JP2003163184A - Cutting machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cutting machine capable of locating the center and the crystal orientation of a semiconductor wafer conveyed out of a cassette to a temporal depository area. <P>SOLUTION: A cutting machine comprising a chuck table 3 to retain a semiconductor wafer 10, a cutting mechanism to cut the semiconductor wafer retained by the chuck table, a cassette mounting mechanism 8 equipped with a cassette table 81 to mount a cassette 7 housing the semiconductor wafer, a temporal depository area to temporarily store the semiconductor wafer conveyed out of the cassette mounted on the cassette table, a first conveying mechanism 14 to convey the semiconductor wafer conveyed out to the temporal depository area onto the chuck table, and a second conveying mechanism 16 to convey the semiconductor wafer cut and machined on the chuck table, wherein the temporal depository area is provided with a location matching mechanism 12 comprising a center adjusting means that adjusts the center of the semiconductor wafer and a crystal orientation adjusting means 138 that adjusts the crystal orientation of the semiconductor wafer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cutting device for carrying out and cutting a semiconductor wafer contained in a cassette.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, circuits such as ICs and LSIs are formed in a large number of regions arranged in a grid pattern on the surface of a semiconductor wafer which is a substantially disk-shaped plate. Individual semiconductor chips are manufactured by dividing each area in which circuits are formed along a cutting line called a street by a dicing device.
Such division of the semiconductor wafer is generally performed by a cutting device as a dicing device. The cutting device includes a chuck table that holds a semiconductor wafer, a cutting mechanism that cuts the semiconductor wafer held by the chuck table, a cassette mounting mechanism that includes a cassette table that mounts a cassette containing the semiconductor wafer, A temporary placing area for temporarily placing the semiconductor wafer carried out from the cassette placed on the cassette table; a first carrying mechanism for carrying the semiconductor wafer carried out to the temporary placing area onto the chuck table; Second, which conveys the semiconductor wafer cut on the chuck table to the cleaning means
Transport mechanism.

The semiconductor wafer is housed in a cassette in a state of being adhered to the surface of a protective tape mounted on an annular frame so that the semiconductor wafer is not separated when divided into individual chips. However, by forming a cutting groove of a predetermined depth along the cutting line without completely dividing it into individual chips by a cutting device, and then grinding the back surface of the semiconductor wafer until the cutting groove is exposed individually. In the dividing method called so-called dicing, which is divided into chips, the semiconductor wafer housed in the cassette of the cutting device does not need to be supported by the frame via the protective tape and may be a single semiconductor wafer.

[0004]

The semiconductor wafer supported by the frame via the protective tape has the marks indicating the crystal orientation aligned with the predetermined positions of the frame, and supports the semiconductor wafer. The frame can be stored in the cassette in a predetermined direction. Therefore, when the frame is carried out to a predetermined position in the temporary placement area, the center position of the semiconductor wafer supported by the frame and the position indicating the crystal orientation are automatically aligned. On the other hand, when cutting a semiconductor wafer alone, the semiconductor wafer alone is stored in a cassette. However,
Since the semiconductor wafer is formed in a substantially disc shape, it is difficult to position the center position and the crystal orientation when the semiconductor wafer is stored in the cassette and carried out from the cassette to the temporary placement area.

The present invention has been made in view of the above facts, and the main technical problem thereof is a cutting device capable of positioning the center position and the crystal orientation with respect to a semiconductor wafer carried out from a cassette to a temporary placement area. To provide.

[0006]

In order to solve the above main technical problems, according to the present invention, a chuck table for holding a semiconductor wafer, a cutting mechanism for cutting the semiconductor wafer held on the chuck table, and a semiconductor A cassette placing mechanism having a cassette table for placing a cassette containing a wafer, a temporary placement area for temporarily placing a semiconductor wafer carried out from the cassette placed on the cassette table, and a temporary placement area for the temporary placement area. A cutting apparatus comprising: a first transfer mechanism that transfers an unloaded semiconductor wafer onto the chuck table; and a second transfer mechanism that transfers a semiconductor wafer cut on the chuck table to a cleaning unit. In the temporary placement region, center adjusting means for aligning the center position of the semiconductor wafer and the crystal orientation of the semiconductor wafer are set. Alignment mechanism and a crystal orientation adjustment means to adjust the location is provided, the cutting device is provided, characterized in that.

The center adjusting means is provided on the center table on which the semiconductor wafer is placed, the pair of movement adjusting plates arranged to face each other with the center table interposed therebetween, and the pair of movement adjusting plates. The semiconductor wafer comprises a plurality of adjusting pins that act on the outer peripheral edge of the semiconductor wafer, and an adjusting plate moving means that positions the pair of moving adjusting plates at the retracted position and the adjusting position. The adjustment pin includes a cylindrical adjustment portion and a shaft portion that is formed so as to project from a lower surface of the adjustment portion and that is fitted to the movement adjustment plate so as to be rotationally adjustable, and the shaft portion is the adjustment portion. It is desirable to be provided eccentrically from the center of.

The crystal orientation adjusting means detects a semiconductor wafer crystal orientation for detecting a center table on which a semiconductor wafer is placed and a mark indicating the crystal orientation provided on the outer periphery of the semiconductor wafer placed on the center table. And means for rotating the center table. It is desirable that a plurality of semiconductor wafer crystal orientation detecting means be provided corresponding to the size of the semiconductor wafer. Shaving equipment.

A dummy wafer holding table for holding a dummy wafer is arranged on the chuck table, and the dummy wafer holding table and the dummy wafer holding table are located at point-symmetrical positions about the rotation center of the chuck table. Is preferably provided with a balance weight for canceling the weight of the semiconductor wafer. Further, the first transfer mechanism and the second transfer mechanism are provided with a suction holding section for holding the semiconductor wafer by suction. It is desirable that the holding portion be configured by Bernoulli pads.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of a cutting device constructed according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a cutting device constructed according to the invention. The cutting device in the illustrated embodiment includes a device housing 2 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. A chuck table 3 for holding a workpiece is disposed in the apparatus housing 2 so as to be movable in the direction indicated by arrow X, which is the cutting feed direction. The chuck table 3 includes a suction chuck support base 31 and a suction chuck 32 mounted on the suction chuck support base 31, and the suction chuck 32 is connected to negative pressure control means (not shown). Therefore, when a workpiece, for example, a disk-shaped semiconductor wafer, is placed on the mounting surface that is the surface of the suction chuck 32 and negative pressure is applied to the suction chuck 32 by negative pressure control means (not shown), the semiconductor The wafer is suction-held on the suction chuck 32. The chuck table 3 is configured to be rotatable by a rotation mechanism (not shown). A dummy wafer holding table 34 is mounted on the side of the suction chuck support base 31 of the chuck table 3 thus configured. The dummy wafer holding table 34 is connected to a negative pressure control means (not shown) and sucks and holds a dummy wafer 35 having the same thickness as that of a semiconductor wafer which is a workpiece. Further, a balance weight 36 for offsetting the weight of the dummy wafer holding table 34 is mounted on the suction chuck support base 31 of the chuck table 3 at a point target position with the dummy wafer holding table 34 with respect to the rotation center of the chuck table 3. ing. Therefore, the suction chuck support base 31 of the chuck table 3 does not tilt due to the weight of the dummy wafer holding table 34 and is maintained in a horizontal state.

The cutting device in the illustrated embodiment includes a spindle unit 4 as a cutting mechanism. The spindle unit 4 is mounted on a moving base (not shown) and is movably adjusted in a direction indicated by an arrow Y which is an indexing direction and a direction indicated by an arrow Z which is a cutting direction, and is rotatably attached to the spindle housing 41. A rotary spindle 42 supported and rotated by a rotary drive mechanism (not shown), and the rotary spindle 42.
And a cutting blade 43 attached to the.

The cutting device in the illustrated embodiment images the surface of the semiconductor wafer held on the surface of the suction chuck 32 constituting the chuck table 3 and detects the area to be cut by the cutting blade 43, The imaging mechanism 5 for confirming the state of the cutting groove is provided. The imaging mechanism 5 images the surface of the dummy wafer 35 held by the dummy wafer holding table 34 and also confirms the cutting groove cut by the cutting blade 43. The image pickup mechanism 5 is composed of optical means such as a microscope and a CCD camera. The dicing device also includes a display unit 6 that displays the image captured by the image capturing mechanism 5.

The cutting device in the illustrated embodiment comprises a cassette placing mechanism 8 which is placed in the cassette placing area and places a cassette containing a semiconductor wafer which is a workpiece. Here, the cassette mounted on the cassette mounting mechanism 8 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. The cassette 7 in the illustrated embodiment has a cassette body 71.
And a cassette lid 72 detachably attached to the cassette body 71. The cassette body 71 has a loading / unloading opening 7 for loading / unloading a semiconductor wafer on one side.
11, a plurality of rack shelves 712 for mounting the semiconductor wafer 10 therein are provided in the vertical direction. Further, the loading / unloading opening 711 of the cassette body 71
A fitting hole 71 into which a later-described latch is fitted is provided on both side walls of the portion.
3, 711 are provided (in FIG. 2, one fitting hole 7 is provided).
Only 13 are shown).

As shown in FIG. 3, the cassette lid 72 includes a fitting portion 721 fitted into the carry-in / out opening 711 of the cassette body 71 and a flange portion 722 formed on the back surface of the fitting portion 721. Has become. As shown in FIG. 4, two latches 7 are provided in the fitting portion 721 that constitutes the cassette lid 72.
3 and 73 are attached. The latch 73 includes a latch portion 731 and a shaft portion 732, and the shaft portion 732 is rotatably supported on the front wall of the fitting portion 721 via a bearing bush 74. Latch section 7 that constitutes the latch 73
A rectangular key hole 731a into which a latch key to be described later is inserted is formed at the center of 31. It should be noted that, on both side walls of the fitting portion 721 that constitutes the cassette lid 72, the rotation of the latch portion 731 is allowed at positions corresponding to the fitting holes 713 and 711 formed in the latch portion 731 and the cassette body 71. Openings 721a and 721a are provided. Therefore, after the fitting portion 721 of the cassette lid 72 is fitted into the loading / unloading opening 711 of the cassette body 71, the latch 7
Angles 3 and 73 from the unlocked state shown by the solid line in FIG.
When rotated by 0 degrees, the latch portions 731 and 731 are fitted into the fitting holes 713 and 711 through the openings 721a and 721a as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG.
Is locked to the cassette body 71. Also, the cassette lid 7
2 has a flange portion 722, and a rectangular key hole 7 provided in the latch portion 731 that constitutes the latch 73.
A key insertion hole 722a is formed at a position corresponding to 31a.

Next, the cassette mounting mechanism 8 for mounting the cassette 7 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 5. The cassette mounting mechanism 8 includes a cassette table 81 on which the cassette 7 is mounted, and an elevating mechanism 82 for elevating the cassette table 81. As shown in FIG. 1, the cassette table 81 is provided with a positioning member 811 for positioning when the cassette 7 is placed on the upper surface thereof, and a cassette sensor 812 for detecting that the cassette is placed. It is arranged.
As shown in FIG. 5, the elevating mechanism 82 is provided with a male screw rod 821 arranged vertically along the side wall 22 of the device housing 2 and rotatably supported, and is capable of normal rotation and reverse rotation for rotating the male screw rod 821. A pulse motor 822 is provided, and a female screw hole 813 provided at one end of the cassette table 81 is screwed into the male screw rod 821. Therefore, when the pulse motor 822 is rotationally driven in one direction, the cassette table 81 is lowered along the male screw rod 821, and the pulse motor 8 is driven.
When 22 is rotationally driven in the other direction, the cassette table 81 is raised along the male screw rod 821. The cassette table 81 that can be raised and lowered in this way is at the lid attachment / detachment position, which is the lowered position shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C, and the raised position shown in FIGS. 5A and 5D and FIG. Move between certain loading / unloading positions. At the loading / unloading position, the cassette table 81 is mounted on the cassette 7.
Is adjusted in accordance with the accommodation position of the semiconductor wafer 10 accommodated in.

The cutting device in the illustrated embodiment is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a lid attaching / detaching mechanism 9 is provided so as to face the cassette mounting mechanism 8. This lid attaching / detaching mechanism 9
Are arranged so as to face each other at the lid attaching / detaching position of the cassette table 81 shown in FIGS. 5 (b) and 5 (c). The lid attaching / detaching mechanism 9 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 7. The lid attaching / detaching mechanism 9 in the illustrated embodiment includes a fixed base 92 arranged on a support base 91. At the center of the upper surface of the fixed base 92, the cassette mounting means 7 is provided.
A guide rail 921 that extends in a direction perpendicular to the male screw rod 821 is provided. A movable base 93 is movably mounted on the upper surface of the fixed base 92 along a guide rail 921.
Is provided. This moving base 93 has a horizontal portion 931.
The vertical portion 932 and the vertical portion 932 form an L shape, and the horizontal portion 931 is movably arranged along the guide rail 921. Further, air cylinders 94, 94 are arranged on both sides of the guide rail 921 on the upper surface of the fixed base 92, and the tip ends of the piston rods 941, 941 of the air cylinders 94, 94 are arranged on the movable base 93. Is connected to the horizontal portion 931 of the. The air cylinder 94,
Reference numeral 94 is connected to high pressure air control means (not shown), and moves the moving base 93 forward and backward along the guide rail 921. Therefore, the air cylinders 94, 94 are mounted on the moving base 9
It functions as a means to move 3 back and forth.

A vertical portion 932 which constitutes the moving base 93.
Includes a latch portion 73 that constitutes the latches 73, 73.
Latch keys 95, 95 inserted into the key holes 731a, 731a formed in the first and the third parts 731 are rotatably arranged so as to project from the front surface. The latch keys 95, 95 are rotated by an air motor 96, 96 disposed on the back surface of the vertical portion 932 over an angle of about 90 degrees. The air motors 96, 96 are connected to high pressure air control means (not shown). The latch keys 95, 95 and the air motors 96, 96 are used for the latch key 9 as will be described later.
It functions as a latch actuating means for actuating 5, 95. Also, two suction pads 9 are provided on the front surface of the vertical portion 932.
7, 97 are provided. This suction pad 97, 97
Is connected to a negative pressure control means (not shown), and appropriately applies a negative pressure to the suction pads 97, 97. Therefore, the suction pads 97, 97 are attached to the cassette lid 72 of the cassette 8.
When a negative pressure is applied to the cassette lid 72, the cassette lid 72
Can be held by suction. Therefore, the suction pad 9
Reference numerals 7 and 97 function as cassette lid holding means for holding the cassette lid 72 on the moving base 93.

Returning to FIG. 1, for further explanation, a workpiece unloading mechanism 11 for unloading a semiconductor wafer 10 as a workpiece housed in the cassette 7 mounted on the cassette mounting mechanism 8 is provided. There is. This workpiece unloading mechanism 11
Moves forward and backward with respect to the cassette 7 placed on the cassette placing mechanism 8, so that the semiconductor wafer 10 housed in the cassette 7 is conveyed to the alignment mechanism 12 arranged in the temporary placing area. Hereinafter, the alignment mechanism 12 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 8 and 9.

Alignment mechanism 1 in the illustrated embodiment
2 includes a center table 121 on which the semiconductor wafer 10 unloaded from the cassette 7 by the workpiece unloading mechanism 11 is placed. This center table 12
1 includes a suction chuck support base 122 and a suction chuck 123 mounted on the suction chuck support base 122. The suction chuck support base 122 and the suction chuck 123 can be appropriately rotated by an electric motor 124 as a rotating means. The suction chuck 123 is connected to a negative pressure control means (not shown) so that negative pressure can be appropriately applied.

Alignment mechanism 1 in the illustrated embodiment
The apparatus 2 includes a pair of movement adjusting plates 131, 131 disposed on the upper wall 21 of the apparatus housing 2 so as to face each other with the center table 121 interposed therebetween. The pair of movement adjusting plates 131, 131 are provided with semi-circular recesses 131a, 131a at the central portions on the sides facing each other for avoiding interference with a workpiece mounting table described later,
The upper surface is arranged at a position slightly lower than the upper surface of the center table 121. A pair of movement adjusting plates 13
Guide pins 13 are provided on both ends of the lower surfaces of the reference numerals 1 and 131, respectively.
2, 132 are provided, and the guided pins 132,
132 is inserted into the guide grooves 211, 211 formed in the upper wall 21 of the apparatus housing 2. Therefore, the pair of movement adjusting plates 131 with the guided pins 132, 132 attached,
The 131 is configured to be movable along the guide grooves 211, 211.

In the illustrated embodiment, there are provided four air cylinders 133 for moving the pair of movement adjusting plates 131, 131 along the guide grooves 211, 211. The four air cylinders 133 are provided. Piston rod 1
34 are connected to the guided pins 133, respectively. The piston rod 134 of the air cylinder 133 is provided with a plurality of connecting holes 134a, and is guided by a connecting pin 135 which is inserted through the connecting hole 134a at a position corresponding to the size of the semiconductor wafer 10 accommodated in the cassette 7. It is connected to the pin 132. The four air cylinders 133 are connected to compressed air control means (not shown). The four air cylinders 133, which are operated by the compressed air control means (not shown), include a pair of movement adjusting plates 1.
8 and FIG. 8 are the retracted positions indicated by solid lines in FIG.
At the adjustment position indicated by the chain double-dashed line. Therefore, the four air cylinders 133 are provided in the pair of movement adjusting plates 1.
It functions as an adjusting plate actuating means for positioning the 31, 131 in the retracted position and the adjusted position.

The pair of movement adjusting plates 131, 131 constituting the position adjusting mechanism 12 are provided with adjusting pins 136, 136 at both ends thereof so as to project from the upper surface. As shown in FIG. 9, the adjustment pin 136 includes a cylindrical adjustment portion 136a and a shaft portion 136b formed so as to project from the lower surface of the adjustment portion 136a, and the shaft portion 136b is a pair of movement adjustment plates 131. , 131 with shaft holes 131
It is fitted to b. Shaft 136 that constitutes the adjustment pin 136
b is provided eccentrically from the center of the adjusting portion 136a. Therefore, the adjusting pin 136 can change the distance between the adjusting parts 136a by rotating around the shaft part 136b, and adjust according to a slight difference in diameter depending on the manufacturing lot of the semiconductor wafer. be able to.
A screw hole 131c reaching the shaft hole 131b from the end face is formed in the pair of movement adjusting plates 131, 131, and a restriction bolt 137 is screwed into the screw hole 131c. The regulation bolt 137 is provided on the adjustment pin 136.
After adjustment, the shaft portion 136b is tightened to restrict the rotation of the adjustment pin 136. The center table 121 and the pair of movement adjusting plates 131 and 13 that form the alignment mechanism 12
1, the adjusting pin 136, the air cylinder 133, and the adjusting plate actuating means for positioning the pair of movement adjusting plates 131, 131 at the retracted position and the adjusting position function as a center adjusting means for aligning the central positions of the semiconductor wafers.

Alignment mechanism 1 in the illustrated embodiment
2 includes a semiconductor wafer crystal orientation detecting means 138 arranged on the upper wall 21 of the apparatus housing 2 as shown in FIG. This semiconductor wafer crystal orientation detection means 13
A semiconductor wafer 1 is composed of a reflection type detector 8, for example.
The notch 10a (see FIG. 2) or the orientation flat, which is provided on the outer periphery of 0 and indicates the crystal orientation, is detected. The semiconductor wafer crystal orientation detecting means 138 is provided in the middle of the pair of movement adjusting plates 121 and 121, and a plurality of semiconductor wafer crystal orientation detecting means 138 are provided to correspond to the size of the semiconductor wafer.

Semiconductor wafer crystal orientation detecting means 138
Rotates the center table 121 that holds the semiconductor wafer 10 by suction to detect the notch 10a provided on the outer periphery of the semiconductor wafer and representing the crystal orientation.
By stopping the driving of the electric motor 124 based on the detection signal from the semiconductor wafer crystal orientation detection means 138, the semiconductor wafer 10 is aligned in the crystal orientation position. When the mark indicating the crystal orientation of the semiconductor wafer 10 is an orientation flat, the semiconductor wafer crystal orientation detecting means 138 causes
By detecting both ends of the orientation flat, the control means (not shown) calculates the angle between the detected ends based on the detection signal, and by inverting and returning the center table 121 by half the angle, the semiconductor wafer is returned. It is possible to align the 10 crystal orientations. Therefore, a center table 121 for holding the semiconductor wafer 10, a semiconductor wafer crystal orientation detecting means 138 for detecting a mark indicating a crystal orientation provided on the outer periphery of the semiconductor wafer, and a rotating means for rotating the center table 121 are provided. The electric motor 124 functions as a crystal orientation adjusting means.

Returning to FIG. 1 and continuing the description, the cutting apparatus in the illustrated embodiment is a semiconductor wafer 1 which is carried out to the alignment mechanism 12 and positioned as described later.
0 to the chuck table 3, a first transport mechanism 14, a cleaning means 15 for cleaning the semiconductor wafer 10 cut on the chuck table 3, and a semiconductor wafer 10 cut on the chuck table 3. A second transport mechanism 16 for transporting the cleaning liquid to the cleaning means 15 is provided. The first transport mechanism 14 and the second transport mechanism 16 are provided with suction holders 141 and 161, respectively, and as shown in FIG. 10, air is made to flow along the inner surface of the conical pad so that the central portion is moved to the central portion. It is composed of Bernoulli pads that generate negative pressure. In addition,
The Bernoulli pad itself may have a known structure.
Suction holders 141 and 16 made of Bernoulli pads
1 is connected to high pressure air control means (not shown),
Negative pressure is generated in the central portion by flowing air along the inner surface of the conical pad as appropriate.

The cutting device in the illustrated embodiment is configured as described above, and its operation will be described below. When cutting the semiconductor wafer 10, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG.
The cassette 7 that accommodates the cassette 7 and is attached with the cassette lid 72 is placed at a predetermined position on the cassette table 81 of the cassette placing mechanism 8. The cassette 7 is placed on the cassette table 81.
When placing the cassette, the cassette table 81 is positioned at the carry-in / out position, which is the raised position, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5A. When the cassette 7 is placed at a predetermined position on the cassette table 81 as shown in FIG. 5A, the cassette sensor 812 sends a detection signal to the control means (not shown). Based on the detection signal from the cassette sensor 812, the control means (not shown) executes the following control. First, the pulse motor 822 of the elevating mechanism 82 of FIG. 5A is rotationally driven in one direction to lower the cassette table 81 on which the cassette 7 is mounted along the male screw rod 821, as shown in FIG. 5B. It is positioned at a lid attaching / detaching position facing the lid attaching / detaching mechanism 9.

Next, the air cylinder 94 of the lid attaching / detaching mechanism 9,
By operating 94, the movable base 93 is moved from the standby position shown in FIG. 5B to the left in the drawing to the work position shown in FIG. 5C. At this time, the latch keys 95, 95 arranged on the vertical portion 932 of the moving base 93 are connected to the key insertion holes 7 formed on the flange portion 722 of the cassette lid 72.
22a and 722a, and the key holes 731a and 731a formed in the latches 73 and 73. At this time, the latches 73, 73 are in the locked state shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. Further, when the moving base 93 is positioned at the working position shown in FIG.
The suction pads 97, 97 arranged on the front surface of No. 2 come into contact with the surface of the cassette lid 72. Next, the air motors 96, 96
Is operated to rotate the latch keys 95, 95 in one direction by approximately 90 degrees to bring the latches 73, 73 into the unlocked state shown by the solid line in FIG. Then, a negative pressure is applied to the suction pads 97, 97 to suck and hold the cassette lid 72. afterwards,
The air cylinders 94, 94 of the lid attaching / detaching mechanism 9 are operated to move the moving base 93 from the working position shown by the solid line in FIG. 5C to the right in the drawing, and the two-dot chain line in FIG. 5C. Position it at the standby position shown in. At this time, the cassette lid 72 is attached to the suction bases 97, 9 mounted on the moving base 93.
It is suction-held by 7. In this way, if the movable base 93 holding the cassette lid 72 is positioned at the standby position shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 5C,
The pulse motor 822 of the elevating mechanism 82 is rotationally driven in the other direction to raise the cassette table 81 on which the cassette body 71 from which the cassette lid 72 is removed is placed along the male screw rod 821. ).

As described above, the cassette table 8 on which the cassette body 71 with the cassette lid 72 removed is placed.
1 is positioned at the carry-in / out position shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 (d), and the semiconductor wafer 10 housed in the cassette body 71 is ready for cutting work. Then, when a cutting operation start command is issued, the workpiece carry-out mechanism 11 moves forward and backward to carry the semiconductor wafer 10 accommodated in a predetermined position of the cassette body 71 onto the center table 121 of the alignment mechanism 12. When the semiconductor wafer 10 is placed on the center table 121, the alignment mechanism 12 performs center alignment and crystal orientation alignment of the semiconductor wafer 10. Hereinafter, these alignment operations will be described mainly with reference to FIG.

When the semiconductor wafer 10 is placed on the center table 121 as described above, the four air cylinders 134 of the alignment mechanism 12 are operated to move the pair of movement adjusting plates 131 and 131 into a solid line in FIG. A predetermined amount is moved from the retracted position indicated by to along the guide grooves 211, 211 in a direction toward each other. Then, the pair of movement adjusting plates 13
1, 131 are moved to the adjustment position indicated by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 8, and all the four adjustment pins 136 arranged on the pair of movement adjustment plates 131, 131 are brought into contact with the outer peripheral edge of the semiconductor wafer 10. By contacting, the semiconductor wafer 10 is centered.

When the center alignment of the semiconductor wafer 10 placed on the center table 121 is completed, the four air cylinders 134 are operated to operate the pair of movement adjusting plates 13.
1, 131 are moved in the directions away from each other and positioned at the retracted position shown by the solid line in FIG. Then, the alignment mechanism 12 aligns the crystal orientation of the semiconductor wafer 10. That is, as described above, a negative pressure is applied to the center table 121 to suck and hold the semiconductor wafer 10, the electric motor 124 is rotationally driven to rotate the center table 121, and the semiconductor wafer 1
The semiconductor wafer crystal orientation detecting means 138 arranged at the position corresponding to the size of 0 is operated. Then, by stopping the driving of the electric motor 124 at the position where the semiconductor wafer crystal orientation detecting means 138 detects the notch 10a representing the crystal orientation provided on the outer periphery of the semiconductor wafer,
The semiconductor wafer 10 is aligned in crystal orientation. When the mark indicating the crystal orientation of the semiconductor wafer 10 is the orientation flat, the semiconductor wafer crystal orientation detection means 138 detects both ends of the orientation flat, and the control means (not shown) detects based on this detection signal. The angle between the two ends is calculated, and the center table 121
By reversing and reversing, the crystal orientation of the semiconductor wafer 10 can be aligned. in this way,
After the alignment of the crystal orientation of the semiconductor wafer 10 is completed, the negative pressure acting on the center table 121 is released, and the suction holding of the semiconductor wafer 10 is released.

The semiconductor wafer 10 aligned on the center table 121 as described above is transferred to the mounting surface of the suction chuck 32 constituting the chuck table 3 by the turning operation of the first transfer mechanism 14. . At this time, the semiconductor wafer 10 is placed on the chuck table 3 in a predetermined positional relationship because the center position and the crystal orientation are aligned as described above.
The first transfer mechanism 1 for transferring the semiconductor wafer 10
Since the suction holding portion 141 of No. 4 is composed of Bernoulli pads, it does not come into contact with the surface of the semiconductor wafer 10 and thus does not damage the surface of the semiconductor wafer. The semiconductor wafer 10 transported onto the mounting surface of the suction chuck 32 is suction-held by the negative pressure applied by the negative pressure control means (not shown). The chuck table 3 holding the semiconductor wafer 10 by suction in this manner
Are moved to directly below the imaging mechanism 5. When the chuck table 3 is positioned immediately below the image pickup mechanism 5, the image pickup mechanism 5 detects a cutting line formed on the semiconductor wafer 10, and the spindle unit 4 is moved and adjusted in the arrow Y direction, which is the indexing direction, to adjust the precision position. Matching work is performed. Further, the spindle unit 4 is operated to move the cutting blade 43 to the dummy wafer holding table 34.
The dummy wafer 35 is positioned on the dummy wafer 35 held above, the cutting blade 43 is rotated, and the dummy wafer 35 is cut by moving in the direction indicated by the arrow Z, which is the cutting direction, to set the cutting depth.

After that, the cutting blade 43 is positioned at the position of the set cutting depth and is rotated in a predetermined direction while the chuck table 3 suction-holding the semiconductor wafer 10 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow X, which is the cutting feed direction. By cutting and feeding in a direction orthogonal to the rotation axis of the cutting blade 43), the semiconductor wafer 10 held on the chuck table 3 is formed with a cutting groove having a predetermined depth along a predetermined cutting line by the cutting blade 43. . That is, the cutting blade 43 is mounted on the spindle unit 4 which is moved and adjusted in the direction indicated by the arrow Y which is the indexing direction and the direction indicated by the arrow Z which is the cutting direction, and is rotationally driven. Is moved in the cutting feed direction (X-axis direction) along the lower side of the cutting blade 43, so that the semiconductor wafer 10 held on the chuck table 3 is cut to a predetermined cutting line without being completely cut by the cutting blade 43. It is cut with a predetermined cutting depth set along. After the cutting of the semiconductor wafer 10 is completed in this way, the chuck table 3 holding the semiconductor wafer 10 is first set to the semiconductor wafer 10.
Is returned to the position where it was sucked and held, where the semiconductor wafer 1
Release the suction hold of 0.

Next, the semiconductor wafer 10 that has been cut and processed on the chuck table 3 from which suction and holding has been released is
It is conveyed to the cleaning means 15 by the operation of the second conveying mechanism 16. At this time, since the suction holding portion 161 of the second transfer mechanism 16 is configured by the Bernoulli pad, since it does not contact the surface of the semiconductor wafer 10, the surface of the semiconductor wafer is not damaged and the cutting is performed. A semiconductor wafer in which a groove is formed and is easily divided is not broken. The semiconductor wafer 10 transferred to the cleaning means 15 is cleaned and removed by the cleaning means 15 from the contaminants generated during the cutting. The semiconductor wafer 10 cleaned by the cleaning means 15 is transferred onto the center table 121 of the alignment mechanism 12 by the first transfer mechanism 14. At this time as well, since the suction holding portion 141 of the first transport mechanism 14 is formed of the Bernoulli pad, it does not contact the surface of the semiconductor wafer 10 and thus does not damage the surface of the semiconductor wafer. Center table 1 of alignment mechanism 12
The semiconductor wafer 10 carried onto the substrate 21 is stored in a predetermined position of the cassette body 71 positioned at the carry-in / carry-out position by the workpiece carrying-out means 11.

When the above cutting work is repeatedly executed and the cutting process is completed for all the semiconductor wafers 10 housed in the cassette body 71, the step of mounting the cassette lid 72 on the cassette body 71 is executed. Hereinafter, the mounting process of the cassette lid will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6A shows a state in which the semiconductor wafer 10 that has undergone the cutting process is housed in the cassette body 71 positioned at the carry-in / out position. To mount the cassette lid 72 on the cassette body 71, the pulse motor 822 of the elevating mechanism 82 is rotationally driven in one direction from the state of FIG. 6A, and the cassette table 81 on which the cassette body 71 is mounted is attached to the male screw rod 821. 5B, and is positioned at a lid attaching / detaching position facing the lid attaching / detaching mechanism 9 shown in FIG. 5B. At this time, the cassette lid 72 removed as described above.
Is a vertical portion 93 that constitutes the moving base 93 of the lid attaching / detaching mechanism 9.
It is sucked and held by the suction pads 97, 97 arranged on the second side.

Next, the air cylinder 94 of the lid attaching / detaching mechanism 9,
By operating 94, the movable base 93 is moved from the standby position shown in FIG. 6B to the left in the figure to the work position shown in FIG. 6C. At this time, the fitting portion 72 of the cassette lid 72 held by the vertical portion 932 of the moving base 93.
1 is fitted into the loading / unloading opening 72 of the cassette body 71.
Then, the air motors 96, 96 are operated to operate the latches 73,
73 is rotated in the other direction by approximately 90 degrees to bring the latches 73 and 73 into the locked state shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. When the latches 73, 73 are locked in this way, the suction pad 97,
The negative pressure acting on 97 is released, and the cassette lid 72
Release the suction hold. Thereafter, the air cylinders 94, 94 of the lid attaching / detaching mechanism 9 are operated to move the moving base 93 from the working position shown by the solid line in FIG. Position it at the standby position shown by the dotted line. At this time, the cassette lid 72 is attached to the cassette body 71, and the moving base 93 of the lid attaching / detaching mechanism 9 is attached.
Is not retained in. When the moving base 93 is positioned at the standby position indicated by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 6C, the pulse motor 822 of the lifting mechanism 82 is rotationally driven in the other direction, and the cassette lid 72 is attached to the cassette body 71. The cassette table 81 on which the loaded cassette 7 is placed is raised along the male screw rod 821 and is positioned at the carry-in / out position shown in FIGS. 1 and 6D. In this way, the cassette 7 in which the cassette lid 72 is mounted on the cassette body 71 positioned at the carry-in / out position is carried to the next step by the operator.

As described above, the cutting device in the illustrated embodiment is provided with the lid attaching / detaching mechanism 9 arranged so as to face the cassette placing mechanism 8, so that the cassette 7 in which the semiconductor wafer 10 is accommodated By mounting the cassette on the mounting means 8, the cassette lid 72 mounted on the loading / unloading opening 711 of the cassette can be automatically attached / detached. Therefore, it is not necessary for the operator to perform the attachment / detachment work of the cassette lid 72, and the management of the removed cassette lid 72 is also unnecessary.

[0038]

Since the cutting device according to the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following effects.

That is, in the cutting apparatus according to the present invention, the center adjustment means for adjusting the center position of the semiconductor wafer and the position of the crystal orientation of the semiconductor wafer are adjusted in the temporary placement area for temporarily placing the semiconductor wafer carried out from the cassette. Since the alignment mechanism including the crystal orientation adjusting means is provided, the center position and the crystal orientation of the semiconductor wafer are aligned in the alignment mechanism.
The semiconductor wafer conveyed from the alignment mechanism to the chuck table is placed with a predetermined positional relationship. Therefore, the semiconductor wafer held on the chuck table can be accurately cut.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cutting device configured according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a cassette applied to the cutting device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cassette lid that constitutes the cassette shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the cassette lid shown in FIG.

5 is an explanatory view showing an operating state of a cassette placing means and a lid attaching / detaching mechanism which are provided in the cutting device shown in FIG.

6 is an explanatory view showing an operating state of a cassette placing means and a lid attaching / detaching mechanism which are provided in the cutting device shown in FIG.

7 is a perspective view of a main part of a lid attaching / detaching mechanism provided in the cutting device shown in FIG.

8 is a perspective view showing a partially cutaway alignment mechanism provided in the cutting device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

9 is a perspective view showing a part of a preparation pin attaching portion which constitutes the positioning mechanism shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a Bernoulli pad used in a transfer mechanism equipped in the cutting device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

2: Device housing 3: Chuck table 31: suction chuck support 32: suction chuck 4: Spindle unit 41: Spindle housing 42: rotating spindle 43: Cutting blade 5: Imaging mechanism 6: Display means 7: cassette 71: cassette body 72: cassette lid 73: Latch 8: Cassette mounting mechanism 81: cassette table 811: Positioning member 812: cassette sensor 82: Lifting mechanism 821: Male thread rod 822: Pulse motor 9: Lid removal mechanism 91: Support stand 92: Fixed base 93: Moving base 94: Air cylinder 95: Latch key 96: Air motor 97: suction pad 10: Semiconductor wafer 11: Workpiece unloading mechanism 12: Positioning mechanism 121: Center table 122: Support for suction chuck 123: suction chuck 124: Electric motor 131: Movement adjustment plate 132: Guided pin 133: Air cylinder 136: Adjustment pin 138: Semiconductor wafer crystal orientation detecting means 14: First transport mechanism 15: Cleaning means 16: Second transport mechanism

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5F031 CA02 CA11 DA08 EA14 FA01                       FA03 FA05 FA07 FA11 FA12                       GA08 GA25 GA28 GA30 HA13                       HA53 HA59 JA04 JA14 JA15                       JA22 JA33 JA34 JA35 JA39                       KA02 KA06 KA08 KA11 KA13                       KA14 LA07 LA12 LA15 MA13                       MA15 MA34 NA10 PA16

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A chuck table for holding a semiconductor wafer, a cutting mechanism for cutting the semiconductor wafer held by the chuck table, and a cassette mounting mechanism including a cassette table for mounting a cassette containing the semiconductor wafer. A temporary placement area for temporarily placing the semiconductor wafer carried out from the cassette placed on the cassette table, and a first carrying mechanism for carrying the semiconductor wafer carried out to the temporary placement area onto the chuck table. A second transport mechanism for transporting the semiconductor wafer cut on the chuck table to the cleaning means, the center adjusting means for aligning the central position of the semiconductor wafer in the temporary placement area. , A crystal orientation adjusting means for aligning the crystal orientation of the semiconductor wafer is provided. And that the cutting device, characterized in that. 2. The center adjusting means includes a center table on which a semiconductor wafer is placed, a pair of movement adjusting plates arranged so as to face each other with the center table interposed therebetween, and the center adjusting means is arranged on the pair of movement adjusting plates. 2. The cutting device according to claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of adjusting pins that are provided to act on an outer peripheral edge of the semiconductor wafer; and an adjusting plate moving unit that positions the pair of moving adjusting plates at a retracted position and an adjusting position. 3. The adjusting pin comprises a cylindrical adjusting portion and a shaft portion which is formed so as to project from a lower surface of the adjusting portion and which is fitted to the movement adjusting plate in a rotationally adjustable manner. The cutting device according to claim 2, wherein the portion is provided eccentrically from the center of the adjusting portion. 4. A crystal wafer for adjusting a crystal orientation, the semiconductor wafer crystal detecting a center table on which a semiconductor wafer is placed, and a mark provided on the outer periphery of the semiconductor wafer placed on the center table, the mark indicating the crystal orientation. Azimuth detecting means, rotating means for rotating the center table,
The cutting device according to claim 1, further comprising: 5. The cutting device according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of the semiconductor wafer crystal orientation detecting means are provided corresponding to the size of the semiconductor wafer. 6. A dummy wafer holding table for holding a dummy wafer is disposed on the chuck table, and the dummy wafer is placed at a point target position with the dummy wafer holding table about a rotation center of the chuck table. The cutting device according to claim 1, further comprising a balance weight for canceling the weight of the holding table. 7. The first transport mechanism and the second transport mechanism each include a suction holder for suction-holding a semiconductor wafer, and the suction holder is constituted by a Bernoulli pad. The cutting device described.