the quartz wafer.