Trumpf and Lidrotec accelerate laser wafer dicing for chip industry

09 Feb 2026

Clean edges and 3x faster than regular sawing; process makes debut at Semicon Korea 2026.

Faster wafer dicing – by laser.

Germany-based engineering company Lidrotec has developed a novel laser dicing process alongside Trumpf, which has helped to scale the process for mass production of wafers using its laser and beam shaping technology.

The result enables users in the semiconductor manufacturing industry to cut wafers more than three times faster than with conventional mechanical sawing processes – while maintaining a high cut-edge quality.

“The new laser dicing process goes beyond the limits of established methods. It enables the chip industry to manufacture the next generation of semiconductors faster, more economically, and in high quality,” said Christian Weddeling, responsible for wafer dicing at Trumpf.

The partners are presenting the new technology at the Semicon Korea 2026 trade fair in Seoul, between February 11th-13th.

Three times faster

Separating semiconductor chips from a wafer is an important step in the backend of semiconductor manufacturing. The new process from Lidrotec combines ablative laser dicing under a liquid stream with high-precision beam shaping technology from Trumpf.

Users benefit from a significant increase in productivity, as the cutting speeds are more than three times faster than those of mechanical saws. At the same time, the technology provides the highest cutting edge quality, which is equivalent to plasma dicing.

The liquid immediately removes molten and solidified material residues. This reduces post-processing and increases the yield of defect-free chips. Since users do not need mechanical wear parts such as saw blades, both maintenance and operating costs are reduced compared to the sawing process.

“The combination of speed, high yield of defect-free parts, and reduced material consumption helps our technology make semiconductor production more efficient and economical,” said Alexander Kanitz, CTO of Lidrotec.

In addition, the process can be flexibly adapted to different materials such as silicon, silicon carbide, or hybrid wafer structures, making it suitable for a wide range of semiconductor types.