Exploring the Advantages of Plasma Dicing for Cutting-Edge Technology

When we think of cutting-edge technology, things like the cloud, containers, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and co-botics often come to mind. These technologies can be great for business, but they can also pose a lot of risk.

This is why some companies will try out new technologies in non-production environments to see if they work well before implementing them in production. But are these risks worth it?

Cost-Effectiveness

Icing and stalling on the surfaces of aircraft wings endanger flight safety. Plasma icing technology is currently under investigation for its ability to reduce the onset and severity of ice accretion on the wing surface. It has the potential to improve ice detachment forces, thereby improving flight safety by enabling large-scale ice removal without melting.

The onset of ice accretion on the surface of an airfoil/wing is typically delayed or prevented by applying plasma icing technology to the underlying surface, which can be accomplished by fitting the leading edge of the airfoil with a nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuator. The actuation electrical parameters of the DBD plasma actuators can be adjusted to optimize the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft surface, depending on the icing environment.

In this research, a series of anti-icing experiments by AC-DBD actuation are investigated in typical glaze icing conditions (v = 40 m/s, T = -5 degC, and LWC = 1.5 g/m3) and rime ice conditions (v = 40 m/s,T = -15 degC, and LWC = 1.0 g/m3). During the dynamic anti-icing operation, a high-resolution imaging system and a high-speed Infrared (IR) thermal imaging camera are used to quantitatively map the temperature distributions over the surface of the test model.

We also measured the energy consumption of a single-strip heater in different lengths of interfacial ice. The heater is designed to cover only 10% of the total ice interfacial area, which decreases power consumption by an order of magnitude and increases areal power density compared to previously reported de-icing systems that use heaters covering all of the surface.

Our results suggest that a heat flux of Q U2R-1tD is required to raise the interfacial temperature locally around the heater from -25 degC to -5 degC, corresponding to the amount of time required for the heater to engage with the ice. The de-icing time was recorded by using a moving probe with a force gauge (NEXTECH, DFS500) to measure the ice detachment force.

The average ice detachment force was measured to be 131 +- 21 N for ice lengths within the toughness regime (L > Lc), corresponding to an interfacial toughness of G = 1.5 +- 0.4 J/m2. For the ice that was longer than 920 mm, a crack propagation front was observed in real time on video (support movie S1). Our results indicate that de-icing of a large surface area is possible and feasible with a heater that covers only 10% of the total interfacial surface.

High Yields

Plasma dicing provides superior die throughput compared to other dicing methods. This is especially true for die that have fewer dicing lanes, such as thinned memories.

Traditionally, the semiconductor industry has used blade dicing (also called mechanical dicing) or laser dicing to cut silicon wafers into individual chips, or die. These methods use abrasive discs, known as blades, to remove material along the dicing lanes between each chip. However, this process can leave chips with cracks or other problems, which reduce yields.

Blade dicing can also be expensive and time-consuming. The cost of the abrasive discs and other tools needed to cut through the silicon wafer can be high, and the blades need to be replaced frequently. In addition, dicing lanes can be damaged by the abrasive discs, making it difficult to maintain a consistent quality.

A laser dicing method is also available that relies on delivering concentrated photon streams to the wafer, heating it to a high localized temperature. This heat creates voids in the dicing lane area, allowing the chips to separate when the wafer is expanded. This process can be very effective, but it requires a very powerful laser.

In addition, the heat that is generated by the laser can damage a die and lead to a lower yield. This process can also be unsafe, since the vaporized or ablated areas are prone to creating air bubbles that may arc and cause burn holes in the wafer.

Another dicing method that is gaining ground within the semiconductor industry is the Stealth Dicing(r) Process. This dry subsurface laser dicing method avoids shock to the active surface, redirecting it under the dicing street instead of directly to it. This reduces the impulse energy necessary to separate a wafer into dies.

The Stealth Dicing(r) process can be particularly effective on wafers with sensitive MEMS and sensor designs. This dicing method has been shown to remove particles and liquid contact with the wafer during the expansion step, which is essential for these types of devices.

In addition, the die singulated by plasma dicing have been shown to have higher break strength than those singulated by blade or laser. This is particularly beneficial as the industry roadmaps push die thicknesses down to below 50um.

Flexibility

Icing accretion on aircraft and wind turbines has become a serious safety issue in recent decades. In response to this, novel techniques are being developed. These include icing sensing, anti-icing and flow control. Plasma icing is a relatively new technology that has shown great promise for mitigating ice formation on aircraft surfaces.

The technology is a combination of several elements, including electrostatic discharge, dielectric barrier discharge and high-temperature plasma. Its performance is based on the combined effects of these components, which have been optimized to produce the most effective plasma. The results are surprisingly promising, showing a significant reduction in ice accretion and a positive impact on the performance of aircraft under icing conditions.

Moreover, the system is also very robust and flexible. The system can be deployed on a variety of materials, from plastics to metals. In particular, it can be used on airfoils and rotor blades.

In addition, this system has the ability to withstand intense heat and shock. In fact, it can withstand shocks up to 1 kV and maintains its operating performance for several hours. This is important for a variety of reasons, including maintaining the structural integrity of a machine and protecting humans and other life forms from injury.

Finally, the most interesting aspect of this technology is its ability to sense icing and deice a surface. This is achieved through the use of a special microprocessor that can detect changes in electrical parameters, such as temperature and voltage. The microprocessor can also calculate the best way to activate and deactivate the device. The system has the potential to revolutionize the ice-fighting industry.

Safety

Whether you’re using a hand-held nozzle or a table cutting machine, plasma is an effective technique for cutting thick and thin materials. However, it’s important to be aware of the safety of your employees and the workpieces you’re working with.

In addition to the potential damage that plasma can cause to your workpieces, it’s also important to consider the risks of igniting sparks and flammable materials around your cutting area. This is why it’s important to follow strict safety guidelines when using a plasma cutter.

The risk of icing on the windward surface of an aircraft is a major threat to flight safety [1],[2],[3]. Icing and stalling on the surface of an airfoil can reduce its aerodynamic performance and lead to an in-flight accident, leading to significant loss of life and property.

To address the ice accretion problem, researchers have been developing various methods for anti-icing. These include mechanical de-icing, liquid anti-icing, thermal melting, and hydrophobic materials.

One such method involves the use of nanosecond pulse dielectric barrier discharge (nSDBD) plasma actuators. These devices have been shown to be effective in reducing the occurrence of ice on aircraft surfaces, but they require high energy consumption and can’t always fully remove ice.

For this reason, the authors of this paper developed a new technique for ice accretion control. This technique uses nSDBD plasma actuators to cut continuous ice into periodically segmented ice pieces similar to wavy bumps, which are expected to improve the aerodynamic performance of an airfoil.

In addition, this method is also expected to reduce the power consumption of nSDBD plasma actuators and improve their anti-icing effect. In a series of wind tunnel experiments, the authors found that nSDBD plasma actuators with a distributed layout were effective at preventing ice formation on the NACA 0012 airfoil.

These results show that nSDBD plasma actuators can improve the anti-icing effect of an airfoil under a variety of ice conditions, including glaze ice and frost ice. Moreover, they demonstrated that the nSDBD plasma actuators were able to sense through changes in electrical parameters whether ice accretion had occurred. This is a valuable feature that can be used as a tool for determining whether or not ice accretion has occurred on an airfoil.