Scribe and break is a technique used in dicing that is utilized for different equipment like wafers, ceramics and liquid crystal display panels. In dicing, the die are removed from the mounted device and placed in a package or placed onto the printed circuit board. There are several different techniques of dicing, but the scribe and break method is unique in its prevention of product contamination and for not requiring a wafer or heat to do the job.

Scribe and break works very simply, though the overall process steps may be more complex. Through the technique of scribing, a long crack is cleanly created in a substrate so that the smaller target sample can be removed from a larger mother substrate cell. The break refers to the removal of the target material from its mother cell.

Scribing is the more technical half of the scribe and break method. It must done perfectly to assure no defects occur in the substrate, such as lateral cracks. Because it does not use a wafer, it produces little dust and thus produces very little contaminants. In order for scribing to be done effectively for each substrate, there are several aspects that must be adjusted, such as the diameter and angle of the scribe wheel, the speed of scribing, and many others. All of this must be taken into account before actually beginning the process of scribing.

In scribe and break, the steps go as follows. The substrate is loaded into the machine. The top of the substrate is scribed, turned 90 degrees, and then scribed again to fully separate it from the mother cell. A rubber breaker hits the lower half of the substrate, breaking the scribed top apart from the rest of the substrate. This operation is then performed on the lower half of the substrate. This can either be done with a manual operator monitoring the substrate to make sure each step is done in order or through an automatic system with pattern recognization, so it can go from step to step without fear of missing one.

To assure that scribing conditions are in top form, the thermal levels, construction, and characteristics of the material must all be kept in check. The cracks that are made should all be medial, as to assure for a clean break in the substrate. Chipping and lateral cracks are problems for a substrate, and thus need to be avoided at all costs. This is why the scribing must be done as close to the main seal as possible. Cutting angles, as mentioned before, are also essential to making sure the scribe is done cleanly. Depending on how thick the substrate is will decide the angle.

Scribe and break is a dicing technique that has provided for a clean, low contamination level. By creating a clean cut and then a final sever with the breaker, this technology is an inexpensive one that results in a cleanly severed substrate that can then go onto join semiconductors, Liquid Panel Displays, and other devices. So long as the scribe conditions are all regulated and observed, scribe and break is an efficient method for dicing.