JP2006156638A - Dicing method for semiconductor wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accomplish a dicing method for a semiconductor wafer with which intervals of semiconductor chips are expanded in an expanding step, and it is not necessary to stick a protecting tape for preventing small piece from flying in a periphery of the semiconductor wafer. <P>SOLUTION: In a first step, dicing is performed up to both terminal portions of a semiconductor wafer 4. In a step of dicing to cross a line 5 formed by said dicing, the terminals of the semiconductor wafer 4 are not diced. Hence, since an area surrounded with lines 3, 5 is not formed in the terminal, no phenomenon occurs in which small pieces are cut and separated. Then there is no danger of flying small pieces to collide with a semiconductor chip 4e due to a dicing blade 6. in the first step, dicing is also performed up to both the terminals of the semiconductor wafer 4, thereby expanding the intervals of semiconductor chips 4e in the expand step. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer dicing method in which a semiconductor wafer is completely cut and separated into a plurality of semiconductor chips by a rotating blade.

Conventionally, as a method for dicing a semiconductor wafer, a method of full dicing from one end to the other end of the semiconductor wafer has been performed. FIG. 5A is an explanatory plan view of a semiconductor wafer diced by the method, and FIG. 5B is a conceptual diagram illustrating the method. As shown in FIG. 5 (a), a circular sheet-shaped dicing tape 2 is stuck on the back surface of the annular ring 1 having a flat peripheral edge, The back surface of the semiconductor wafer 4 is bonded and fixed to the bonding surface (front surface) of the dicing tape 2.
The back surface of the dicing tape 2 is vacuum-sucked to a cutting table, and as shown in FIG. 5B, the dicing blade 6 that rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow F1 is relatively preliminarily moved by moving the cutting table that sucks the wafer. The semiconductor wafer 4 is fully diced by moving in the direction indicated by the arrow F2 along the set dicing schedule line. Dicing is performed while cutting water is sprayed onto the dicing blade 6 from the front and side in the cutting direction of the dicing blade 6 to cool and lubricate the dicing blade 6 and remove chips. In this conventional method, in FIG. 5A, cutting is started in the vertical direction from the outer side to the inner side of the end portion of the semiconductor wafer 4 as indicated by a line 5 which is a dicing mark, and the dicing direction is The cutting is finished when the outer end of the side is reached.
Next, dicing is started in the lateral direction from the outer side to the inner side of the end portion of the semiconductor wafer 4 so as to be orthogonal to the line 5 as indicated by the line 3 which is a trace of dicing in the drawing, and the dicing direction Dicing is terminated when the outer end of the side is reached. That is, dicing is performed so that both end portions of the lines 3 and 5 formed vertically and horizontally by dicing reach the outside of the end portion of the semiconductor wafer 4, respectively.

However, in the above method, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the small pieces 4d cut and separated when the end portion of the semiconductor wafer existing in the cutting direction of the dicing blade 6 is diced are converted into the cooling water pressure and the high speed. The rotating dicing blade peels off from the dicing tape, and hits the mounting portion of the blade or the grinding water nozzle / periphery cover, and is splashed off, which may hit the semiconductor chip 4e and cause damage. Further, the small piece hits the dicing blade 6 and may be damaged.
In view of this, a method has been proposed in which generation of the above small pieces is prevented by not dicing to the end of the semiconductor wafer (Patent Document 1).
In addition, a method for preventing the small pieces from scattering by applying a protective tape to the periphery of the semiconductor wafer has been proposed (Patent Document 2).

JP 2002-43254 A JP-A-8-186087

When the dicing of the semiconductor wafer is completed, the dicing tape is expanded to expand the interval between the semiconductor chips, thereby preventing chipping due to interference with adjacent chips when picking up the semiconductor chips and recognizing each semiconductor chip. Is increasing.
However, in the conventional method in which dicing is not performed to the end of the semiconductor wafer, the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer is not diced, so that even if the dicing tape is expanded, it is difficult to increase the interval between the semiconductor chips. There's a problem.
In addition, when the conventional method of applying a protective tape to the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer is performed, the dicing blade cuts the protective tape, which causes clogging of the dicing blade, and thus chipping occurs in the semiconductor chip. There is a problem that the life of the dicing blade is shortened. Moreover, since the process of sticking a protective tape to the peripheral part of a semiconductor wafer is required, there exists a problem that the working efficiency of a dicing process falls.

  Therefore, the present invention can widen the distance between the semiconductor chips by expanding the dicing tape after dicing, and cuts and separates by dicing without attaching a protective tape to the periphery of the semiconductor wafer. An object of the present invention is to realize a semiconductor wafer dicing method in which the small pieces are not scattered.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the semiconductor wafer bonded to the dicing tape is fully diced by a rotating dicing blade to be completely cut and separated into a plurality of semiconductor chips. In the dicing method, the step of dicing the semiconductor wafer so that both ends of a line indicating a dicing mark reach the end of the semiconductor wafer, and the both ends of the line do not reach the end of the semiconductor wafer. And a step of dicing the semiconductor wafer, and using a technical means for performing the steps so that the lines formed by the steps intersect.
Note that dicing where both ends of the line reach the end of the semiconductor wafer may be performed on all of the dicing scheduled lines (hereinafter referred to as dicing lines) or by selecting a predetermined dicing line. good. For example, a dicing line with a high probability of generating small pieces when dicing may be selected.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the semiconductor wafer dicing method, the semiconductor wafer attached to the dicing tape is fully diced by a rotating dicing blade to be completely cut and separated into a plurality of semiconductor chips. A step of dicing the semiconductor wafer so that both ends of the line indicating the trace reach the end of the semiconductor wafer, and the other end of the line so that one end of the line does not reach the end of the semiconductor wafer. And a step of dicing the semiconductor wafer so as to reach the end of the semiconductor wafer, and using the technical means of performing the respective steps so that the lines formed by the respective steps intersect.
The process of dicing the semiconductor wafer so that one end of the line does not reach the end of the semiconductor wafer and the other end of the line reaches the end of the semiconductor wafer is performed on all the dicing lines. Alternatively, a predetermined dicing line may be selected and performed. For example, a dicing line with a high probability of generating small pieces when dicing may be selected.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in a semiconductor wafer dicing method in which a semiconductor wafer adhered to a dicing tape is fully diced by a rotating dicing blade to be completely cut and separated into a plurality of semiconductor chips, A step of dicing the semiconductor wafer so that both ends of the line shown reach the end of the semiconductor wafer, and a side where the peripheral surface appears to flow upward from the bottom when the peripheral surface of the rotating dicing blade is viewed One end of the line reaches the end of the semiconductor wafer located at the end, and the other end of the line is located at the end of the semiconductor wafer located on the side where the peripheral surface appears to flow from top to bottom. A step of dicing the semiconductor wafer so as not to reach, and each step is performed so that the lines formed by the steps intersect each other. Utoyuu use of technical means.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the semiconductor wafer dicing method according to any one of the first to third aspects, in the step of dicing so that the line does not reach the end of the semiconductor wafer, The technical means is used for dicing so that the line reaches the end of the semiconductor wafer, but the depth of the line at the end does not reach the bottom surface of the semiconductor wafer.

(Effect of the invention according to claim 1)
Since there is a step of dicing so that both ends of the line indicating the dicing mark do not reach the end of the semiconductor wafer, both ends of the semiconductor wafer corresponding to the dicing direction in the step are cut and separated by dicing. Small pieces are not generated.
Therefore, the semiconductor chip and the blade are not damaged by the small piece. In the other process, dicing is performed so that both ends of the line reach the end of the semiconductor wafer. Therefore, the interval between the semiconductor chips can be expanded by expanding the dicing tape after the dicing process. Furthermore, since there is no need to apply a protective tape to the periphery of the semiconductor wafer, the working efficiency of the dicing process can be increased.

(Effect of the invention according to claim 2)
In order to provide a step of dicing the semiconductor wafer so that one end of the line indicating the dicing mark does not reach the end of the semiconductor wafer and the other end of the line reaches the end of the semiconductor wafer. In a portion where one end of the wire does not reach the end portion, a small piece cut and separated by dicing does not occur.
Therefore, compared to the conventional dicing method in which dicing is performed so that both ends of all the lines reach the end of the semiconductor wafer, the generation of cut and separated pieces can be reduced. The occurrence of blade damage can be reduced. In the other process, dicing is performed so that both ends of the line reach the end of the semiconductor wafer. Therefore, the interval between the semiconductor chips can be expanded by expanding the dicing tape after the dicing process. Furthermore, since there is no need to apply a protective tape to the periphery of the semiconductor wafer, the working efficiency of the dicing process can be increased.

(Effect of the invention according to claim 3)
When looking at the peripheral surface of the rotating dicing blade, ensure that the line indicating the dicing mark does not reach the end of the semiconductor wafer located on the side where the peripheral surface appears to flow from top to bottom. Since dicing is performed, small pieces cut and separated by dicing are not generated at the end portions.
Therefore, the semiconductor chip and the blade are not damaged by the small pieces.
On the other hand, when the dicing blade is diced so that the above line reaches the end of the semiconductor wafer located on the side where the peripheral surface of the dicing blade appears to flow from the bottom to the top, a small piece is generated, and it is splashed by the rotating dicing blade. Even if it is blown, the semiconductor wafer does not exist in the flying direction of the small piece, so that the semiconductor wafer is not damaged by the small piece. In addition, since the small piece exists on the side where the peripheral surface of the dicing blade appears to flow from the bottom to the top, that is, on the side where the chips generated by dicing are discharged, the small piece is caught in the dicing blade and the dicing blade is damaged. There is nothing.

(Effect of the invention according to claim 4)
In the process of dicing so that the line indicating the dicing mark does not reach the end of the semiconductor wafer, the line reaches the end of the semiconductor wafer, and the depth of the line at the end reaches the bottom surface of the semiconductor wafer. Since dicing is performed so as not to reach the depth, when the dicing tape is expanded after dicing, the interval between the semiconductor chips can be easily increased.

<First Embodiment>
A dicing method according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. FIG. 1A is an explanatory plan view of a semiconductor wafer diced by the method, and FIG. 1B is a conceptual diagram illustrating the method. FIG. 3A is a vertical cross-sectional view of a semiconductor wafer dicing line. In addition, the same code | symbol is used about the same structure as the prior art figure shown in FIG.
A known apparatus is used as a dicing apparatus for executing this dicing method. For example, a head that supports and rotates the dicing blade 6, a detection device for detecting an end (edge) of the semiconductor wafer 4 set at a position where dicing is performed, and a detection result by the detection device A device is used that includes a controller that guides the dicing blade 6 to the dicing start position and lowers it, and raises the dicing blade 6 that has reached the dicing end position.

First, the back surface of the semiconductor wafer 4 and the ring 1 are attached to an adhesive dicing tape 2, and the dicing tape 2 is vacuum-adsorbed to a cutting table (not shown) and fixed. The dicing tape 2 is preferably a tape in which the adhesive component hardly remains on the back surface of the semiconductor wafer 4 in a subsequent peeling step, for example, an ultraviolet irradiation tape (so-called UV tape). Subsequently, alignment is performed so that the position of the semiconductor wafer 4 matches the position of the dicing blade 6.
As shown in FIG. 1B, the dicing blade 6 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow F1, and advances the dicing in the direction indicated by the arrow F2 (from top to bottom in FIG. 1A). In the first dicing step, full dicing is performed between both ends of the semiconductor wafer 4. When the peripheral surface of the dicing blade 6 is viewed from behind in the traveling direction of the dicing blade 6, it appears that the peripheral surface of the dicing blade flows upward from below (clockwise in FIG. 1B).
First, one end 5a of a dicing line (this dicing line substantially coincides with the line 5 shown in the figure) set in advance on the surface of the semiconductor wafer 4 with the dicing blade 6 rotating at high speed, that is, the peripheral surface of the dicing blade 6 is below The semiconductor wafer 4 is lowered onto the dicing tape 2 existing outside the end of the semiconductor wafer 4 located on the side that appears to flow upward (opposite to the rotating direction of the dicing blade 6), and the semiconductor including the dicing tape 2 is included. One end 4f of the wafer 4 is diced. Subsequently, the dicing blade 6 is moved to the other end 5b of the dicing line, and the end of the semiconductor wafer 4 located on the side where the peripheral surface of the dicing blade 6 appears to flow from top to bottom (the rotational direction side of the dicing blade 6). The dicing tape 2 existing on the outside of the portion 4g is diced, and the dicing blade 6 is raised.
That is, full dicing is performed between both ends of the semiconductor wafer 4. This full dicing is performed along each dicing line. As a result, the semiconductor wafer 4 is fully diced in parallel at regular intervals. In the example shown in FIG. 1A, a plurality of lines 5 indicating marks formed by dicing are formed in parallel in the vertical direction at regular intervals.

Next, dicing is performed so as to intersect with the line 5 formed by the above-described dicing process and not to dice the end portion of the semiconductor wafer 4.
In this dicing step, as shown in FIG. 1B, the dicing blade 6 is lowered to the inside of the dicing blade 6 so that the peripheral bottom of the dicing blade 6 does not reach the end of the semiconductor wafer 4, The cutting table that adsorbs the wafer is moved toward the inside in the vicinity of the end (from left to right in FIG. 1A). Also in this dicing, the rotating direction and cutting direction of the dicing blade 6 are the same as in the first dicing step. The dicing blade 6 is raised when the dicing blade 6 reaches the inside in the vicinity of the end on the cutting direction side. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3A, uncut dicing portions 4a are formed at both ends of the semiconductor wafer 4, respectively. Such dicing is performed along each dicing line. In the example shown in FIG. 1A, a plurality of lines 3 indicating marks formed by dicing are formed in parallel in the horizontal direction at regular intervals.

In this way, in the step of dicing so as to intersect with the line 5 formed by the first dicing, the end portion of the semiconductor wafer 4 is not diced, so the dicing start and end points are surrounded by the lines 3 and 5. Since the formed region is not formed, the phenomenon that the small piece is cut and separated does not occur. For this reason, there is no possibility that the cut and separated pieces are spun off by the dicing blade 6 and collide with the semiconductor chip 4e to be damaged. Further, there is no possibility that the small piece hits the dicing blade 6 and the dicing blade 6 is damaged.
Moreover, in the conventional method of leaving all the periphery of the semiconductor wafer 4, it is difficult to expand the space between the semiconductor chips 4e by expanding the dicing tape 2, but according to the above method, In the first dicing step, dicing is performed so that both ends of the line 5 reach the end of the semiconductor wafer 4, so that the dicing tape 2 can be expanded to widen the interval between the semiconductor chips 4e.

Second Embodiment
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 (b). FIG. 2 is an explanatory plan view of the semiconductor wafer diced by the semiconductor wafer dicing method according to this embodiment. FIG. 3B is a vertical cross-sectional view of the dicing line of the semiconductor wafer.
The semiconductor wafer dicing method according to this embodiment includes dicing so that one end of the line does not reach the end of the semiconductor wafer in the dicing step of dicing so as to intersect the line formed by the first full dicing. Features.
First, the semiconductor wafer 4 is fully diced to both ends as in the first embodiment. Next, dicing is performed so as to intersect the line 5 formed by the full dicing, but the end of the semiconductor wafer 4 on the side where dicing is started is diced and the side opposite to the end (the cutting direction of the dicing blade) Do not dice the edge of the side. In other words, dicing is started from the dicing tape 2 located outside the semiconductor wafer 4, the end 4h of the semiconductor wafer 4 in the vicinity thereof is diced, and the dicing is advanced toward the inner side near the end on the traveling direction side. Dicing is stopped when it reaches the inside near the end on the direction side. In other words, when the peripheral surface of the rotating dicing blade 6 is viewed, the end of the semiconductor wafer 4 located on the side where the peripheral surface appears to flow from top to bottom is prevented from dicing.

Thus, the process of dicing the end portion of the semiconductor wafer 4 positioned on the dicing start side and not dicing the other end portion is repeated along each dicing line. As a result, the semiconductor wafer 4 is in a state where one end has reached the end of the semiconductor wafer 4 and the other end does not reach the end of the semiconductor wafer 4 at a constant interval. In the example shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of lines 3 are formed in parallel at regular intervals in the horizontal direction, with one end reaching the end of the semiconductor wafer 4 and the other end not reaching the end of the semiconductor wafer 4. .
As described above, when the peripheral surface of the rotating dicing blade 6 is viewed, the end portion of the semiconductor wafer 4 positioned on the side where the peripheral surface appears to flow from top to bottom is not diced. Since the region surrounded by the lines 3 and 5 is not formed, the phenomenon that the small pieces are cut and separated does not occur. For this reason, there is no possibility that the cut and separated pieces are spun off by the dicing blade 6 and collide with the semiconductor chip 4e to be damaged. Further, there is no possibility that the small piece hits the dicing blade 6 and the dicing blade 6 is damaged.
Moreover, in the conventional method of leaving all the periphery of the semiconductor wafer 4, it is difficult to expand the space between the semiconductor chips 4e by expanding the dicing tape 2, but according to the above method, In the first dicing process, dicing is performed so that both ends of the line 5 reach the end of the semiconductor wafer 4, and in the next dicing process, dicing is performed so that one end of the line 3 reaches the end of the semiconductor wafer 4. The dicing tape 2 can be expanded to widen the interval between the semiconductor chips 4e.

<Other embodiments>
(1) FIG.3 (c) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view in the dicing line of a semiconductor wafer. As shown in the figure, the end of the semiconductor wafer 4 that is not fully diced may not be left completely, but may be diced from the surface of the semiconductor wafer 4 to a predetermined depth (for example, half dicing). That is, when the dicing blade 6 reaches the position where the end portion is left, the dicing blade 6 is not lifted away from the surface of the semiconductor wafer 4 but is lifted from the bottom of the semiconductor wafer 4 and the end in that state. Move to outside.
If this method is carried out, it is easier to expand the interval between the semiconductor chips 4e when the dicing tape is expanded than when the end portion is completely left. This method can also be applied to the first embodiment or the second embodiment described above, and in that case, in addition to the effect of this embodiment, the effect of the first embodiment or the second embodiment is also achieved. You can also.

(2) FIG. 4 is an explanatory plan view of the diced semiconductor wafer. Note that FIG. 4 shows the dicing line and the line between the dicing lines wider than the actual distance in order to make it easy to recognize the dicing lines and the lines indicating the actual dicing marks. In this method, it is predicted whether or not a small piece that is cut and separated by dicing is likely to be generated. If there is a possibility, dicing is performed so that the small piece is not generated. For example, using a known image recognition device (for example, a camera, a recognition processing unit and a control unit described in JP-A-2003-45825), a dicing line 7 and a line 8 that forms the periphery of the semiconductor wafer 4 Based on the above, the area of the region surrounded by each line is calculated. Then, a region having a predetermined area or less is obtained from the regions existing at the end of the semiconductor wafer 4, and dicing is performed so that the region is not cut and separated. For example, if the region 4c in FIG. 4 is a region having the predetermined area or less, full dicing is performed in the vertical direction at the end where the region 4c exists, but dicing so as not to enter the region 4c in the horizontal direction. .
According to this method, the entire end portion of the semiconductor wafer 4 is not left to be cut, but only a region having a predetermined area or less can be selected and left, so that the number of generated small pieces can be reduced. Therefore, damage to the semiconductor chip 4 and the dicing blade 6 due to the cut and separated pieces can be reduced.

FIG. 1A is a plan view illustrating a semiconductor wafer diced by the method of the first embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a conceptual diagram illustrating the method. It is plane | planar explanatory drawing of the semiconductor wafer of the state diced by the method of 2nd Embodiment. 3A is a longitudinal sectional view of the semiconductor wafer dicing line in the first embodiment, and FIG. 3B is a longitudinal sectional view of the semiconductor wafer dicing line in the second embodiment. ) Is a longitudinal sectional view of a dicing line of a semiconductor wafer in another embodiment. It is plane explanatory drawing of the semiconductor wafer of the state diced by the method of other embodiment. FIG. 5A is an explanatory plan view of a semiconductor wafer diced by a conventional method, and FIG. 5B is a conceptual diagram illustrating the conventional method.

Explanation of symbols

  1 .. Ring, 2... Dicing tape 3, 5... Line indicating trace of dicing 4.. Semiconductor wafer 4 a. Uncut portion 4 e. Semiconductor chip 6. 7. Dicing line.

Claims (4)

In a semiconductor wafer dicing method in which a semiconductor wafer adhered to a dicing tape is fully diced by a rotating dicing blade and completely cut and separated into a plurality of semiconductor chips.
Dicing the semiconductor wafer so that both ends of a line indicating a dicing mark reach the end of the semiconductor wafer;
A step of dicing the semiconductor wafer so that both ends of the line do not reach the end of the semiconductor wafer, and performing each of the steps so that the lines formed by the steps intersect each other. A method for dicing a semiconductor wafer. In a semiconductor wafer dicing method in which a semiconductor wafer adhered to a dicing tape is fully diced by a rotating dicing blade and completely cut and separated into a plurality of semiconductor chips.
Dicing the semiconductor wafer so that both ends of a line indicating a dicing mark reach the end of the semiconductor wafer;
And dicing the semiconductor wafer so that one end of the line does not reach the end of the semiconductor wafer and the other end of the line reaches the end of the semiconductor wafer. A dicing method for a semiconductor wafer, characterized in that the steps are performed so that the lines formed by the step intersect. In a semiconductor wafer dicing method in which a semiconductor wafer adhered to a dicing tape is fully diced by a rotating dicing blade and completely cut and separated into a plurality of semiconductor chips.
Dicing the semiconductor wafer so that both ends of a line indicating a dicing mark reach the end of the semiconductor wafer;
When the peripheral surface of the rotating dicing blade is viewed, one end of the line reaches the end of the semiconductor wafer located on the side where the peripheral surface appears to flow upward from below, and the peripheral surface And a step of dicing the semiconductor wafer so that the other end of the line does not reach the end portion of the semiconductor wafer located on the side that appears to flow from the top to the bottom. A method of dicing a semiconductor wafer, wherein the steps are performed so that the lines intersect.   In the step of dicing so that the line does not reach the end of the semiconductor wafer, the line reaches the end of the semiconductor wafer, but the depth of the line at the end does not reach the bottom of the semiconductor wafer. The dicing method for a semiconductor wafer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein dicing is performed to a depth.

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