Make any wafer fit your tools and your experiment.
We laser-core, resize and cut wafers for faculty, graduate researchers and cleanroom staff. Single wafers are welcome, the specs are ones you can put in a methods section, and we have turnaround options for when a deadline is close.
- Single wafers & small lots
- 25.4mm – 450mm
- ±150µm standard tolerance
- 48-hour Hot Lot turnaround
You have the wafer. It just isn't the right size or shape.
Wafers too large for your tools
Donated, foundry or purchased wafers often arrive at 200mm or 300mm, while most academic toolsets take 150mm, 100mm or smaller. We core them down to the size your tools accept and keep the orientation. A flat or SEMI notch can be added on request. Our coring process flow has been qualified by customers for using laser-cored material in their proprietary bonding processes.
Wafer coring specs →Your die on a shuttle-run wafer
Our alignment and vision system cuts your region out of a multi-project wafer or patterned wafer, sized for your packaging, probing or post-processing.
Thick or unusual substrates
We dice through semiconductor and III-V substrates from 1mm to 5mm thick. If you can supply the material, thicker is possible.
Laser micromachining →Custom shapes for an experiment
Discs, coupons, holes, slots and non-standard outlines can be cut to your drawing, for fixtures, sample holders and test structures.
Custom geometries →Sapphire, quartz, glass, SiC
These are transparent at 1064nm, so we core them mechanically on our CNC process instead of the laser.
CNC coring →Sharp or damaged edges
We grind a rounded edge after coring, or re-round edges left sharp or chipped by aggressive processing, so wafers handle safely in your tools.
Edge grinding →Process details researchers ask for
| Process | Synova Laser MicroJet: a 1064nm laser guided inside a water jet. The water cools the cut and carries debris away as it cuts. |
|---|---|
| Wafer diameter range | 25.4mm – 450mm (1″ to 18″) |
| Thickness range | 200µm – 5mm |
| Cored diameter tolerance | ±150µm standard; tighter on request |
| Kerf width | 200µm ±25µm (150µm nozzle) |
| Patterned wafers | Vision-aligned coring and cutting on CMOS and custom proprietary films |
| Orientation | Orientation preserved; new primary flat or SEMI notch on request |
| Edge condition | As-cored, or ground to a rounded profile (not polished) |
| Bonding qualification | Process flow qualified by customers for using laser-cored material in their proprietary bonding processes |
From standard silicon to your group's own growth runs
Group IV
Si, SOI, SiGe, Ge
III-V compounds
GaAs / AlGaAs, InP, InAs, InSb, GaSb
II-VI & infrared
HgCdTe, CdTe / CdZnTe
Wide-bandgap
GaN-on-Si (laser) · SiC (CNC coring)
Specialty
Graphite, diamond-coated Si, patterned CMOS, custom films
Transparent (CNC)
Sapphire, fused silica, quartz, glass
Not sure whether your material absorbs at 1064nm? Tell us the stack and we'll recommend laser or CNC coring.
Deadlines are part of the spec
Conference submissions, tape-outs, thesis defenses and grant reports all come with fixed dates. Pick the lead time that fits yours.
For the week before a deadline.
Confidential by default
- NDA on request. We sign yours or provide ours before any drawings are exchanged.
- Restricted-access facility. No tours or visitors, and your samples and data are never shown to anyone.
- ITAR registered, for groups doing export-controlled or defense-sponsored research.
Easy for your lab and your purchasing office
- University purchasing cards and credit cards accepted. Most research jobs can be bought by card.
- University purchase orders on Net 30 terms, paid by ACH, wire or check.
- Single wafers welcome. No need to batch your work up to a production lot.
- Bay Area campuses and labs: we pick up and deliver, and review the project with your group in person.
- Talk to engineering directly. Your questions go to the people who program and run the laser.
- Feasibility check before you commit. Send one scrap or test wafer first if the material is precious.
- A Certificate of Conformance is available for your records or sponsor.
What to send us
- Material and stack: substrate, epi or films, and whether the wafer is patterned
- Starting diameter and thickness
- What you need: final diameter, flat or notch, or a sketch or drawing (DXF, DWG, PDF, or a photo of a hand sketch)
- Quantity
- Your deadline: Standard, Priority or Hot Lot
- How you'll pay: card or university PO
Send us the wafer you're stuck on.
Describe the material and what your tool or experiment needs. We'll tell you how we'd process it.
Call or text: (408) 258-5000