JP2001044146A - Method for recognizing dicing position of semiconductor wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for recognizing the dicing position of a semiconductor wafer, capable of easily making computing program for the dicing position and of accurately recognizing the position of the semiconductor chip, within a short time. SOLUTION: In dicing a semiconductor wafer to divide it into individual chips 11, position of each semiconductor chip is detected by pattern-recognizing a pattern formed on each semiconductor chip. From this position, the dicing position is computed, and the dicing is performed along the dicing position. In this case, a pattern 12 for position recognition is formed on an inactive region 11b of each semiconductor chip 11, and through pattern-recognizing the pattern 12, the position of each semiconductor chip is detected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing process,
When dicing from semiconductor wafer to semiconductor chip,
The present invention relates to a method for recognizing a dicing position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a semiconductor wafer is configured as shown in FIG. That is, in FIG. 5, the semiconductor wafer 1 passes through a predetermined semiconductor manufacturing process,
A plurality of semiconductor chips 2 are formed. These semiconductor chips 2 are separated into individual semiconductor chips 2 by dicing along respective boundary portions, and then packaged, thereby completing a semiconductor chip product.

Conventionally, when dicing a semiconductor wafer 1 into individual semiconductor chips 2, as shown in FIG. 6, a specific portion 3 a of a pattern 3 made of aluminum or the like formed on each semiconductor chip 2 first. And the dimensions of the semiconductor chip 2 are stored in the control unit of the dicing apparatus. Here, a program for designating the dicing position of the semiconductor wafer 1 based on the position of the specific portion 3a and the dimensions of the semiconductor chip 2 is incorporated in the control unit of the dicing apparatus.

According to such a position recognition method, by mounting the semiconductor wafer 1 on the table of the dicing device, the dicing device can be controlled by the control unit.
By moving the table and recognizing the same pattern as the specific portion 3a stored on the semiconductor wafer 1, the dicing position is detected, and the dicing position is brought to the dicing blade of the dicing apparatus. As shown, after the table is moved and adjusted, dicing is performed along the dicing position of the semiconductor wafer 1 by a dicing blade.

Thus, individual semiconductor chips 2 can be separated from each other from the semiconductor wafer 1.

[0006]

However, in the dicing position recognition method having such a configuration, the position of the specific portion 3a in the semiconductor chip 2 may be different depending on the configuration of each semiconductor chip 2. Specific part 3
There is a problem that a program for obtaining a dicing position from a becomes complicated and a program creation time becomes relatively long.

In addition, if the time required for recognition of the specific portion 3a is relatively long and a pattern having a shape similar to the specific portion 3a is present on the semiconductor chip 2, erroneous recognition may occur. There were also problems.

Furthermore, since the pattern formed on the semiconductor chip 2 is used as the specific portion 3a, when there is a step on the pattern 3, for example, the light to be irradiated at the time of pattern recognition is used. However, irregular reflection may occur instead of correct reflection, and there is a problem that the recognition accuracy of the specific portion 3a is reduced.

Further, when the same pattern as the specific portion 3a exists in all the patterns on one semiconductor chip 2, the specific portion 3a cannot be accurately recognized, and the semiconductor chip 2 Sometimes dicing itself.

In view of the above, the present invention provides a dicing position recognizing method that allows a dicing position calculation program to be easily created and allows a position of a semiconductor chip to be accurately recognized in a short time. It is intended to be.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, when dicing a semiconductor wafer into individual semiconductor chips, a pattern provided on each of the semiconductor chips is recognized. A dicing position is calculated from this position, and dicing is performed along the dicing position. In the method of recognizing a dicing position of a semiconductor wafer, a pattern constituting a normal various circuits is formed on the semiconductor chip. And an inactive region is formed around the active region. A position recognition pattern is formed in the inactive region so as to have three or four lines in the vertical and horizontal directions, respectively. The position of each semiconductor chip is detected by recognizing the position recognition pattern by reflection of irradiation light. Characterized in that that may be, by dicing position recognition method of a semiconductor wafer, is achieved.

[0012]

According to the above method, since the position recognition pattern is formed in the inactive region on each semiconductor chip, the position recognition pattern can be formed at the same location in each semiconductor chip. Become. Therefore, even in the case of semiconductor chips having different configurations, the position of the position recognition pattern with respect to the contour of the semiconductor chip does not change. As a result, when the dimensions of the semiconductor chips are the same, the dicing position is uniquely determined, so that the program for obtaining the dicing position is simple and can be easily created in a short time.

Further, as the shape of the position recognition pattern,
For example, by selecting a pattern having three or four lines in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, for example, a pattern having a shape such as “concave” or “convex”, the position recognition pattern is erroneously recognized. Without being performed, recognition can be made in a short time and reliably.

Further, since the position recognizing pattern is formed in an inactive region of the semiconductor chip, a step does not occur due to, for example, crossing with another pattern. Therefore, the light irradiated at the time of pattern recognition can be accurately reflected, so that highly accurate recognition can be performed.

Finally, even if the same pattern exists in all the patterns on one semiconductor chip, the dicing position is determined by the position recognition pattern. Is eliminated, and a fully automatic dicing process can be performed.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a semiconductor wafer to which a dicing position recognition system according to the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, a plurality of semiconductor chips 11 are formed on the surface of a semiconductor wafer 10 through a predetermined semiconductor manufacturing process as in the conventional case. These semiconductor chips 11 are separated into individual semiconductor chips 11 by dicing along respective boundary portions, and then packaged, thereby completing a semiconductor chip product.

The above configuration is the same as the conventional configuration. However, in the embodiment of the present invention, the individual semiconductor chips 11 on the semiconductor wafer 10 are, as shown in FIG. A pattern (not shown) to form a general various circuit is formed, and a position recognition pattern 12 is formed in the surrounding inactive region 11b.

The position recognition pattern 12 is configured, for example, as shown in FIG. That is, in FIG. 3, the position recognition pattern 12 has three or four lines each in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction so that pattern recognition can be reliably performed. It is formed in a “concave” and “convex” shape.

In FIG. 3, the position recognition pattern having the shape of the center "7" is provided for convenience, for example, to indicate the dimensions of the semiconductor chip 11 itself.

The semiconductor wafer 10 in the dicing position recognition system according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured as described above. Dicing is performed by the dicing apparatus having the same configuration as the conventional one shown in FIGS. It is.

At this time, the shape of the position recognition pattern 12 formed on each semiconductor chip 11 and the dimensions of the semiconductor chip 11 are stored in the control unit of the dicing apparatus. Here, a program for designating the dicing position of the semiconductor wafer 10 from the position of the position recognition pattern 12 and the size of the semiconductor chip 11 is incorporated in the control unit of the dicing apparatus. In this case, since the position of the position recognition pattern 12 is uniquely determined from the dimensions of the semiconductor chip 11, the program is simple and can be easily created in a short time.

Then, by mounting the semiconductor wafer 10 on the table of the dicing apparatus, the dicing apparatus moves the table under the control of the control unit and stores the table on the semiconductor wafer 10. The position recognition pattern 12 having the same shape as the pattern is recognized.

In this case, since the shape of the position recognition pattern 12 is “concave” and “convex”, it has three or four lines in the vertical and horizontal directions, respectively. There is no erroneous recognition confused with the pattern on the chip 11, and the recognition can be performed in a short time and reliably.

Thereafter, based on the position of the position recognition pattern 12, a dicing position is calculated in accordance with a program, and the table is moved and adjusted so that the dicing position is brought to the dicing blade of the dicing device. Thereafter, dicing is performed along the dicing position of the semiconductor wafer 10 by a dicing blade.

Thus, the individual semiconductor chips 11 can be separated from each other from the semiconductor wafer 10.

In this case, the position recognition pattern 12
Is formed in the inactive region 11b of the semiconductor chip 11, there is no step difference, and the light irradiated at the time of pattern recognition can be accurately reflected. Could be done.

Further, even if the same pattern is present in all the patterns on one semiconductor chip 11, the dicing position is determined by the position recognition pattern 12, so that the semiconductor chip Dicing of itself 11 is eliminated, and fully automatic dicing can be performed.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of a semiconductor wafer to which the dicing position recognition method according to the present invention is applied. That is, in FIG. 4, a plurality of semiconductor chips 21 are formed on the surface of a semiconductor wafer 20 through a predetermined semiconductor manufacturing process as in the case of FIG.

In this case, of the semiconductor chips 21,
One set of two semiconductor chips 21 is provided with one position recognition pattern 22 for each of the two semiconductor chips 21a and 21b. In the illustrated case, the position recognition pattern 22 is formed in an inactive region of the semiconductor chip 21a.

According to the embodiment having such a configuration, first, the shape of the position recognition pattern 22 formed on each set of the semiconductor chips 21a and 21b, and the shape of the semiconductor chip 21
The dimensions of a and 21b are stored in the control unit of the dicing apparatus. Here, a program for designating the dicing position of the semiconductor wafer 10 from the position of the position recognition pattern 22 and the dimensions of the semiconductor chips 21a and 21b is incorporated in the control unit of the dicing apparatus. Thus, dicing of the semiconductor wafer 20 is performed in the same manner as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, and each semiconductor chip 21 can be individually separated.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, a dicing position calculation program can be easily created, and the position of a semiconductor chip can be recognized quickly and accurately. A dicing position recognition method can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a semiconductor wafer to which a dicing position recognition method for a semiconductor wafer according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged plan view showing a region of one chip of the semiconductor wafer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a position recognition pattern formed on each chip of the semiconductor wafer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged plan view showing one chip area in another embodiment of the semiconductor wafer to which the method for recognizing a dicing position of a semiconductor wafer according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an example of a semiconductor wafer in a conventional semiconductor wafer dicing position recognition method.

6 is a partially enlarged plan view showing a region of one chip of the semiconductor wafer of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 20 Semiconductor wafer 11, 21 Semiconductor chip 11a Active area 11b Inactive area 12 Position recognition pattern 22 Position recognition pattern

Claims (1)

[Claims] When dicing a semiconductor wafer into individual semiconductor chips, a pattern provided on each semiconductor chip is recognized to detect a position of the semiconductor chip, and a dicing position is calculated from the position. A method for recognizing a dicing position of a semiconductor wafer, in which dicing is performed along a dicing position, wherein an active region in which patterns constituting ordinary various circuits are formed on the semiconductor chip; An area is formed, and a position recognition pattern is formed in the inactive area so as to have three to four lines in the vertical and horizontal directions, respectively. By pattern recognition by
A method for recognizing a dicing position of a semiconductor wafer, wherein a position of each semiconductor chip can be detected.