Performance evaluation of a newly developed electrolytic system for stable thinning of silicon wafers

The Electrolytic In-process Dressing (ELID) grinding process has led to significantly better achievements compared to other attempts in maintaining sharp grits throughout the process during efficient machining of silicon wafers. This process, however, shows nonlinear electrolytic dressing and hence unstable forces during thinning. A new electrolytic system, Injection Electrode (IE) assisted electrolysis, has been tried here for this purpose to thin down silicon wafers with generation of required surface qualities. IE assisted electrolysis at lower injection flow rate exhibited good condition of the grinding wheel. This led to the successful thinning of silicon wafers down to 70 mu m thickness from 750 mu m with superior surface qualities. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.