Die

Die (also called dice, dies, die) is a concept introduced in the manufacture of semiconductor integrated circuit chips. It is also called bare crystal, bare chip, bare die, etc. Die also refers to the grain before the chip is packaged. It is a small piece cut from a silicon wafer by laser or knife. Each small piece is an independent functional chip die. Once these dies complete their functions and testing processes, they will be packaged to form the chips we are familiar with. Grains are small crystals with irregular shapes that make up polycrystalline, and each grain is sometimes composed of several sub-grains with slightly different orientations. The average diameter of the grain is usually in the range of 0.015~0.25mm, while the average diameter of the sub-grains is usually on the order of 0.001mm.