Multi-Wire Sawing of Translucent Alumina Ceramics

Lea Schmidtner,Mathias Herrmann,Stefan Janz,Anke Pötzsch,Hannes Heinrich,Christos Aneziris,Thomas Kaden,Marcel Fuchs

doi:10.3390/jmmp4010002

Abstract

Multi-wire sawing has emerged as the leading technology in wafer production for a variety of semiconductor materials. This study investigates the process stability and efficiency of conventional semiconductor multi-wire slurry saws in routinely machining translucent, high-density alumina ceramics. The brittle and fine-grained translucent alumina ceramics with extreme hardness and wear resistance represents a major challenge for the process. The alumina ceramic substrates are used for sensor applications, energy storage technology and applications in power electronics. An ideal adaptation of the sawing process parameters to the workpiece properties guarantees the efficiency of the slurry sawing process and the quality of the ceramic wafers. An indicator of the efficiency and cutting ability of the sawing process is the size of the bow of the wire web. The first time was shown that the wire bow can be used for the characterization of the sawing processes for hard and brittle technical ceramics. It was found that a longer workpiece length, a higher number of wafers and stronger abrasive wear lead to an increased size of the bow. The rocking frequency has no measurable influence on the size of the bow. Knowledge of these relations is an extremely valuable tool in the sawing process development for hard and brittle technical ceramics.

Highlights

Multi-wire sawing allows cutting of hard and brittle materials with high throughput at potentially low costs
This study investigates the process stability and efficiency of conventional semiconductor multi-wire slurry saws in routinely machining translucent, high-density alumina ceramics
The brittle and fine-grained translucent alumina ceramics with extreme hardness and wear resistance represents a major challenge for the process

Summary

Introduction

Multi-wire sawing allows cutting of hard and brittle materials with high throughput at potentially low costs. The sawing technology with loose abrasive grain (slurry sawing) has proven to be beneficial for multi-wire sawing of hard and brittle materials compared to diamond wire sawing because the material removal mechanism is more efficient [3,4]. Most of the models that describe the multi-wire sawing process with loose abrasive grain have been developed based on the rolling-indenting model This model, in which the rolling abrasive grains press into the workpiece surface, causing chipping, was originally developed for the lapping of glasses. It states that only 5–10% of the largest abrasive particles are involved in the removal process [5,6]. The influence of various workpiece geometry and process parameters on the cutting ability is correlated to the material removal rate

Used Ceramic Material

Variation of the Workpiece Length