Can you core patterned wafers?

Yes. The Synova Laser Microjet process is safe for patterned and processed wafers. The water-guided laser minimizes thermal and mechanical stress to structures on the wafer surface.

Can you preserve crystal orientation and add a new flat or notch?

Yes. We align to your wafer's existing flat or notch with our vision system, so crystal orientation carries through to the cored wafer. A new primary flat or SEMI-standard notch can be added on request. Specify the standard or a custom orientation when you request a quote.

What's the smallest wafer size you can produce?

We can produce wafers as small as 1" (25.4mm) in diameter, depending on starting material thickness.

Can you resize a 300mm wafer to 200mm, 150mm or 100mm?

Yes. 300mm to 200mm is a routine single-wafer core. 300mm to 150mm or 100mm is nested to yield two 150mm or five 100mm wafers from one source wafer. We also resize 450mm to 300mm or 200mm, and 200mm to 150mm, 100mm or 76.2mm (3"). Finished diameter is held to ±150µm standard.

How many wafers can I get from one input wafer?

A 300mm wafer yields five 100mm wafers or two 150mm wafers. A 200mm wafer yields two 100mm wafers, four 76.2mm (3") wafers, or thirty-seven 25.4mm discs. Custom nesting is planned from your wafer map and confirmed with the quote.

What is your typical turnaround time?

We offer three tiers from receipt of material: Standard (about 2 weeks), Priority (about 1 week), and Hot Lot (48 hours). Tell us which you need when you request a quote.

Do you offer NDA / confidential processing?

Yes. We are happy to sign an NDA prior to receiving material.

Can we visit your facility?

We operate a restricted-access facility under client NDAs, so we don't host site visits or tours. We're happy to set up a virtual capability walkthrough, share our quality and process documentation, or run a qualification lot on your material with full inspection data.

Do you handle the full volume from prototype to production?

We serve both R&D (single wafers, small lots) and higher-volume production runs.

Can you core wafers that have already been thinned?

Yes, with care. Ultra-thin wafers require specialized handling. Contact us with your thickness and we will advise on feasibility.

What information do you need for a wafer coring quote?

Material, starting diameter and thickness, finished diameter(s) and quantity, and whether the wafers are bare or patterned. For patterned wafers, send a wafer map or note the die or regions that must be captured. Tell us your flat or notch requirement, edge finish (as-cored or edge-rounded), lead-time tier, and whether you need an NDA in place before shipping material.

Precision Wafer Coring and Resizing Service for High-Value Semiconductor Wafers

Dynamic Process Group specializes in the precision coring and resizing of high-value semiconductor wafers for R&D teams, fab engineers, and process development groups around the world. Using Synova Laser Microjet technology — a water-guided laser process that delivers cleaner cuts and less subsurface damage than conventional mechanical coring — we resize wafers from 1" to 18" (25.4mm to 450mm) with diameter held to ±150µm — on any semiconductor material that absorbs at our 1064nm wavelength, including CMOS-patterned wafers and custom proprietary films. Our coring process flow has been qualified by customers for using laser-cored material in their proprietary bonding processes.

Request a Quote Call or text (408) 258-5000

Coring by application: 300mm to 200mm wafer resizing · InP and GaAs wafer coring · SOI wafer coring · Glass and sapphire (CNC) coring

What Is Wafer Coring?

Wafer coring — also called wafer resizing or wafer downsizing — is the process of reducing a semiconductor wafer's diameter to fit a smaller size specification. A 200mm wafer, for example, can be cored down to 100mm, 150mm, or any custom dimension. The original notch or flat orientation is preserved in the resized wafer, maintaining crystal axis reference for downstream processing.

Coring is distinct from dicing: where dicing singulates a wafer into dies, coring produces a new, smaller-diameter wafer ready for further fab processing. Edge rounding is available as a separate service after coring — see Edge Grinding.

Why Engineers Need Wafer Coring

As wafer sizes scale up across the industry, older process tools — diffusion furnaces, CVD systems, inspection tools, and handlers — are designed for smaller formats. Replacing that equipment can cost millions. Resizing incoming wafers to match your existing toolset is a fraction of that cost and keeps your process line running without capital expenditure.

Legacy tool compatibility — Resize 200mm or 300mm wafers to run on 100mm or 150mm toolsets
R&D and process development — Core expensive compound semiconductor wafers (GaAs, InP) into multiple smaller wafers to maximize yield from limited material
Patterned wafer salvage — Recover and reprocess high-value patterned wafers that cannot be restarted at full size
Custom geometry — Non-circular shapes, offset cores, multi-flat configurations for specialty applications

Our Technology: Synova Laser Microjet

Most wafer coring providers use mechanical core drills — a contact process that generates stress, micro-cracks, and edge chipping, particularly in brittle compound semiconductors.

Dynamic Process Group uses the Synova Laser Microjet, a water-guided laser system that combines laser precision with the cooling and debris-clearing properties of a water jet. The result:

No heat-affected zone (HAZ) — the water jet cools the cut in real time, preventing thermal damage to surrounding material
Minimal kerf loss — 200µm ±25µm kerf preserves more of your high-value wafer material
Cleaner edges — reduced micro-cracking and subsurface damage vs. mechanical drilling
Versatile across materials — processes hard, brittle, and thermally sensitive materials that mechanical methods struggle with
Compatible with patterned wafers — safe for wafers with active devices or structures on the surface

This matters most for compound semiconductors (GaAs, InP, diamond-coated) where mechanical stress causes yield loss. If your material is expensive and your margins are tight, laser precision is the right choice.

Materials We Core and Resize

We process semiconductor materials that absorb at the Laser MicroJet's 1064nm wavelength. Transparent and translucent substrates — sapphire, glass, fused silica, quartz and SiC — are cored mechanically on our CNC coring service (±0.2mm).

Material	Notes
Silicon (Si)	All doping types, SOI, SiGe, epi, CMOS-patterned, bonded Si stacks
Gallium Arsenide (GaAs / AlGaAs)	Including patterned and epitaxial
Indium Phosphide (InP)	Fragile — laser method reduces breakage
InAs, InSb, GaSb	Narrow-gap III-V substrates and epi
CdTe, CdZnTe, HgCdTe	II-VI detector substrates
Germanium (Ge)	Brittle — processed without cracking
GaN-on-Si	Epilayer-safe; the silicon substrate absorbs the beam
Graphite
Diamond-coated silicon	Diamond film on an absorbing Si substrate

The Laser MicroJet also machines stainless steel, copper, molybdenum, tungsten, titanium, nickel alloys and Kovar, tungsten carbide, PCD/PCBN and copper-diamond composites — see Laser Micromachining. Working with a material not listed? Contact us — if it absorbs at 1064nm, we can likely process it.

Wafer Sizes and Specifications

Input wafer sizes: 1" (25.4mm) through 18" (450mm)

Output sizes: Any standard or custom diameter down to 1" (25.4mm)

Shapes: Circular, square, rectangular, with primary flat, secondary flat, notch, or offset core

Wafer types: Blank, patterned (CMOS, custom proprietary films), thinned, bonded Si stacks

Thickness range: 200µm to 5mm

Diameter tolerance: ±150µm standard; tighter on request

Kerf width: 200µm ±25µm (150µm nozzle)

Alignment: Wafer alignment and vision system cores from the exact regions you specify, on any diameter wafer

Lead times: Standard ~2 weeks · Priority ~1 week · Hot Lot 48 hours

Flat and notch orientation is maintained and matched to the original wafer's crystal reference. Custom offset coring — where the core center is shifted from the wafer center — is available for specialty applications.

Our Capabilities

DPG delivers precision wafer coring results that meet the tightest specifications in the industry. Every order is processed in a controlled cleanroom environment using our proprietary Synova Laser Microjet system. Our process details are held confidential — available to qualified customers upon request under NDA.

Advanced Coring Capabilities

Beyond standard diameter reduction, our system supports a full range of precision coring configurations to maximize material utilization and meet specialty application requirements:

Multiple cores from a single wafer — Core several smaller-diameter wafers from one large-diameter source wafer, extracting every usable area to minimize material waste
Mixed-diameter coring — Cut multiple different target diameters from a single source wafer in one job, ideal for sample sets and qualification lots
X,Y coordinate-based precision coring — Core placement controlled by exact X,Y coordinates on the wafer surface, enabling precise positioning relative to alignment marks, device patterns, or material features
Centered coring — Standard center-aligned cores with diameter tolerances held to ±150µm or tighter on request
Off-center (custom offset) coring — Core center shifted from the wafer center to extract specific regions of interest, such as defect-free zones or device-bearing areas
Notch and flat retention — Original wafer flats and notches are preserved in the cored output to maintain crystal orientation reference
New notch or flat creation — A new flat or notch can be added to the cored wafer at a specified angular position for compatibility with target equipment or process specifications
Full material utilization planning — Core layout planning maximizes the number of usable wafers extracted from each source wafer, reducing cost per unit

What You Can Expect From Every Order

Dimensional accuracy — Diameter held to ±150µm or tighter on request
Near-zero chipping — Water-guided laser eliminates edge damage on brittle and high-value materials
No heat-affected zone — Thermal damage to the wafer or active structures is eliminated
Flat/notch preservation — Crystallographic orientation is maintained through the coring process
Full lot traceability — Each wafer is uniquely identified for complete tracking from receipt to shipment
100% dimensional inspection — Every wafer is measured before it leaves our facility
Clean packaging — Wafers are packaged to semiconductor industry standards for safe return shipment

Cleanroom Processing & Materials

All wafers are handled and processed in a controlled cleanroom environment. We work with the full spectrum of compound and elemental semiconductor materials, including:

Silicon (Si) — All diameters from 25.4mm (1") to 450mm (18")
Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) — Fragile III-V material handled with zero-contact laser process
Indium Phosphide (InP) — High-value substrates processed with full edge integrity
Gallium Nitride on Silicon (GaN-on-Si) — Epilayer-safe processing preserving device structures
Germanium (Ge) — Brittle material processed without cracking or subsurface damage
Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) — Delayer-sensitive substrates handled under strict protocols
Patterned wafers — CMOS and custom proprietary films are our specialty; our wafer alignment and vision system cores from the regions you specify

Working with a material not listed? Contact us — we regularly qualify new substrates.

Process Details Available Under NDA

Our full process documentation — including equipment parameters, handling protocols, and yield data — is available to qualified customers after signing a mutual NDA. Request process documentation →

Quality and Tolerances

Diameter tolerance: ±150µm standard; tighter tolerances available on request
Edge condition: As-cored. Edge rounding is quoted separately — see Edge Grinding
Flat/notch orientation: Maintained to within ±1° of original wafer reference
Surface cleanliness: DI water rinse standard; cleanroom-compatible packaging available
Inspection: 100% dimensional inspection on all orders

Dynamic Process Group is ITAR registered, making us a qualified partner for defense, aerospace, and government-funded R&D programs.

Industries Served

Semiconductor R&D and process development
III-V compound semiconductor manufacturing
MEMS and sensors
Defense and aerospace (ITAR registered)
University and national laboratory research
Photonics and optoelectronics
Power electronics (SiC, GaN)

Custom Silicon Wafer Geometries for Equipment Manufacturers

Beyond standard round-to-round coring, DPG supplies custom non-standard silicon wafer geometries — including squares, rectangles, and application-specific shapes — cut from full-size silicon wafers up to 450mm (18").

We maintain in-house silicon wafer inventory and have the materials and equipment to produce custom substrates to your exact dimensional requirements. This service is used extensively by semiconductor equipment manufacturers developing and qualifying next-generation process tools, where standard round wafers don't match the geometry requirements of the application.

Common Custom Geometry Applications

Equipment qualification coupons — Custom-cut silicon pieces for tool setup, calibration, and process qualification
310mm square substrates — Cut from 450mm wafers for next-generation equipment testing
Rectangular test pieces — Custom aspect ratios for beam, film, or deposition characterization
Non-standard diameter rounds — Any diameter from 25.4mm (1") to 450mm (18") on request
Application-specific geometries — We work from your drawing or CAD file

Why DPG for Custom Geometries

In-house silicon wafer inventory — no waiting on material sourcing
Laser-based cutting — clean edges, no mechanical stress or cracking
Cleanroom processing and packaging
Low minimum order quantities — single pieces accepted
Three lead-time tiers — Standard (~2 weeks), Priority (~1 week), Hot Lot (48 hours)

Request a Custom Geometry Quote →

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you core patterned wafers?: Yes. The Synova Laser Microjet process is safe for patterned and processed wafers. The water-guided laser minimizes thermal and mechanical stress to structures on the wafer surface.
Can you preserve crystal orientation and add a new flat or notch?: Yes. We align to your wafer's existing flat or notch with our vision system, so crystal orientation carries through to the cored wafer. A new primary flat or SEMI-standard notch can be added on request. Specify the standard or a custom orientation when you request a quote.
What's the smallest wafer size you can produce?: We can produce wafers as small as 1" (25.4mm) in diameter, depending on starting material thickness.
How many wafers can I get from one input wafer?: A 300mm wafer yields five 100mm wafers or two 150mm wafers. A 200mm wafer yields two 100mm wafers, four 76.2mm (3") wafers, or thirty-seven 25.4mm discs. Custom nesting is planned from your wafer map and confirmed with the quote.
Can you resize a 300mm wafer to 200mm, 150mm or 100mm?: Yes. 300mm to 200mm is a routine single-wafer core. 300mm to 150mm or 100mm is nested to yield two 150mm or five 100mm wafers from one source wafer. We also resize 450mm to 300mm or 200mm, and 200mm to 150mm, 100mm or 76.2mm (3"). Finished diameter is held to ±150µm standard.
What is your typical turnaround time?: We offer three tiers from receipt of material: Standard (about 2 weeks), Priority (about 1 week), and Hot Lot (48 hours). Tell us which you need when you request a quote.
Do you offer NDA / confidential processing?: Yes. We are happy to sign an NDA prior to receiving material.
Can we visit your facility?: We operate a restricted-access facility under client NDAs, so we don't host site visits or tours. We're happy to set up a virtual capability walkthrough, share our quality and process documentation, or run a qualification lot on your material with full inspection data. Request a quote →
Do you handle the full volume from prototype to production?: We serve both R&D (single wafers, small lots) and higher-volume production runs.
Can you core wafers that have already been thinned?: Yes, with care. Ultra-thin wafers require specialized handling. Contact us with your thickness and we will advise on feasibility.
What information do you need for a wafer coring quote?: Material, starting diameter and thickness, finished diameter(s) and quantity, and whether the wafers are bare or patterned. For patterned wafers, send a wafer map or note the die or regions that must be captured. Tell us your flat or notch requirement, edge finish (as-cored or edge-rounded), lead-time tier, and whether you need an NDA in place before shipping material. Request a quote →

Get a Quote

Ready to discuss your wafer coring project? Contact our team with your material, input size, target output size, quantity, and any special requirements. We typically respond within one business day.