The Problem

When you extract semiconductors from silicon wafers, they crack. A lot. The question was: how much force are you actually applying, and where? Understanding this could help reduce waste and improve yields.

Building From Scratch

During my master's degree at Université de Lorraine and CentraleSupélec, I did an internship at Georgia Tech, where I designed and built a fully functional measurement device from the ground up. I modeled everything in CAD and Blender, worked with manufacturers to get it built, and integrated four sensors, two on top and two on bottom, to measure the forces being applied during the extraction process.

It was hardware meets software: precision mechanical design combined with data acquisition and analysis.

The Impact

The device worked. We could now measure exactly what was happening during the liftoff process, which opened the door to research on reducing cracking and improving semiconductor yields. It was a tangible contribution to a real manufacturing problem.