- Very good cleaning results reduce the effort of subsequent processes.
- The simplified design cuts operating costs even further and reduces wear.
- Successful cleaning of diamond wire cut wafers.

High cleaning efficiency at low operating costs - that is the current challenge for the cleaning of wafers after the sawing process. Thanks to its simplified design and new transport system, the SCHMID's PreCleaning and Degluing System meets all requirements with less and less effort: consumption and operating costs have been fallen, wear and maintenance work have been reduced and the downstream processes facilitated.

And underneath the design, further highlights come to light: thanks to the new gondolastyle transport system, all moving parts are outside the dirt area, which means less wear and maintenance work. Every hour four carriers are transported vibration-free through the system by a toothed wheel drive.

The revolutionary lance-type system remains the guarantor for the excellent cleaning results by rinsing the entire area of the cutting surfaces of each individual wafer through the sawn channels of the sawing beam. The precisely targeted water stream caters for minimum water consumption, and the low water pressure is gentle on the sensitive work pieces. This results in an extremely low breakage rate, which SCHMID guarantees its customers.

A metal-ion contamination of the wafers through the system can be ruled out because all parts contacting the wafers as well as all processing areas, piping and tanks are made of plastic.

The degluing step takes place in an immersion tank containing a watery acid solution into which the carrier is lowered pneumatically. Here the media circulation ensures low chemistry consumption. A subsequent rinsing process removes the degluing medium from the wafer.

"The real advantage of clean wafers is still underestimated" maintains Product Manager Christoph Jansen . "Already at degluing, efficient pre-cleaned wafers help to reduce the chemistry requirement. And the fully automatic singulation systems which are being requested more and more by customers, reward clean wafers with low wear and low consumption costs. And best of all: we can shorten the final wafer cleaning system by almost half, when our efficient PreCleaning System is used."

By consequently implementing the function-orientated design of the PreCleaning and Degluing System, the SCHMID Group secures the continued success of this innovative system on the market. From the previous model a production capacity of 600 MWp has already been installed in the Asian sector for the pre-cleaning of wafers cut by diamond wire.

Source: Schmid Group / Gebr. Schmid GmbH