[labnetwork] Sapphire substrates: precision scribe & break

[Espen Rogstad]

Hi Vito,

A couple of years ago we scribed and cleaved a few 2" sapphire wafers that were around 300um thick. This was done with a dynatex II scribe & break machine that I guess is around 15 years old. Had to use quite high scribing and breaking force (I can check numbers if interested) but it worked fine. The diamond scribe tool would probably not last very long but since we only scribed a few wafers we didn't have any issues with that. Also, never checked sidewalls so don't know if they were smooth or not... Hope this helps anyway!

Regards,
Espen Rogstad
Senior Engineer
NTNU NanoLab

-------------------------
Sem Saelands vei 14, K1-113
NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
Tlf: +47 95285642
http://www.ntnu.no/nanolab

Den 7. nov. 2015 kl. 15.17 skrev Christopher Raum <crraum at gmail.com<mailto:crraum at gmail.com>>:

Hi Vito,

I've had success scribing across the length of the desired cleave location and then using the length of a hex key (1 to 2 mm) to provide a fulcrum under the scribe line. Then by placing finger tips on either side of the scribe (freshly trimmed fingernails help), push down evenly over the hex key edge. By placing a gentle but steadily increasing pressure I've been able to successfully cleave fused quartz wafers (100 to 500 um thick) this way.

This technique is heavily operator dependent and not suitable for large volume, but if you just need some experimental samples prepared it's a useful technique.

Good luck!

-Chris
--
Christopher Raum, PhD.
R&D Engineer
Experimental Cosmology Group
Radio Astronomy Lab
University of California, Berkeley
151 LeConte Hall
Berkeley, CA, 94720
Work: (510) 642-7801
Cell: (949) 677-1905
Fax:  (510) 643-5204
Email:        craum at berkeley.edu<mailto:craum at berkeley.edu>
Alt Email:   crraum at gmail.com<mailto:crraum at gmail.com>

On Fri, Nov 6, 2015 at 10:42 AM, Vito Logiudice <vito.logiudice at uwaterloo.ca<mailto:vito.logiudice at uwaterloo.ca>> wrote:
Dear Colleagues,

I would appreciate hearing from anyone whom might be able to share some insights on how to reliably scribe & break sapphire substrates. We're attempting to help out a couple of research groups here with such a requirement.

We've had success with our water-cooled dicing saw but it appears this approach leads to unacceptable materials issues. We thus find ourselves having to resort to some sort of precision (& repeatable) scribe and break technique/setup which will result in consistently smooth sidewalls.

Thank you for any insights on procedures you may be using or equipment vendors you have worked with whom might be able to help.

Best regards,
Vito
--
Vito Logiudice  P.Eng.
Director of Operations, Quantum NanoFab
University of Waterloo
Lazaridis QNC 1207
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, ON           Canada N2L 3G1
Tel.: (519) 888-4567  ext. 38703<tel:%28519%29%20888-4567%20%C2%A0ext.%2038703>
Email: vito.logiudice at uwaterloo.ca<mailto:vito.logiudice at uwaterloo.ca>
Website: https://fab.qnc.uwaterloo.ca


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