Patent ID: 7316940

Claim:
A method for chip separation, the method comprising the steps of: providing a semiconductor substrate; forming first and second device regions in and at top of the semiconductor substrate, wherein the first and second device regions are separated by a semiconductor border region of the semiconductor substrate; forming a first interconnect layer directly above the semiconductor border region and the first and second device regions, the first interconnect layer including a first etchable portion directly above the semiconductor border region; after said forming the first interconnect layer performed, forming a second interconnect layer on the first interconnect layer, the second interconnect layer including a second etchable portion directly above the first etchable portion, wherein the first and second etchable portions of the first and second interconnect layers form a continuous etchable block directly above the semiconductor border region, and wherein the entire continuous etchable block comprises essentially a same material throughout the entire continuous etchable block; removing the continuous etchable block by etching; and cutting with a laser through the semiconductor border region via an empty space of the removed continuous etchable block.