ICs are produced on semiconductor wafers that undergo a multitude of processing steps.
They are roughly 750 μm thick to ensure a minimum of mechanical stability and to avoid warping during high-temperature processing steps.
Smartcards, USB memory sticks, smartphones, handheld music players, and other ultra-compact electronic products would not be feasible in their present form without minimizing the size of their various components along all dimensions.
[3] The process is also known as "backlap",[4] "backfinish", "back side grinding", or "wafer thinning".
[5] After backgrinding, a finished wafer is cut into individual chips in a process called die singulation.