JP2010171297A - Wafer protecting member and protecting method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wafer protecting member which can be manufactured inexpensively to be disposable for every wafer, and to provide a protecting method of protecting a semiconductor wafer using the wafer protecting member. <P>SOLUTION: The wafer protecting member 2 is formed of a thermally curable resin to be thermally cured, and has flexibility. The wafer protecting member 2 has a long-sized groove 4 formed along the length such that a peripheral edge of the semiconductor wafer is fitted therein. The wafer protecting member 2 is fitted while the peripheral edge of the semiconductor wafer is fitted in the groove 4, and then the wafer protecting member 2 is thermally cured thereafter. Consequently, the semiconductor wafer can be protected. The wafer protecting member 2 is formed of a resin material, so it can be manufactured inexpensively and is disposable for each semiconductor wafer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a wafer protection member for protecting a semiconductor wafer. The present invention also relates to a method for protecting a semiconductor wafer using the wafer protection member.

  In order to manufacture a semiconductor element having a small thickness, a technique for handling a thinned semiconductor wafer has become important. The thinned semiconductor wafer is subjected to wafer processing (referred to as a process for forming a pattern such as a circuit) on the front side of the semiconductor wafer, and then the semiconductor wafer is thinned by polishing the back side of the semiconductor wafer. There are many. Hereinafter, for simplicity, the “semiconductor wafer” is simply referred to as “wafer”.

  Thinned wafers are likely to be cracked, warped or bent during wafer processing or conveyance, and workability and product yield tend to be reduced. For this reason, in general, the wafer is handled by carrying a wafer by attaching a tape to any surface of the thinned wafer (conveying, dicing, etc.), thereby preventing the wafer from cracking, warping, and bending. However, since such a tape has poor shape maintenance, it is difficult to sufficiently suppress cracking, warping, and bending of the wafer.

  Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose a wafer protection member for protecting a wafer from cracking, warping, and bending. The wafer protection member of Patent Document 1 protects a wafer by fitting and attaching a grooved belt-like body along the peripheral edge of the wafer, and supporting both ends of the belt-like body with a belt-like body support. The wafer protection member disclosed in Patent Document 2 protects a wafer by opening an annular packing case that is formed to be openable and closing, fitting the wafer into the peripheral edge of the wafer, and closing the packing case.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-55140 JP 2003-318253 A

  The wafer protection members disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are all formed of metal or the like in advance according to the size of the wafer. For this reason, if a new wafer protection member is used for each wafer (if the wafer protection member is disposable for each wafer), the manufacturing cost of the wafer protection member increases. On the other hand, if the same wafer protection member is repeatedly used for a plurality of wafers, the shape of the wafer protection member may be distorted as it is used, and the wafer size may not be matched. In addition, contaminants may adhere to the wafer protection member during storage of the wafer protection member, and the wafer may be contaminated when the wafer protection member is attached to the wafer.

  The present invention solves the above problems. An object of this invention is to provide the wafer protection member which can be manufactured at low cost so that it may be disposable for every wafer, and the method of protecting a wafer using the wafer protection member.

The wafer protection member of the present invention is formed in a long length with a thermosetting resin, and a groove to be fitted into the peripheral edge of the wafer is formed along the longitudinal direction. In addition, the wafer protection member before use is formed with the thermosetting resin before hardening, and has a softness | flexibility.
Such a wafer protection member can be easily attached to the wafer by fitting the groove along the peripheral edge of the wafer. After being attached to the wafer, the wafer protection member is thermally cured. Since the thermosetting resin after thermosetting is hard, the wafer protection member attached along the peripheral edge of the wafer and cured afterwards can protect the wafer from cracking, warping, and bending. Since the wafer protection member is formed of a thermosetting resin material in a simple shape, the wafer protection member can be manufactured at a low cost and can be disposable for each wafer. Further, since the wafer protection member is formed of a resin material, the wafer protection member attached to the wafer can be easily removed.

  The wafer protection member of the present invention is formed of a thermosetting resin before curing and has flexibility. Such a wafer protection member can fit the wafer protection member along the peripheral edge of the wafer without creating a gap between the wafer protection member and the wafer. For this reason, regardless of the size of the wafer, the wafer protection member can be attached according to the size of the wafer.

  In the wafer protection member of the present invention, it is preferable that the shape of the contour when the groove is viewed in cross-section is substantially the same as the shape of the contour when the peripheral edge of the wafer after backside polishing is viewed in cross-section. The peripheral edge of the wafer after the backside polishing is usually sharp. For this reason, conventionally, a wafer is often handled after polishing the wafer peripheral portion after the back surface polishing (bevel polishing step) to make the wafer peripheral portion a smooth surface. The above-mentioned wafer protection member can be fitted into the peripheral edge of the wafer after the backside polishing without any gap since the outline shape of the groove substantially matches the outline shape of the peripheral edge of the wafer after the backside polishing. Since the above-mentioned wafer protection member can be fitted into the peripheral edge of the wafer after the backside polishing without any gap to cover a sharp shape, it is not necessary to perform a bevel polishing step after the backside polishing of the wafer. The manufacturing process of the semiconductor element can be shortened.

  The method for protecting a wafer using the wafer protection member of the present invention includes an attaching step and a thermosetting step. In the attaching process, the wafer protection member, which is formed in a long length with a thermosetting resin and has a groove formed along the longitudinal direction, extends over a half circumference of the wafer while fitting the peripheral edge of the wafer into the groove. And attach. In the thermosetting process, the protective member attached to the wafer is thermoset.

  In this method, the wafer protection member attached to the wafer in the attaching step is thermally cured in the thermosetting step. Since the wafer protection member is attached to the periphery of the wafer over a half circumference, the wafer can be protected from cracking, warping, and bending. The wafer protection member can be manufactured at low cost and can be disposable for each wafer. Further, the wafer protection member attached to the wafer can be easily removed.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the wafer protection member which can be manufactured at low cost so that it can be disposable for every wafer can be provided. Moreover, the method of protecting a wafer using such a wafer protection member can be provided.

1 is a perspective view of a wafer protection member according to Example 1. FIG. Process (1) of the method of protecting a wafer using a wafer protection member is shown. Process (2) of the method of protecting a wafer using a wafer protection member is shown. Sectional drawing when a wafer protection member is attached to a wafer is shown. (A) shows the enlarged view of the cross section of the wafer protection member which concerns on Example 2, and the enlarged view of the wafer peripheral part cross section after back surface grinding | polishing. (B) shows sectional drawing when the wafer protection member which concerns on Example 2 is attached to the wafer after back surface grinding | polishing. (A) shows the figure which expanded the cross section of the wafer protection member which concerns on Example 3. FIG. (B) shows sectional drawing when the wafer protection member concerning Example 3 is attached to a wafer.

Hereinafter, some features of the embodiment of the present invention will be described.
(Mode 1) The wafer protection member is formed of a thermosetting resin having a small curing shrinkage rate. According to this embodiment, it is possible to prevent the wafer protective member attached to the wafer from shrinking after thermosetting and applying stress to the peripheral edge of the wafer.
(Mode 2) The thermosetting temperature of the wafer protection member is preferably 40 ° C to 200 ° C. According to this embodiment, the wafer protection member can be thermally cured without affecting the semiconductor element structure formed on the wafer.
(Mode 3) A plurality of grooves are formed in the wafer protection member so that a plurality of wafers can be held. According to this embodiment, a plurality of wafers can be transferred at a time with the wafer protection member attached.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wafer protection member 2 according to the first embodiment. The wafer protection member 2 is formed of a thermosetting resin before thermosetting and has flexibility. Examples of thermosetting resin materials include phenolic resins and melamine resins. Epoxy resins, unsaturated polyester resins, and urethane resins can be used. The wafer protection member 2 is formed in a long shape extending in the longitudinal direction A. Along the longitudinal direction A, a groove 4 that fits into the peripheral edge of the wafer 6 is formed. The wafer protection member 2 is preferably formed of a thermosetting resin having a low curing shrinkage rate. In this case, it is possible to prevent the wafer protection member 2 attached to the wafer from shrinking after thermosetting and applying stress to the peripheral edge of the wafer.

  2 and 3 show a method for protecting the wafer 6 by using the wafer protection member 2. The wafer protection member 2 is cut in advance to a length that protects more than half of the circumference of the wafer 6 when attached to the wafer 6. First, as shown in FIG. 2, the wafer protection member 2 is attached from one end to the other end of the wafer protection member 2 while fitting the peripheral portion of the wafer 6 in the groove 4 (attachment process). FIG. 2 shows a state where the half length of the wafer protection member 2 is attached to the wafer 6. In this embodiment, the wafer protection member 2 cut in advance is used. However, the wafer protection member 2 is formed long in advance, and the wafer protection member 2 is attached over a half circumference of the wafer 6 before the wafer. The protective member 2 may be cut.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the wafer protection member 2 is attached over a half circumference of the wafer 6. The length for attaching the wafer protection member 2 may be not less than a half circumference of the wafer 6. Preferably, the wafer protection member 2 may be attached over the entire circumference of the wafer 6. When the wafer protection member 2 is attached over the entire circumference of the wafer 6, the wafer 6 can be protected more effectively. Next, the wafer protection member 2 is thermally cured. As a result, the wafer protection member 2 is in close contact with the periphery of the wafer 6 and the wafer 6 is protected. Here, the thermosetting temperature is preferably 40 ° C to 200 ° C. The temperature used for thermal diffusion of impurities in the manufacturing process of the semiconductor element is 200 ° C. to 1400 ° C. For this reason, by using a thermosetting resin having a thermosetting temperature of 40 ° C. to 200 ° C., the wafer protection member 2 is thermoset without affecting the semiconductor element structure formed on the wafer 6 at the time of thermosetting. be able to.

  Since the wafer protection member 2 is formed of a resin material, the wafer protection member 2 can be easily removed from the wafer 6 by pulling both ends of the wafer protection member 2 attached to the wafer in the direction B as shown in FIG. Can be removed. Alternatively, the wafer protection member 2 can be detached from the wafer 6 by breaking (breaking) the wafer protection member 2.

  FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. FIG. 4 shows a cross section of the wafer protection member 2 and the wafer 6 when the wafer protection member 2 is attached to the wafer 6. As shown in FIG. 4, the wafer protection member 2 can be attached to the wafer 6 by fitting the peripheral edge of the wafer 2 into the groove 4.

  According to the wafer protection member 2 of Example 1, since the wafer protection member 2 is formed of a resin material, the wafer protection member 2 can be manufactured at low cost. Therefore, the wafer protection member can be disposable for each wafer without greatly increasing the manufacturing cost of the semiconductor device. When protecting a new wafer, the wafer may be protected using a new wafer protection member. Since the wafer protection member 2 before being attached to the wafer 6 is formed of a thermosetting resin before thermosetting, it can be attached to the wafer 6 according to the size of the wafer 6 regardless of the size of the wafer 6. The wafer 6 can be protected from cracking, warping, and bending by thermosetting after the wafer protection member 2 is attached to the wafer 6.

  FIG. 5A shows an enlarged view of a cross section of the wafer protection member 12 according to the second embodiment and an enlarged view of a peripheral section of the wafer 16 after back surface polishing. As shown in FIG. 5A, the peripheral edge of the wafer 16 after the back surface polishing has a sharp shape. The shape of the contour 14a when the groove 14 of the wafer protection member 12 is viewed in cross section is formed in a shape that matches the shape of the contour 16a when the peripheral edge of the wafer 16 after back surface polishing is viewed in cross section.

  FIG. 5B shows a cross-sectional view when the wafer protection member 12 is attached to the wafer 16. As shown in FIG. 5B, the wafer protection member 12 can be fitted into the peripheral edge of the wafer 16 after the backside polishing without any gap. Since the wafer protection member 12 covers the sharp peripheral edge, it is not necessary to perform a bevel polishing step after the backside polishing of the wafer. For this reason, the manufacturing process of a semiconductor element can be shortened. Further, since the bevel polishing step can be omitted, the size of the wafer 16 is not changed by performing the bevel polishing.

  FIG. 6A is an enlarged view of a cross section of the wafer protection member 22 according to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6A, the wafer protection member 22 is formed with two grooves 24a and 24b in the vertical direction. The two grooves 24 a and 24 b extend along the longitudinal direction of the wafer protection member 22. FIG. 6B shows a cross-sectional view of the wafer protection member 22 and the wafers 26a and 26b when the wafer protection member 22 is attached to the two wafers 26a and 26b. As shown in FIG. 6B, the wafer protection member 22 can be attached to the wafers 26a and 26b by fitting the peripheral portions of the two wafers 26a and 26b into the two grooves 24a and 24b, respectively. . Accordingly, the two wafers 26a and 26b can be protected from cracking, warping, and bending with the single wafer protection member 22. In addition, since one wafer protection member 22 can be attached to two wafers 26a and 26b, two wafers can be transferred at a time, and the wafer transfer efficiency can be improved. Further, by attaching the wafer protection member 22 with the front surfaces of the two wafers 26a and 26b facing each other, the wafer protection member 22 is attached to the back surface of each of the two wafers 26a and 26b. Can be applied. Further, the wafer protection member 22 may be attached with the back surfaces of the two wafers 26a and 26b facing each other. In that case, the surface of each of the two wafers 26a and 26b can be subjected to other processing with the wafer protection member 22 attached. In Example 3, two grooves 24 a and 24 b are formed in the wafer protection member 22, but three or more grooves may be formed in the wafer protection member 22. In this case, a plurality of wafers can be protected at a time and a plurality of wafers can be transferred at a time.

As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention was described in detail, these are only illustrations and do not limit a claim. The technology described in the claims includes various modifications and changes of the specific examples illustrated above.
The technical elements described in this specification or the drawings exhibit technical usefulness alone or in various combinations, and are not limited to the combinations described in the claims at the time of filing. In addition, the technology exemplified in this specification or the drawings can achieve a plurality of objects at the same time, and has technical usefulness by achieving one of the objects.

2, 12, 22: Wafer protection members 4, 14, 24a, 24b: Grooves 6, 16, 26a, 26b: Semiconductor wafer 14a: Contour when groove is viewed in cross section 16a: Cross section of peripheral edge of wafer after back surface polishing Contour when viewed

Claims (3)

  A wafer protection member which is formed in a long length with a thermosetting resin and has a groove which is fitted in a peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer along the longitudinal direction.   2. The wafer protection member according to claim 1, wherein a shape of the contour when the groove is viewed in cross section substantially coincides with a shape of the contour when the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer after back surface polishing is viewed in cross section. . A wafer protection member that is formed in a long length with a thermosetting resin and has a groove formed along the longitudinal direction is attached over a half circumference of the semiconductor wafer while fitting the peripheral edge of the semiconductor wafer into the groove. Installation process;
A thermosetting process for thermosetting the protective member attached to the semiconductor wafer;
A method for protecting a wafer, comprising:

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