JP2001319899A - Method of dividing semiconductor wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a method for dividing a semiconductor wafer capable of reducing the width of a street, improving the yield of products, and improving productivity. SOLUTION: This method is a semiconductor wafer dividing method for dividing a semiconductor wafer having a plurality of chips partitioned by streets formed on a surface thereof into chips, wherein scribe lines are formed along the streets on the surface of the semiconductor wafer. A scribing step of generating a divisional guide line by applying a tape to the surface of the semiconductor wafer on which the divisional guide line is generated, and a step of attaching the tape to the back surface of the semiconductor wafer to which the tape is attached. A back surface cutting step for generating a cutting groove with a slight uncut portion along the line.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer dividing method for dividing a semiconductor wafer having a plurality of circuits (chips) partitioned by streets on a surface thereof into chips.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, for example, the surface of a substantially disk-shaped semiconductor wafer is divided into a plurality of rectangular areas by cutting lines called streets arranged in a grid pattern. A predetermined circuit (chip) is formed in each of the regions. In this way, a plurality of rectangular areas each provided with a circuit (chip) are individually cut and separated to form a so-called semiconductor chip. The cutting of the semiconductor wafer is generally performed by a precision cutting device called a dicing device. This dicing device
While rotating a rotating blade having a thickness of about 20 μm at a high speed, the semiconductor wafer is cut along streets formed on the surface of the semiconductor wafer and divided into individual chips. As a method of dividing the semiconductor wafer, cutting with a point scriber such as glass cutting or a laser beam has been attempted.

[0003]

The division of the semiconductor wafer by the dicing apparatus is performed in such a manner that a rotary blade rotating at a high speed gradually breaks the street while giving an impact to the street to form a cutting groove. Therefore, a plurality of fine chips of several μm or more are generated on both sides of the cutting groove. Therefore, the chip formed on the semiconductor wafer must be provided in a range where the chip generated during cutting does not reach. Therefore, when cutting with a dicing apparatus, the width of the street is required to be about 50 μm. However, in order to improve the productivity of semiconductor chips, the problem is how many chips can be formed on one semiconductor wafer.
For this purpose, how to reduce the width of the street where no chip is formed becomes an issue. On the other hand, cutting with a point scriber or a laser beam has a narrow cutting width itself, but the product yield is poor due to cracks or the like, and is not always satisfactory in terms of productivity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its main technical problem is that a semiconductor wafer capable of narrowing the width of a street, improving the yield of products, and improving productivity. To provide a dividing method.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor wafer for dividing a semiconductor wafer having a plurality of chips defined by streets formed on the surface into chips, for each chip. A dividing method, wherein a scribe step of forming scribe lines along streets on a surface of a semiconductor wafer to generate division guide lines, and a tape for attaching a tape to the surface of the semiconductor wafer on which the division guide lines are generated Affixing step, and a back surface cutting step of generating a cutting groove having a slight uncut portion along the division guide line on the back surface of the semiconductor wafer to which the tape is attached, A method for dividing a semiconductor wafer is provided, wherein the semiconductor wafer is guided by the divisional guide line, and the uncut portion is completely divided and divided for each chip.

[0006] The dividing guide line generated by the scribing step is generated by a scriber, and the cutting groove generated by the back surface cutting step is generated by a rotating blade.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a method for dividing a semiconductor wafer according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows each processing step of the method for dividing a semiconductor wafer according to the present invention. According to the method for dividing a semiconductor wafer according to the present invention, each circuit (chip) provided on the surface of the semiconductor wafer 2 as shown in FIG.
A scribing step of forming a scribe line along a street 4 formed between the three and generating a divisional guide line 5 and a step of forming a scribe line on the semiconductor wafer 2 on which the divisional guide line 5 is generated as shown in FIG. 1 includes a tape attaching step of attaching a tape 7 to the front surface, and a back surface cutting step of forming a cutting groove 6 along the divisional guide line 5 on the back surface of the semiconductor wafer 2 as shown in FIG. I have. Hereinafter, each of the above steps will be described in more detail.

The scribing step will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a scribing apparatus for performing the scribing step. The scribing device shown in FIG. 2 includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped device housing 1. In the apparatus housing 1, a chuck table 9 for holding a workpiece is provided movably in a direction indicated by an arrow X which is a processing feed direction. The chuck table 9 includes a suction chuck support table 91.
And a suction chuck 92 mounted on the suction chuck support base 91 so that a workpiece, for example, a disk-shaped semiconductor wafer 2 is held on the suction chuck 92 by suction means (not shown). Has become. Also,
The chuck table 9 is configured to be rotatable by a rotation mechanism (not shown).

The scribing apparatus in the illustrated embodiment has a scribing mechanism 20 for forming a scribing line along the street 4 of the semiconductor wafer 2 held on the chuck table 9 and generating the dividing guide line 5. ing. The scribe mechanism 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. The scribing mechanism 20 includes a moving base 21, a scriber supporting member 23 having one end supported by the moving base 21 so as to be vertically swingable by a support shaft 22, and a rotating support at the other end of the scriber supporting member 23. A roller scriber 25 rotatably supported by the shaft 24 and a pressing force urging means 26 for applying a pressing force to the scriber support member 23 are provided. Moving base 21
Is arranged movably in a direction indicated by an arrow Y in FIG. 2 (a direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 3) which is an indexing direction on a support table (not shown). The roller scriber 25 is formed of sintered diamond, and is rotatably supported at the other end of the scriber support member 23 by a rotation support shaft 24 arranged in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. The pressing force urging means 26 includes an adjusting screw 261 screwed to a support portion 211 formed at the upper end of the moving base 21 and a spring receiving plate 262 mounted at a lower end of the adjusting screw 261. A coil spring 26 disposed between the spring receiving plate 262 and the upper surface of the scriber support member 23
It consists of three. In the illustrated embodiment, an example is shown in which the coil spring 263 and the adjusting screw 261 are used as the pressing force urging means. However, an air piston is used as the pressing force urging means, and the pressing force is adjusted by adjusting the air pressure. It may be controlled. Further, the scribing device in the illustrated embodiment includes an alignment unit 30 including a microscope and a CCD camera. As shown in FIG. 4, the hairline (reference line) 301 formed on the microscope of the alignment means 30 and the outer peripheral contact portion of the roller scriber 25 of the scribe mechanism 20 are adjusted so as to be located on the same line. Although the example in which the scribe mechanism 20 uses the roller scriber 25 in the illustrated embodiment, a point scriber may be used instead of the roller scriber 25.

Next, an example in which the scribing step in the present invention is performed by the scribing apparatus will be described. First, the semiconductor wafer 2 is placed on the suction chuck 92 of the chuck table 9 by, for example, an operator. At this time, the semiconductor wafer 2 is placed with its surface facing up. The semiconductor wafer 2 placed on the suction chuck 92 is suction-held with its front side up and its back side on the suction chuck 92 by suction means (not shown).
Thus, the chuck table 9 holding the semiconductor wafer 2 by suction is moved to just below the alignment means 30. The chuck table 9 is the alignment means 3
0, the street 4 formed on the semiconductor wafer 2 by the alignment means 30
Is detected, and the scribe mechanism 20 is moved and adjusted in the arrow Y direction, which is the indexing direction, to perform a precise alignment work. Thereafter, the chuck table 9 holding the semiconductor wafer 2 by suction is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow X, which is the processing feed direction, so that the street 4 of the semiconductor wafer 2 held on the chuck table 9 is placed on the roller scriber 2.
5 is rolled. As a result, a scribe line is formed along the street 4 and a division guide line 5 is generated. It is desirable that the generation of the division guide wire 5 by the roller scriber 25 be performed under a load of 50 to 150 g. This load can be adjusted by moving the adjusting screw 261 of the pressing force urging means 26 forward and backward. The arrow Y, which is the indexing direction of the scribe mechanism 20 described above, is applied to all the streets 4 formed on the semiconductor wafer 2.
In the semiconductor wafer 2, a divided guide line 5 is generated along the street 4 as shown in FIG. 6 by sequentially and repeatedly performing the feed in the direction X and the feed in the arrow X direction which is the processing feed direction of the chuck table 9. can do.

After the scribing step of generating the divisional guide lines 5 along the streets 4 of the semiconductor wafer 2 is completed, the chuck table 9 holding the semiconductor wafer 2 first suction-holds the semiconductor wafer 2. The semiconductor wafer 2 is returned to the position, and the suction holding of the semiconductor wafer 2 is released. Accordingly, the division guide wire 5 is generated by the scribing process, and the semiconductor wafer 2 can be taken out from the chuck table 9.

After the divisional guide lines 5 are generated along the streets 4 of the semiconductor wafer 2 in the above-described manner, the above-described tape attaching step is performed. That is, as shown in FIG. 1B, the semiconductor wafer 2 on which the divisional guide wire 5 is generated
The tape 7 is stuck on the surface of. Therefore, the surface of each chip 3 formed on the surface of the semiconductor wafer 2 is adhered to the tape 7.

After the tape attaching step is performed as described above, the back side cutting step is performed. Here, a dicing apparatus which is a cutting apparatus for performing the back side cutting step will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. explain. The dicing apparatus in the illustrated embodiment includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped device housing 10. In the apparatus housing 10, a chuck table 11 for holding a workpiece is provided so as to be movable in a cutting feed direction indicated by an arrow X. The chuck table 11 holds the suction chuck support 1.
11 and a suction chuck 112 mounted on the suction chuck support 111.
For example, a disc-shaped semiconductor wafer 2 which is a workpiece is
Is held by suction means (not shown). The chuck table 11 is configured to be rotatable by a rotation mechanism (not shown).

The dicing apparatus in the illustrated embodiment has a spindle unit 40 as cutting means. The spindle unit 40 is mounted on a moving base (not shown) and is adjusted to move in a direction indicated by an arrow Y which is an indexing direction and in a direction indicated by an arrow Z which is a cutting direction, and is freely rotatable by the spindle housing 41. And a rotary blade 43 mounted on the rotary spindle 42 and supported by the rotary drive mechanism (not shown). The rotating blade 43 is a V blade in the illustrated embodiment. The alignment means 30 in the illustrated dicing device includes an infrared CCD camera.

As shown in FIG. 7, the dicing apparatus in the illustrated embodiment uses a semiconductor wafer 2 as a workpiece.
Cassette 12 for stocking the workpiece,
, A workpiece transporting means 14, a cleaning means 15, and a cleaning transporting means 16. The cassette 12
Is mounted on a cassette table 121 which is arranged to be able to move up and down by lifting means (not shown).

Next, an example in which the above-described back surface cutting step in the present invention is performed by the above-described cutting device will be described. The tape 7 attached to the surface of the semiconductor wafer 2 in the tape attaching step is attached to the frame 8, and the semiconductor wafer 2 is attached to the cassette 12 while attached to the frame 8 via the tape 7. Will be accommodated.
Therefore, the semiconductor wafer 2 mounted on the frame 8
It is housed with its back side up. The semiconductor wafer 2 mounted on the frame 8 accommodated in a predetermined position of the cassette 12 (hereinafter, the semiconductor wafer 2 mounted on the frame 8 is simply referred to as the semiconductor wafer 2) is moved by a cassette table (not shown) by a lifting means (not shown). By moving up and down 121, it is positioned at the carry-out position. Next, the workpiece unloading means 13 moves forward and backward to unload the semiconductor wafer 2 positioned at the unloading position to the workpiece mounting area 18.
The semiconductor wafer 2 unloaded to the workpiece mounting area 18
Is conveyed onto the suction chuck 112 of the chuck table 11 by the turning operation of the workpiece conveying means 14,
The front side is suction-held by the suction chuck 112 with the back side up. At this time, the frame 8 on which the semiconductor wafer 2 is mounted via the tape 7 is attached to the chuck table 11.
Is fixed by a clamp 113 disposed at the bottom. The chuck table 11 holding the semiconductor wafer 2 by suction in this manner is moved to just below the alignment means 30. Chuck table 11 is alignment means 3
When positioned just below 0, the alignment guide 30 detects the divisional guide line 5 generated on the street 4 of the semiconductor wafer 2 in the scribing step and moves and adjusts it in the direction of the arrow Y which is the indexing direction of the spindle unit 40. Precision positioning work is performed. Since the semiconductor wafer 2 has the tape 7 adhered to the front surface (the surface on which the divisional guide wire 5 is generated) in the tape adhering step, the back surface is positioned on the upper side. Since 30 is provided with an infrared CCD camera, it is possible to detect the divisional guide line 5 generated on the lower surface.

Thereafter, by moving the chuck table 11 holding the semiconductor wafer 2 by suction in the direction indicated by the arrow X, which is the cutting feed direction, the cutting groove 6 is formed along the division guide line 5 from the back side of the semiconductor wafer 2. Can be generated. At this time, the cut amount by the rotary blade 43 is set at a position from 20 to 50 μm from the surface of the street 4 on which the divisional guide line 5 is formed. That is, in the back surface cutting step, the semiconductor wafer 2 is provided with the uncut portion of 20 to 50 μm from the surface of the street 4 along the division guide line 5 from the back surface side by the rotating blade 43 to generate the cutting groove 6. As described above, by providing the uncut portion of 20 to 50 μm from the surface of the street 4 along the division guide line 5 to form the cutting groove 6, the semiconductor wafer 2 is guided by the division guide line 5 and left uncut. The division is completely split. The feed in the arrow Y direction, which is the indexing direction of the spindle unit 40, and the feed in the arrow X direction, which is the cutting feed direction of the chuck table 11, are performed with respect to the above-mentioned divided guide lines 5 formed on the semiconductor wafer 2. Are repeatedly executed in sequence to divide each chip 3 as shown in an exaggerated manner in FIG. The divided semiconductor chips do not fall apart due to the action of the tape 7, and the state of the semiconductor wafer 2 mounted on the frame 8 is maintained.

As described above, in the illustrated embodiment,
By providing an uncut portion along the divisional guide line 5 from the back surface of the divisional guide line 5 generated by the scribe line formed on the street 4 of the semiconductor wafer 2 to generate a cutting groove 6, the divisional guide line 5 Since the uncut portion is guided to be completely divided and divided for each chip, the width of the street 4 formed on the surface of the semiconductor wafer 2 can be extremely reduced. Therefore, the width of the street 4 can be reduced to 10 μm or less, so that a large number of chips can be formed on the surface of the semiconductor wafer 2 and the productivity can be improved. Further, in the illustrated embodiment, a cutting groove 6 having high reliability is formed by providing an uncut portion along the divisional guide line 5 from the back surface of the divisional guide line 5 formed on the street 4 of the semiconductor wafer 2. The chip is divided into individual chips, so that there is no occurrence of cracks or the like unlike cutting by a point scriber or a laser beam, and the yield of products can be improved and the productivity can be improved. In addition,
In the illustrated embodiment, an example is shown in which a V blade is used as the rotating blade 43. However, the rotating blade 43 uses a blade having a rounded tip as shown by a two-dot line in FIG. You may.

When the semiconductor wafer 2 is divided into chips in this manner, the chuck table 11 holding the semiconductor wafer 2 is returned to the position where the semiconductor wafer 2 is first suction-held, and the semiconductor wafer 2 is sucked here. The holding is released, and the frame 8 by the clamp 113 is released.
Also release the fixation. Next, the semiconductor wafer 2 is transported to the cleaning means 15 by the cleaning and transporting means 16, where it is cleaned. Semiconductor wafer 2 thus cleaned
Is the work placement area 1 by the work transfer means 14.
It is carried out to 8. Then, the semiconductor wafer 2 is stored in a predetermined position of the cassette 12 by the workpiece carrying-out means 13. The semiconductor wafer 2 divided into each chip
Although the shape of the semiconductor wafer is maintained by the tape 7, the chips are divided into individual chips, so that adjacent chips may be rubbed and damaged during transportation. In other words, when the semiconductor wafer is divided into chips by cutting with a dicing apparatus generally used in the related art, a gap having a thickness of a cutting blade (about 20 μm) is formed between the chips. However, since each chip divided by the dividing method according to the present invention is provided with the uncut portion by the cutting blade 43 and the cutting groove 6 is generated and divided, the divided surfaces are substantially in contact with each other. I have. Therefore, the tape 7 bends downward due to the weight of each divided chip, and the chips rub against each other in the center direction.

It is desirable to prevent the chips from rubbing each other during the transport. In order to prevent the chips from rubbing each other during transportation, the distance between the chips may be increased, and the following measures are conceivable. The first measure is to hold the space between the chips on the tape attached to each chip with a frame such as an embroidery frame to expand the entire tape, thereby increasing the space between the chips. The second measure is to turn the frame in which the divided chips are mounted via a tape upside down so that the surface on which the chips are attached is on the lower side, and the tape 7 is moved downward by the weight of each of the divided chips. The distance between the chips is widened by bending.

[0022]

The method for dividing a semiconductor wafer according to the present invention is configured as described above, and has the following effects.

That is, according to the present invention, a scribe line is formed along a street on the front surface of a semiconductor wafer to generate a divisional guide line, and a tape is attached to the surface of the semiconductor wafer, and then the divisional guide line is formed from the back surface. By generating a cutting groove by providing an uncut portion along the width of the street formed on the surface of the semiconductor wafer since the uncut portion is completely divided and divided into chips by being guided by the dividing guide line. Can be made extremely narrow. Accordingly, since the width of the street can be reduced to 10 μm or less, a large number of chips can be formed on the surface of the semiconductor wafer, and the productivity can be improved. Further, in the illustrated embodiment, the chips are divided into individual chips by providing uncut portions along the division guide lines from the back surface of the division guide lines formed on the streets of the semiconductor wafer to generate highly reliable cutting grooves. Therefore, there is no occurrence of cracks or the like as in the case of cutting with a point scriber or a laser beam, and the yield of products can be improved and the productivity can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing each step of a method for dividing a semiconductor wafer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a scribing apparatus for performing a scribing step of the method for dividing a semiconductor wafer according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a scribe mechanism provided in the scribe device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a roller scriber of a scribe mechanism provided in the scribe device shown in FIG. 2 and alignment means.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a main part of the scribe device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a semiconductor wafer in which division guide lines have been generated by the scribe device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a dicing device as a cutting device for performing a back surface cutting step of the method for dividing a semiconductor wafer according to the present invention.

8 is a perspective view of a main part of the dicing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a chip divided by the method for dividing a semiconductor wafer according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Device housing of a scribe device 2: Semiconductor wafer 3: Circuit (chip) 4: Street 5: Dividing guide wire 6: Cutting groove 7: Tape 8: Frame 9: Chuck tail of scribe device 91: Suction chuck support base 92: Suction chuck 10: Dicing machine housing 11: Dicing machine chuck tail 111: Suction chuck support base 112: Suction chuck 113: Clamp 12: Cassette 13: Workpiece unloading means 14: Workpiece conveying means 15: Cleaning means 16: Cleaning / conveying means 20: Scribe mechanism 21: Moving base of scribe mechanism 23: Scribe support member for scribe mechanism 25: Roller scriber for scribe mechanism 26: Pressing force urging means for scribe mechanism 30: Alignment means 40: Spindle unit 41: S Pindle housing 42: rotating spindle 43: rotating blade

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A semiconductor wafer dividing method for dividing a semiconductor wafer having a plurality of chips partitioned by streets formed on a surface thereof into chips, wherein scribe lines are formed along the streets on the surface of the semiconductor wafer. A scribing step of generating a divisional guide line by applying a tape to the surface of the semiconductor wafer on which the divisional guide line is generated; and a dividing step of attaching the tape to the back surface of the semiconductor wafer to which the tape is attached. A back surface cutting step of generating a cutting groove having a slight uncut portion along the guide line, and the cutting guide line is guided by the split guide line to completely split the uncut portion. A method for dividing a semiconductor wafer, which is performed for each chip. 2. The wafer dividing method according to claim 1, wherein the dividing guide line generated by the scribing step is generated by a scriber, and the cutting groove generated by the back surface cutting step is generated by a rotating blade. .