Abstract
The effect of lubricant environments on the structure of the surface damage induced in Si during the wafer sawing process was tested for four different lubricants: water, methyl silane solution, Kleenzol B, and dielectric oil. The nature of the saw damage was characterized by transmission electron microscopy and the depth profile of the damage determined by a taper‐sectioning method. The results showed that the number and depth of surface damage is sensitive to the chemical nature of the saw lubricant. Lubricants that are good catalysts for breaking Si bonds can induce more fracture cleavage and produce less surface damage. Lubricants that can dampen more effectively the out‐of‐plane blade vibration can also reduce the surface damage. The chemomechanical effect of the lubricant environment was also tested by applying different potentials on Si crystal during the sawing. Correlation between the applied potential and the depth of damage in the dielectric oil environment was observed and possible mechanisms involved were discussed.