A wafer (10) having integrated circuit elements formed therein is thinned and a first carrier (41) is adhered thereto. The first carrier (41) facilitates handling of the thinned wafer (30). A second carrier (51) is then adhered as well and the various integrated circuits are singulated to yield a plurality of thinned die (81). Once the thinned die is mounted to a desired substrate (91), the first carrier (41) is readily removed. In one embodiment, the first carrier (41) has an adhesive that becomes less adherent when exposed to a predetermined stimulus (such as a given temperature range or a given frequency range of photonic energy). Such thinned die (or modules containing such die) are readily amenable to stacking in order to achieve significantly increased circuit densities.