Abstract: The front surface of a semiconductor wafer and the peripheral edge of the back surface of the wafer are protected by either coating them or by placing the wafer in a special fixture. The so protected wafer is then placed in a chemical bath and thinned to the desired thickness over the entire center region of the back surface. Then a sheet of glass which fits into the thin region within the unthinned rim on the back surface is glued to the back surface to provide a laminated structure. Next, the individual imager devices are separated from one another by cutting through the glass and thinned substrate along lines between the devices.