JP2002141308A - Dicing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a dicing apparatus that is provided with a nozzle for forming a water curtain or a nozzle for forming an air curtain and can facilitate replacing a wafer. SOLUTION: When a wafer 16 held by a cutting table 18 is replaced by a Y-direction moving unit 52 for moving a blade 20 in the direction of Y, a nozzle 22 for forming a water curtain and a nozzle 24 for forming an air curtain are moved to the side of a cutting part 14. Therefore, both nozzles 22, 24 do not exist over the cutting table 18 and thus do not interfere with replacing the wafer 16 to thereby facilitate replacing the wafer 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dicing apparatus and, more particularly, to a dicing apparatus for cutting a semiconductor wafer into dice chips by rotating a blade at a high speed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-150428 discloses a method in which cleaning water is sprayed from a nozzle for forming a water curtain toward a semiconductor wafer being cut by a blade to form a water curtain. There is disclosed a dicing apparatus in which attached sewage is washed away.

In addition, this dicing apparatus is provided with an air curtain forming nozzle adjacent to the water curtain forming nozzle, and injects compressed air from the air curtain forming nozzle toward the cut semiconductor wafer. By forming an air curtain, the wastewater adhering to the chips is blown off.

The water curtain forming nozzle and the air curtain forming nozzle are fixed to an oil pan.

[0005]

However, in the conventional dicing apparatus, since both nozzles are fixed to the oil pan, the nozzles are located above the wafer, so that the nozzles are obstructed when replacing the wafer. There was a disadvantage of becoming.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides a dicing apparatus provided with a nozzle for forming a water curtain or a nozzle for forming an air curtain, in which a wafer can be easily exchanged. I do.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a processing section having a table for holding a semiconductor wafer, a blade for cutting the semiconductor wafer held on the table, and the processing section. And a water curtain forming nozzle that sprays cleaning water toward the semiconductor wafer held on the table and forms a water curtain, or is disposed above the processing unit and held on the table. An air curtain forming nozzle for forming an air curtain by injecting air toward the semiconductor wafer, the water curtain forming nozzle or the air curtain forming nozzle, the upper position of the processing unit and the side position of the processing unit. Nozzle moving means for moving forward and backward between the nozzles.

According to the present invention, the nozzle for moving the water curtain or the nozzle for forming the air curtain can be moved to the side position of the processing section by the nozzle moving means. It does not get in the way. Therefore, according to the present invention, the semiconductor wafer can be easily replaced.

Further, according to the present invention, since the blade moving means also serves as the nozzle moving means, a dedicated nozzle moving means is not required, so that a dicing apparatus having a simple structure and a compact structure can be provided. The blade moving means is provided for retracting the blade to the side of the processing part when replacing a semiconductor wafer or the like. Therefore, when the blade is retracted to the side of the processing portion by the blade moving means, the lengths of both nozzles are set so that the tips of both nozzles are not positioned above the processing portion.

Further, according to the present invention, by means of height adjusting means,
The height position of the water curtain forming nozzle or the air curtain forming nozzle with respect to the table can be adjusted. If the positions of both nozzles are fixed with respect to the table, the distance between the wafer surface and both nozzles changes depending on the thickness of the wafer, so that an optimal water curtain or air curtain may not be formed. Therefore, when the height adjusting means is provided as in the present invention, the height of both nozzles can be adjusted to the optimum height for forming the water curtain or the air curtain according to the thickness of the wafer.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a dicing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

A dicing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 0 denotes a dicing apparatus called a semi-auto type, and a processing section 14 is provided at a substantially central portion of the apparatus main body 12. The processing unit 14 includes a cutting table 18 for holding the wafer 16, a blade 20 for cutting the wafer 16, a nozzle 22 for forming a water curtain, a nozzle 24 for forming an air curtain, and the like.

The cutting table 18 has a not shown θ
It is installed via a shaft rotation mechanism and an XY movement mechanism. Wafer 1 held on cutting table 18
The position 6 is adjusted in the θ direction by the split field microscope 26 installed above the cutting table 18 and the θ axis rotation mechanism. Then, the wafer 16 is cut by the blade 20 rotating at a high speed by moving the cutting table 18 in the X direction by the XY moving mechanism.

A monitor 28 is provided at the upper part of the apparatus main body 12, and the monitor 28 is divided into a left screen 30 and a right screen 32. On the left screen 30, a part of the wafer 16 imaged through the left objective lens 34 of the split field microscope 26 shown in FIG. 2 is displayed in an enlarged scale. On the right screen 32 in FIG. A part of the wafer 16 imaged via the right objective lens 36 shown in FIG. 2 is enlarged and displayed.

The observation section 27 by the split field microscope 26 and the processing section 14 are separated by a partition plate 15. In addition, a nozzle 22 for forming a water curtain and a nozzle 24 for forming an air curtain are arranged near the partition plate 15. Thereby, the water curtain formed by the nozzle 22 and the air curtain formed by the nozzle 24 prevent the mist-like atmosphere of the processing section 14 from leaking to the observation section 27.

At the time of cutting the wafer 16 by the blade 20, in order to maintain the processing accuracy of the wafer 16, cutting water is sprayed from a nozzle (not shown) toward a cutting point of the blade 20 during the wafer cutting, and the rotating blade is rotated. Cooling water is injected toward 20.

The blade 20 is, as shown in FIG.
Is attached to the tip of the air spindle 38 which constitutes the rotation axis of the air spindle. The air spindle 38 is held by a cylindrical casing 40 via an air bearing, and is rotated at high speed by the power of a high-frequency motor (not shown) built in the casing 40. The blade 20 is shown in FIG.
The portion excluding the cut portion is covered by the flange cover 42 of the above. A nozzle for jetting the cutting water and the cooling water is attached to the flange cover 42. An oil pan 44 is provided below the blade 20, and drainage used for cutting is stored in the oil pan 44.

The water curtain forming nozzle 22 and the air curtain forming nozzle 24 are disposed on the right side of the cutting table 18 in the X-axis movement direction, as shown in FIG. The nozzles 22 and 24 are arranged close to and parallel to each other, and are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the X-axis movement direction of the cutting table 18. Further, the nozzles 22, 24 are
The cleaning water and the compressed air are set to have such a length that the cleaning water and the compressed air can be jetted onto the entire wafer 16 passing below the wafer.

The nozzles 22, 24 are connected to an L-shaped Y carriage 46 via a height adjusting device (height adjusting means) 48. On the Y carriage 46, a casing 40 of the blade 20 is provided with a support block 50.
And a Z-direction moving device (not shown).
In addition, the Y carriage 46 is connected to a Y direction moving device (nozzle moving means, blade moving means) 52 shown in FIG. 4, and by driving the Y direction moving device 52,
The Y carriage 46 is moved in the Y direction.

The Y-direction moving device 52 comprises a ball screw device having a screw rod 54 and a nut portion 56 as shown in FIG. The screw rod 54 is disposed in the Y direction, and both ends thereof are supported by bearings 58, 58.
The upper right end penetrates the bearing 58 and the output shaft 62 of the motor 60.
It is connected to. The nut portion 56 is attached to the Y carriage 46.
Are fixed to the lower portion of the Y carriage 46, and blocks 64, 64 constituting a linear motion guide in the Y direction are provided below the Y carriage 46.
Has been fixed. These blocks 64 are slidably fitted on guide rails (not shown) constituting the linear motion guide.

Therefore, according to the Y-direction moving device 52, the screw 60 is rotated forward / reversely by the motor 60, so that the Y carriage 46 is moved by the feed operation of the feed screw device and the linear guide operation of the linear motion guide. Can be moved in any direction.

The amount of movement of the Y carriage 46 is
The amount by which the nozzles 0 and the nozzles 22 and 24 are reciprocated between a position above the cutting table 18 indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 4 and a lateral position retracted to the side of the cutting table 18 indicated by a solid line in FIG. Is set to

On the other hand, the height adjusting device 48 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the ball screw device includes a screw rod 70 and a nut 72. The screw rod 70 is disposed in the Z direction (vertical direction), and the upper end thereof is a motor 74.
Output shaft. The motor 74 is fixed to a support plate 76, and the support plate 76 is fixed to the Y carriage 46.

The nut portion 72 is fixed to a side surface of a casing 78 which supports the base ends of the nozzles 22 and 24. A block 80 constituting a linear motion guide in the Z direction is provided on the back surface of the casing 78. Fixed. This block 80 is provided with a guide rail 82 constituting the linear motion guide.
Are slidably fitted in the vertical direction. The guide rail 82 stands on the Y carriage 46.

Therefore, according to the height adjusting device 48,
By rotating the screw rod 70 forward / reverse by the motor 74, the casing 78 can move up and down in the Z direction by the feed operation of the feed screw device and the linear guide operation of the linear guide. The amount of vertical movement of the casing 78, that is, the wafer 1 held on the cutting table 18
The height of the nozzles 22 and 24 with respect to the surface of No. 6 is appropriately changed according to the thickness of the wafer 16 to be cut.

As shown in FIG. 5, the outer sides of the nozzles 22 and 24 are covered with a bellows-shaped elastic sleeve 84. The sleeve 84 has one end fixed to the casing 78 and the other end as shown in FIG.
4 is fixed to the side. Thereby, the nozzle 22,
At a position where 24 is retracted from the processing section 14 as indicated by a solid line in FIG. 4, the nozzles 22 and 24 located outside the oil pan 44 are covered with the sleeve 84. As a result, the washing water dripping from the water curtain forming nozzle 22 does not fall outside the oil pan 44.

The water curtain forming nozzle 22 is connected to a water supply source via a cut-off valve (not shown). In addition, a large number of injection holes (not shown) are formed on the lower surface of the water curtain forming nozzle 22 along the axial direction of the nozzle 22. Therefore, when the shut-off valve is opened, the cleaning water pumped from the water supply source is sprayed (sprayed) from the injection holes, and the sprayed cleaning water is supplied to the surface of the wafer 16 in a curtain shape. You. The cleaning water is used to wash away sewage adhering to the surface of the wafer 16 and remove chips and the like in the sewage. Since the shut-off valve is always opened during the cutting of the wafer 16, the wafer 16 is always kept wet. Thereby, the drying of the wafer 16 is prevented.

The nozzle 24 for forming an air curtain is connected to a compressed air supply source via a shut-off valve (not shown), and a large number of air is provided on the lower surface of the nozzle 24 for forming the air curtain along the axial direction of the nozzle 24. An injection hole (not shown) is formed. Therefore, when the shut-off valve is opened, compressed air from the compressed air supply source is injected from the air injection holes. The jetted compressed air is jetted onto the surface of the wafer 16 in a curtain shape. The compressed air removes dirty water and the like adhering to the surface of the wafer 16. The air curtain forming nozzle 2
The air injection from 4 is not always performed during the cutting processing of the wafer 16, and is performed on the wafer 16 after the cutting of the wafer 16 is completed or when the state of the cutting groove is checked using the split field microscope 26. This is done when blowing off the water on board.

Next, the operation of the dicing apparatus 10 configured as described above will be described.

First, the wafer 16 having been cut and held on the cutting table 18 is replaced with a new wafer 16.
In the case of replacement, the nozzle 22 for forming the water curtain and the nozzle 24 for forming the air curtain are moved by the Y-direction moving device 52 to a side position of the processing portion 14 indicated by a solid line in FIG. As a result, when the wafer 16 is replaced, the nozzles 22 and 24 do not exist above the cutting table 18, so that the nozzles 22 and 24 do not interfere. Therefore, according to the dicing apparatus 10, the wafer 16 can be easily replaced.

In the dicing apparatus 10, the Y-direction moving device 52 for moving the blade 20 in the Y-direction also serves as a nozzle moving device, so that a dedicated nozzle moving device is not required. Therefore, a compact dicing apparatus having a simple structure can be provided.

Further, the dicing apparatus 10 can adjust the height position of the water curtain forming nozzle 22 and the air curtain forming nozzle 24 with respect to the cutting table 18 by the height adjusting device 48.

On the other hand, in a dicing apparatus in which the positions of both nozzles are fixed with respect to the cutting table, the distance between the wafer surface and both nozzles changes depending on the thickness of the wafer 16, so that an optimum water curtain or air curtain is formed. May not be possible.

Therefore, when the height adjusting device 48 is provided as in the dicing device 10 of the embodiment, the wafer 1
According to the thickness of 6, the height of both nozzles 22, 24 can be adjusted to an optimum height for forming a water curtain or an air curtain.

In the embodiment, the dicing apparatus 10 provided with both the nozzle 22 for forming the water curtain and the nozzle 24 for forming the air curtain has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
The present invention can also be applied to a dicing apparatus provided with at least one of 2, 24.

[0036]

As described above, according to the dicing apparatus of the present invention, the nozzle for water curtain formation or the nozzle for air curtain formation can be moved to the side position of the processing section by the nozzle moving means. The semiconductor wafer can be easily replaced.

Further, according to the present invention, since the blade moving means also serves as the nozzle moving means, a dedicated nozzle moving means is not required, so that a dicing apparatus having a simple structure and a compact structure can be provided.

Further, according to the present invention, the height adjusting means
Since the height position of the water curtain forming nozzle or the air curtain forming nozzle with respect to the table can be adjusted, the height of both nozzles according to the thickness of the wafer is optimized for forming the water curtain or the air curtain. Height can be adjusted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a dicing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between a processing section of the dicing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 and a split field microscope.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a processing portion of the dicing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the processing section shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part showing a nozzle height adjusting mechanism of a processing unit shown in FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Dicing apparatus, 12 ... Main body, 14 ... Processing part, 16 ... Wafer, 18 ... Cutting table, 2
0: blade, 22: nozzle for forming water curtain,
24 ... nozzle for forming air curtain, 26 ... split field microscope, 28 ... monitor, 38 ... air spindle, 44 ... oil pan, 46 ... Y carriage, 48 ... height adjusting device (height adjusting means), 52 ... Y direction Moving device (nozzle moving means, blade moving means)

Claims (3)

[Claims] A processing section provided with a table for holding the semiconductor wafer, a blade for cutting the semiconductor wafer held on the table, and a semiconductor wafer disposed above the processing section and held on the table. A water curtain forming nozzle that sprays cleaning water toward the water curtain to form a water curtain.
Or, an air curtain forming nozzle which is arranged above the processing portion and injects air toward the semiconductor wafer held on the table to form an air curtain, and the water curtain forming nozzle or the air curtain forming nozzle A nozzle moving means for moving the nozzle between a position above the processing part and a side position of the processing part. 2. The dicing apparatus is provided with blade moving means for moving the blade between an upper position of the table and a side position of the table, the blade moving means also serving as the nozzle moving means. The dicing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The dicing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising height adjusting means for adjusting a height position of the water curtain forming nozzle or the air curtain forming nozzle with respect to the table. 3. The dicing apparatus according to 1 or 2.