Patent ID: 8597074

Claim:
A system for cutting a semiconductor wafer having multiple dies arranged in a two-dimensional array, the semiconductor wafer having a layer of material obscuring at least one alignment feature from detection by a visual or infrared imaging system, the system comprising: means for positioning the semiconductor wafer between an X-ray source and an X-ray detector; means for directing X-rays from the X-ray source through the layer of obscuring material on the semiconductor wafer proximate to the alignment feature; means for detecting at least a portion of the X-rays passing through the layer of obscuring material with the X-ray detector to generate an X-ray image of the alignment feature; means for automatically determining if any of the dies are misaligned relative to neighboring dies in the two-dimensional array, based at least in part on the X-ray image of the alignment feature; and means for controlling the path of a wafer cutting device based at least in part on the X-ray image of the alignment feature, wherein if an individual die is misaligned relative to a neighboring die, the means for controlling controls the path of the wafer cutting device to automatically singulate the individual die from the two-dimensional array.