Patent ID: RE43877

Claim:
A method for singulating an integrated circuit die from a semiconductor substrate comprised of the steps of , the method comprising : providing a semiconductor substrate comprising including a first surface and a second surface, said wherein the first surface having comprises at least one preformed integrated circuit die formed thereon, said wherein the at least one preformed integrated circuit die further comprising includes a metal etch mask as part of a metal layer defined by a reticle during at least one of the same semiconductor processing steps as used to fabricate said the at least one preformed integrated circuit die in a set of semiconductor foundry processes, and said wherein the metal etch mask is disposed below a oxynitride passivation layer , to define a first surface area , ; defining a singulation channel with a predetermined first depth on said the first surface area using a first etching process , ; and , increasing said the first depth to a predetermined second depth using a second etching process.