Design Overview

In the semiconductor industry, large wafers are divided into smaller chips containing individual devices. One approach is to "cleave" the chip: score the surface with a very sharp tool, then break the chip along the resulting fault. Advanced robots for high-volume production already exist for this purpose. However, in a research lab, similar tools are needed, but on a much smaller scale and for flexible tasks.


The goal of this project is to design and build a relatively inexpensive, semi-automated tool to cleave small Silicon silicon chips (roughly 1cm in size) in a precise way (with a precision well below 1mm). As much as possible, motorized motion components and computer control will be used, although for cost reasons some steps will require manual intervention by the operator.


Our basic design is comprised of three main components: a mechanical translational platform, scribing apparatus and motorized translational clamping arm. The mechanical translational platform's main purpose is to hold the silicon chip for cleaving and breaking. The scribing apparatus's main purpose is to scribe the silicon chip. The motorized translational clamping arm's main purpose is move and align the chip with the mechanical platform. A user interface element will also be included in the final design. The main purpose of the user interface is to provide a way for a user that is unfamiliar with the design to be able to quickly and precisely scribe and break a silicon chip. Pictures of the components described can be seen in the Photos section. Further design details can also be found in the Documentation section.