Patent ID: 8071429

Claim:
A method for separating dies from a wafer having first and second sides, the process comprising: masking the first side of the wafer, the mask including openings therein to expose parts of the first side substantially aligned with scribe lines of the wafer; etching from the exposed parts of the first side of the wafer until an intermediate position between the first and second sides; and sawing the remainder of the wafer, starting from the intermediate position until reaching the second side; wherein the wafer comprises: a semiconductor layer having a frontside and a backside, a metal stack formed on the frontside of the semiconductor layer, and a carrier wafer having a free surface and a bonding surface, the bonding surface bonded to the metal stack, wherein the backside of the semiconductor layer is the first side of the wafer, the free surface of the carrier wafer is the second side of the wafer, and the intermediate position is in the carrier wafer near the bonding surface.