JP2015050406A - Cutting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cutting device capable of preventing a cutting chip generated during cutting from adhering to a surface of a workpiece.SOLUTION: A cutting device comprises: workpiece holding means for holding a workpiece; cutting means with a cutting blade for cutting the workpiece held on the workpiece holding means; cutting water supply means with a cutting water supply nozzle for supplying cutting water to a cutting part cut by the cutting blade; cutting feed means for relatively moving the workpiece holding means and the cutting means in a cutting feed direction; and indexing feed means for relatively moving the workpiece holding means and the cutting means in an indexing feed direction orthogonal to the cutting feed direction. The cutting device further includes ultraviolet light irradiation means, disposed adjacent to the cutting water supply nozzle, for irradiating with ultraviolet light an upper surface of the workpiece held on the workpiece holding means.

Description

  The present invention relates to a cutting apparatus for cutting a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer.

  In the semiconductor device manufacturing process, a plurality of regions are defined by division lines arranged in a grid on the surface of a substantially disk-shaped semiconductor wafer, and devices such as ICs and LSIs are formed in these partitioned regions. To do. Then, by cutting the semiconductor wafer along the planned dividing line, the region where the device is formed is divided to manufacture individual devices. In addition, optical device wafers with gallium nitride compound semiconductors laminated on the surface of sapphire substrates are also divided into individual optical devices such as light-emitting diodes and laser diodes by cutting along the planned division lines, and are widely used in electrical equipment. It's being used.

  Cutting along the division lines such as the above-described semiconductor wafers and optical device wafers is usually performed by a cutting device called a dicer. The cutting apparatus includes a workpiece holding means for holding a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer, a cutting means having a cutting blade for cutting the workpiece held by the workpiece holding means, and a workpiece. A cutting feed means for relatively moving the holding means and the cutting means in the cutting feed direction; an index feed means for moving the workpiece holding means and the cutting means in an index feed direction relatively perpendicular to the cutting feed direction; Are provided. The cutting means includes a spindle unit having a rotary spindle, a cutting blade mounted on the spindle, and a drive mechanism that rotationally drives the rotary spindle. During cutting, cutting is performed while supplying cutting water to a cutting portion by the cutting blade. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

JP 2006-181700 A

  Thus, in the above-described cutting apparatus, the cutting waste generated when the wafer is cut by the cutting blade is mixed with the cutting water and drifts on the surface of the wafer, and the cutting waste adheres to the surface of the wafer and is contaminated. There's a problem. In other words, the cutting waste generated by the cutting of the wafer is mixed with the cutting water and adheres to the surface of the wafer when it drifts on the surface of the wafer. There is a problem that the quality of the device deteriorates due to adhesion.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said fact, The main technical subject is providing the cutting device which can prevent that the cutting waste generated at the time of cutting adheres to the surface of a workpiece. is there.

In order to solve the above main technical problem, according to the present invention, a workpiece holding means for holding a workpiece and a cutting blade for cutting the workpiece held by the workpiece holding means are provided. The cutting means, the cutting water supply means provided with a cutting water supply nozzle for supplying cutting water to the cutting portion by the cutting blade, and the workpiece holding means and the cutting means are relatively moved in the cutting feed direction. In a cutting apparatus comprising: a cutting feed means for squeezing; and an index feed means for moving the workpiece holding means and the cutting means in an index feed direction that is orthogonal to the cutting feed direction.
An ultraviolet irradiating means for irradiating the upper surface of the workpiece disposed adjacent to the cutting water supply nozzle and held by the workpiece holding means;
A cutting device is provided.

  The cutting device according to the present invention includes ultraviolet irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet rays onto the upper surface of the work piece disposed adjacent to the cutting water supply nozzle and held by the work piece holding means. By irradiating the upper surface of the workpiece held by the workpiece holding means with ultraviolet rays, hydrophilicity is improved by the ultraviolet rays irradiated on the upper surface of the workpiece, and a water layer is formed on the upper surface of the workpiece. Therefore, the cutting waste is blocked, and the attachment of the cutting waste to the upper surface of the workpiece is prevented. Therefore, it is possible to solve the problem that the cutting scraps adhere to the surface of the wafer as the workpiece and deteriorate the quality of the device.

The perspective view of the cutting device comprised according to this invention. The perspective view which decomposes | disassembles and shows the principal part of the cutting means and cutting water supply means with which the cutting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is equipped. The perspective view which shows the state by which the ultraviolet irradiation means was arrange | positioned at the cutting water supply nozzle of the cutting water supply means which comprises the cutting apparatus shown in FIG. The front view which shows the positional relationship of the cutting blade with which the cutting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is equipped, the 1st cutting water supply nozzle of a cutting water supply means, the 2nd cutting water supply nozzle, and an ultraviolet irradiation means. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a state in which ultraviolet irradiation means is disposed on a blade cover equipped in the cutting apparatus shown in FIG. 1. Explanatory drawing of the cutting process implemented by the cutting device shown in FIG. In the cutting process shown in FIG. 6, the cutting blade and the cutting water supply means are disposed on the first cutting water supply nozzle, the second cutting water supply nozzle, the first cutting water supply nozzle, and the second cutting water supply nozzle. The front view of the ultraviolet irradiation means.

  Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a cutting device constituted by the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a cutting apparatus constructed according to the present invention. The cutting device shown in FIG. 1 includes a device housing 2 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. In the apparatus housing 2, a chuck table 3 as a work holding means for holding a work is disposed so as to be movable in a direction (X-axis direction) indicated by an arrow X which is a cutting feed direction. The chuck table 3 includes a suction chuck support 31 and a suction chuck 32 disposed on the suction chuck support 31. A workpiece is illustrated on a holding surface which is the upper surface of the suction chuck 32. Suction holding is performed by operating a suction means that does not. The chuck table 3 is configured to be rotatable by a rotation mechanism (not shown). The chuck table 3 is provided with a clamp 33 for fixing an annular frame that supports a wafer, which will be described later, as a work piece via a dicing tape. The chuck table 3 configured as described above can be moved in a cutting feed direction (X-axis direction) indicated by an arrow X by a cutting feed means (not shown).

  The cutting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes a spindle unit 4 as cutting means. The spindle unit 4 is disposed along an index feed direction (Y-axis direction) indicated by an arrow Y orthogonal to the cutting feed direction (X-axis direction). The spindle unit 4 is moved in the index feed direction (Y-axis direction) by an index feed means (not shown), and is moved in the cut feed direction (Z-axis direction) indicated by an arrow Z in FIG. It is like that. The spindle unit 4 is mounted on a moving base (not shown) and is adjusted to move in an indexing direction (Y-axis direction) and a cutting direction (Z-axis direction), and is rotatably supported by the spindle housing 41. A rotary spindle 42 and a cutting blade 43 attached to the front end of the rotary spindle 42 are provided. The rotary spindle 42 is configured to be rotated by a servo motor (not shown). For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the cutting blade 43 has a disk-shaped base 431 formed of aluminum, and diamond abrasive grains are solidified by nickel plating on the outer peripheral side surface of the base 431 to have a thickness of 15 to 30 μm. It consists of the annular cutting blade 432 formed in this.

  A blade cover 44 that covers the upper half of the cutting blade 43 is attached to the front end of the spindle housing 41. The blade cover 44 includes a first cover member 441 mounted on the spindle housing 41 and a second cover member 442 mounted on the first cover member 441 in the illustrated embodiment. The first cover member 441 includes a front cover portion 441a formed with one end portion protruding toward the cutting blade 43 side. Further, a female screw hole 441b and two positioning pins 441c are provided on the side surface of the first cover member 441. The second cover member 442 has an insertion hole 442a at a position corresponding to the female screw hole 441b. Is provided. Further, on the surface of the second cover member 442 facing the first cover member 441, two recesses (not shown) into which the two positioning pins 441c are fitted are formed. The first cover member 441 and the second cover member 442 configured in this way are provided with two recesses (not shown) formed in the second cover member 442 provided in the first cover member 441. Positioning is performed by fitting to the positioning pin 441c. Then, the fastening bolt 443 is inserted into the insertion hole 442a of the second cover member 442, and is screwed into the female screw hole 441b provided in the first cover member 441, whereby the second cover member 442 is engaged with the first cover member 442. The cover member 441 is attached.

  Continuing the description with reference to FIG. 2, the cutting device in the illustrated embodiment includes a cutting water supply means 5 for supplying cutting water to a cutting portion by the annular cutting edge 432 of the cutting blade 43. . The cutting water supply means 5 includes a first cutting water supply pipe 511 and a second cutting water supply pipe 512 disposed on the first cover member 441 and the second cover member 442 constituting the blade cover 44. A cutting water supply means 52 for supplying cutting water to the first cutting water supply pipe 511 and the second cutting water supply pipe 512, and the first cutting water supply pipe 511 and the second cutting water. A first cutting water supply nozzle 531 and a second cutting water supply nozzle 532 connected to the supply pipe 512 are provided.

  The first cutting water supply pipe 511 and the second cutting water supply pipe 512 are respectively disposed on the first cover member 441 and the second cover member 442 constituting the blade cover 44, and the upper ends thereof are arranged. The first cutting water supply nozzle 531 and the second cutting water supply nozzle 532 are connected to the lower ends of the cutting water supply means 52 and the lower ends thereof, respectively. The cutting water supply means 52 includes a cutting water supply source 521, a cutting water supply pipe 522 connecting the cutting water supply source 521 and the cutting water supply pipes 511 and 512, and the cutting water supply pipe 522. And an electromagnetic on-off valve 523 disposed on the surface. The cutting water feeding means 52 configured as described above has the cutting water supply source 521, the first cutting water supply pipe 511, and the second cutting in a state where the electromagnetic on-off valve 523 is deenergized (OFF) and closed. When the communication with the water supply pipe 512 is interrupted and the electromagnetic on-off valve 523 is energized (ON) and opened, the cutting water supply source 521, the first cutting water supply pipe 511, and the second cutting water supply pipe 512 are connected. The cutting water feed pipe 522 allows communication.

  The first cutting water supply nozzle 531 and the second cutting water supply nozzle 532 are formed of a pipe material having a flat bottom surface as shown in FIG. 3, and an annular cutting blade of the cutting blade 43 as shown in FIG. 4 are disposed along the cutting feed direction (X-axis direction) perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. The first cutting water supply nozzle 531 and the second cutting water supply nozzle 532 made of this pipe material are each closed at the tip, and the cutting water is jetted toward the cutting portion by the annular cutting blade 432 of the cutting blade 43. A plurality of first nozzle holes 531a and second nozzle holes 532a are provided.

  Continuing with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, the cutting apparatus in the illustrated embodiment is provided below the first cutting water supply nozzle 531 and the second cutting water supply nozzle 532 of the cutting water supply means 5. There is provided ultraviolet irradiation means 6a for irradiating ultraviolet rays on the upper surface of the workpiece disposed on the side and held by the chuck table 3. The ultraviolet irradiation means 6 a is composed of a plurality of ultraviolet LEDs 61 arranged along the first cutting water supply nozzle 531 and the second cutting water supply nozzle 532 in the illustrated embodiment. In the ultraviolet irradiation means 6a configured in this way, a plurality of ultraviolet LEDs 61 are connected to a power supply means (not shown).

  2 and 5, the upper surface of the workpiece W held on the chuck table 3 is also formed on the lower surface of the front cover portion 441a of the first cover member 441 constituting the blade cover 44. An ultraviolet irradiation means 6b for irradiating ultraviolet rays is provided. In the illustrated embodiment, the ultraviolet irradiation means 6b is composed of a plurality of ultraviolet LEDs 61 arranged along the axial direction of the cutting blade 43 on the lower surface of the front cover portion 441a of the first cover member 441. In the ultraviolet irradiation means 6b configured as described above, a plurality of ultraviolet LEDs 61 are connected to a power supply means (not shown).

  Referring back to FIG. 1, the description of the cutting apparatus in the illustrated embodiment is for imaging the surface of the workpiece held on the chuck table 3 and detecting a region to be cut by the cutting blade 43. The imaging means 7 is provided. The imaging means 7 is composed of optical means such as a microscope and a CCD camera. In addition, the cutting apparatus includes a display unit 8 that displays an image captured by the imaging unit 7.

  In the cassette mounting area 9a of the apparatus housing 2, a cassette mounting table 9 for mounting a cassette for storing a workpiece is disposed. This cassette mounting table 9 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction by a lifting means (not shown). On the cassette mounting table 9, a cassette 11 for storing a semiconductor wafer 10 as a workpiece is placed. The semiconductor wafer 10 accommodated in the cassette 11 has a grid-like street formed on the surface thereof, and devices such as ICs and LSIs are formed in a plurality of rectangular areas partitioned by the grid-like scheduled division lines. . The semiconductor wafer 10 thus formed is accommodated in the cassette 11 with the back surface adhered to the adhesive layer applied to the surface of the dicing tape T mounted on the annular support frame F.

  Further, the cutting apparatus in the illustrated embodiment is a semiconductor wafer 10 accommodated in a cassette 11 placed on a cassette placement table 9 (a state in which the wafer is supported on an annular frame F via a dicing tape T). The unloading / loading means 13 for unloading the semiconductor wafer 10 to the temporary table 12, the first transporting means 14 for transporting the semiconductor wafer 10 unloaded to the temporary table 12 onto the chuck table 3, and cutting on the chuck table 3. A cleaning means 15 for cleaning the semiconductor wafer 10 is provided, and a second transport means 16 for transporting the semiconductor wafer 10 cut on the chuck table 3 to the cleaning means 15 is provided.

Next, a cutting operation for cutting the semiconductor wafer 10 along a predetermined street using the above-described cutting apparatus will be described.
The semiconductor wafer 10 (in a state supported by the annular frame F via the dicing tape T) accommodated in a predetermined position of the cassette 11 placed on the cassette placement table 9 is moved by the lifting means (not shown). The mounting table 9 is positioned at the carry-out position by moving up and down. Next, the carry-out / carry-in means 13 moves forward and backward to carry the semiconductor wafer 10 positioned at the carry-out position onto the temporary placement table 12. The semiconductor wafer 10 carried out to the temporary placement table 12 is transferred onto the chuck table 3 by the turning operation of the first transfer means 14.

  When the semiconductor wafer 10 is placed on the chuck table 3, suction means (not shown) is operated to suck and hold the semiconductor wafer 10 on the chuck table 3. An annular frame F that supports the semiconductor wafer 10 via the dicing tape T is fixed by the clamp 33. The chuck table 3 that sucks and holds the semiconductor wafer 10 in this way is moved to a position immediately below the imaging means 7. When the chuck table 3 is positioned immediately below the imaging means 7, the imaging means 7 detects the street formed on the semiconductor wafer 10, and the spindle unit 4 is moved and adjusted in the arrow Y direction as the indexing direction to be divided. A precision alignment operation between the line and the cutting blade 43 is performed (alignment process).

  When the alignment step is performed as described above, the chuck table 3 is moved to the cutting work area, and one end of a predetermined division line is moved from the position immediately below the cutting blade 43 as shown in FIG. In (a), it is positioned slightly to the right. Next, the cutting blade 43 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow 43a, and a notch feeding means (not shown) is operated to cut and feed the cutting blade 43 by a predetermined amount in the direction indicated by the arrow Z1 from the retracted position indicated by the two-dot chain line. The cutting feed amount is set at a position where the annular cutting edge 432 of the cutting blade 43 reaches the dicing tape T. Then, by operating a cutting feed means (not shown), the chuck table 3 is moved at a predetermined cutting feed speed in the direction indicated by the arrow X1 in FIG. 6A, and a predetermined semiconductor wafer 10 held on the chuck table 3 is moved. When the other end of the line to be divided reaches the left side slightly below the cutting blade 43 as shown in FIG. 6B, the movement of the chuck table 3 is stopped and the cutting blade 43 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow Z2. Raise to the retracted position indicated by the two-dot chain line. As a result, the semiconductor wafer 10 is cut along a predetermined division line (cutting process).

  When the cutting process described above is performed, a plurality of ultraviolet rays of the ultraviolet irradiation means 6a and the ultraviolet irradiation means 6b disposed adjacent to the first cutting water supply nozzle 531 and the second cutting water supply nozzle 532 are used. The LED 61 is turned on, and the electromagnetic opening / closing valve 523 of the cutting water supply means 52 constituting the cutting water supply means 5 is energized (ON). Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the surface (upper surface) of the semiconductor wafer 10 held on the chuck table 3 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, and the electromagnetic on-off valve 523 is opened as described above. Then, the cutting water supply source 521, the first cutting water supply pipe 511 and the second cutting water supply pipe 512 are communicated with each other via the cutting water supply pipe 522, so that the cutting water of the cutting water supply source 521 is cut. The first nozzle 531a and the second cutting water supply provided in the first cutting water supply nozzle 532 through the water supply pipe 522, the first cutting water supply pipe 511, and the second cutting water supply pipe 512. Injected from the second nozzle hole 532 a provided in the nozzle 532 toward the cutting portion A by the annular cutting edge 432 of the cutting blade 43.

  As described above, when the cutting process is performed, a plurality of ultraviolet irradiation means 6 a and ultraviolet irradiation means 6 b disposed adjacent to the first cutting water supply nozzle 531 and the second cutting water supply nozzle 532. Since the ultraviolet LED 61 of the semiconductor wafer 10 is turned on and the surface (upper surface) of the semiconductor wafer 10 held on the chuck table 3 is irradiated with ultraviolet light, the hydrophilicity is improved by the ultraviolet light irradiated on the surface (upper surface) of the semiconductor wafer 10. Since a layer of water is formed on the surface (upper surface) of the wafer 10, the cutting waste is blocked and the attachment of the cutting waste to the surface (upper surface) of the semiconductor wafer 10 is prevented. In addition, since the ultraviolet irradiation means 6b irradiates an ultraviolet-ray to the area | region just before cutting the semiconductor wafer 10, it can provide hydrophilicity effectively.

  When the semiconductor wafer 10 is cut along a predetermined street as described above, the chuck table 3 is indexed and fed in the direction indicated by the arrow Y in FIG. When the cutting process is performed along all the division lines extending in a predetermined direction of the semiconductor wafer 10, the chuck table 3 is rotated 90 degrees and formed in a direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction of the semiconductor wafer 10. By executing the cutting process along the divided division lines, all the streets formed in a lattice shape on the semiconductor wafer 10 are cut and divided into individual devices. The divided individual devices are not separated by the action of the dicing tape T, and the state of the wafer supported by the annular frame F is maintained.

  As described above, when the cutting process is completed along the street of the semiconductor wafer 10, the chuck table 3 holding the semiconductor wafer 10 is first returned to the position where the semiconductor wafer 10 is sucked and held. Then, the suction holding of the semiconductor wafer 10 is released. Next, the semiconductor wafer 10 is transferred to the cleaning unit 15 by the second transfer unit 16. The semiconductor wafer 10 conveyed to the cleaning means 15 is cleaned here. The semiconductor wafer 10 thus cleaned is transported to the temporary table 12 by the first transport means 14 after drying. Then, the semiconductor wafer 10 is stored in a predetermined position of the cassette 11 by the unloading / loading means 13.

2: Device housing 3: Chuck table 4: Spindle unit 43: Cutting blade 44: Blade cover 5: Cutting water supply means 511: First cutting water supply pipe 512: Second cutting water supply pipe 52: Cutting water feed Means 531: First cutting water supply nozzle 532: Second cutting water supply nozzle 6: Ultraviolet irradiation means 7: Imaging means 10: Semiconductor wafer 11: Cassette 12: Temporary placement table 13: Unloading / carrying means 14: First Transport means 15: cleaning means 16: second transport means F: annular support frame T: dicing tape

Claims (1)

A workpiece holding means for holding the workpiece, a cutting means having a cutting blade for cutting the workpiece held by the workpiece holding means, and a cutting water in a cutting portion by the cutting blade. Cutting water supply means provided with a cutting water supply nozzle for supplying the workpiece, cutting feed means for relatively moving the workpiece holding means and the cutting means in the cutting feed direction, the workpiece holding means and the cutting means In a cutting apparatus comprising: an indexing feed means that moves in an indexing feed direction that is relatively orthogonal to the cutting feed direction,
An ultraviolet irradiating means for irradiating the upper surface of the workpiece disposed adjacent to the cutting water supply nozzle and held by the workpiece holding means;
The cutting device characterized by the above.

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