JP2022132971A - Integration method for work and sheet material, integration device for work and sheet material, and manufacturing method of semiconductor product - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an integration method for a work and a sheet material capable of further improving adhesion of the sheet material and the work while further surely avoiding occurrence of damage in the work when manufacturing a semiconductor product by adhering and integrating the sheet material to the work, an integration device for the work and the sheet material, and a manufacturing method of the semiconductor product.SOLUTION: An integration method for a work and a sheet material includes: an upper/lower space forming step of dividing a chamber 29 into a lower space H1 and an upper space H2 with an adhesive tape DT interposed therebetween; a first integrating step of reducing a pressure inside of the chamber 29 and adhering the adhesive tape DT to a wafer W with a differential pressure formed between the lower space H1 and the upper space H2; a pressure difference adjusting step of adjusting a pressure difference between the lower space H1 and the upper space H2; and a second integration step of adhering the adhesive tape DT to the wafer W by increasing the pressure in an internal space of the chamber 29 equal to or higher than an atmospheric pressure in a state where the pressure difference is adjusted.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 21

Description

The present invention applies a sheet material such as a tape-shaped adhesive material to a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a "wafer") or a substrate on which semiconductor chips or electronic components are mounted. The present invention relates to a method for integrating a work and a sheet material used for manufacturing a semiconductor product by sticking and integrating the work, an apparatus for integrating the work and the sheet material, and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor product.

After the circuit pattern is formed on the front surface of the wafer, the rear surface of the wafer is ground by a back grinding process, and the wafer is divided into a large number of chip components by a dicing process.
In the process of grinding the back surface, there is a case where only the central portion of the wafer is ground while leaving the outer periphery of the back surface of the wafer to form an annular protrusion on the outer periphery of the back surface of the wafer so as to surround the back grind area.

In this case, even if the central portion of the wafer is thinned, it is reinforced by the annular convex portion, so that distortion or the like during handling can be avoided. After the back-grinding process, the wafer having the annular convexity is placed in the center of the ring frame, and a supporting adhesive tape (dicing tape) is attached over the ring frame and the back surface of the wafer. A mount frame is produced by attaching a dicing tape to integrate the wafer and the dicing tape, and is subjected to a dicing process.

The following method has been proposed as an example of a method of attaching an adhesive sheet such as a dicing tape to a wafer having steps formed by annular protrusions. That is, the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet is sandwiched between the joints of the chamber composed of a pair of upper and lower housings. Then, the inside of the chamber is decompressed to generate a differential pressure in the two spaces partitioned by the adhesive sheet, and the adhesive tape is recessed and curved to adhere the adhesive sheet to the back surface of the wafer. Furthermore, after the differential pressure in the chamber is eliminated, the second sticking process is performed by supplying gas from the first pressing member to the adhesive sheet that is floating due to insufficient adhesion at the inner corner of the annular projection ( See Patent Document 1).

Attempts have also been made to divert the process of attaching an adhesive sheet to the device sealing process. That is, in the manufacturing process of an electronic product such as a BGA (Ball grid array) package, a device such as a semiconductor chip mounted on the surface of a work such as a wafer or a substrate is treated with a resin composition or the like. A process of sealing and packaging with a sealing material is performed.

Conventionally, a method has been used in which a liquid resin is poured into a mold in which a workpiece on which a device is mounted is arranged, and then the resin is heat-cured to seal the device (for example, patent See Reference 2). On the other hand, the workpiece is placed inside a chamber formed by sandwiching a sheet-shaped device sealing material with adhesive strength between a pair of upper and lower housings, and a differential pressure is generated inside the chamber to cause the workpiece to The present applicant has separately proposed a method of sealing a device with an adhesive sheet of a device sealing material to integrate the two.

JP 2013-232582 A JP 2017-087551 A

However, the above conventional method has the following problems. That is, in the conventional method, as time elapses after a sheet material such as an adhesive sheet or a sheet-like sealing material is attached to a work, the adhesiveness decreases and the sheet material may be peeled off from the work. . In addition, a new problem arises in that damage such as cracking, chipping, or distortion occurs in the work when the sheet material is attached to the work.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides an object of more reliably avoiding damage to a work when manufacturing a semiconductor product by attaching a sheet material to the work and integrating the work. A main object of the present invention is to provide a method for integrating a work and a sheet material, an apparatus for integrating the work and a sheet material, and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor product, which can further improve the adhesion between the work and the sheet material.

In order to achieve these objects, the present invention has the following configuration.
That is, the present invention is a work and sheet material integration method for integrating the work and the sheet material in the internal space of a chamber having an upper chamber and a lower chamber,
The sheet material is sandwiched between the upper chamber and the lower chamber, and the internal space of the chamber is divided into a lower space in which the work is arranged and an upper space facing the lower space with the sheet material interposed therebetween. The upper and lower space formation process,
The inside of the chamber is decompressed so that the pressure in the lower space is lower than the pressure in the upper space, and the sheet material is pressed against the work by a differential pressure formed between the upper space and the lower space in the chamber. a first integration step of attaching the sheet material to the workpiece by contact;
a pressure difference adjustment step of adjusting the pressure difference between the upper space and the lower space in the chamber after the first integration step;
a second integration step of bringing the sheet material into close contact with the workpiece by raising the pressure in the internal space of the chamber to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure while the pressure difference is adjusted;
It is characterized by comprising

(Function and Effect) According to this configuration, after the inner space of the chamber is divided into the lower space and the upper space by the sheet material in the upper and lower space formation process, the sheet material is brought into contact with the work in the first integration process. Since the interior of the chamber is decompressed in the first integration process, air bubbles are generated between the sheet material and the work when the sheet material is brought into contact with the work using the differential pressure formed between the upper space and the lower space. can avoid being involved.

Also, in the second integration process, the internal space of the chamber is raised to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure, so a strong pressing force acts between the work and the sheet material in contact with the work. As a result, the adhesiveness between the sheet material and the work can be greatly improved, so that the sheet material can be prevented from being peeled off from the work even after a long period of time has elapsed since the sheet material was attached to the work.

Then, a pressure difference adjustment process for adjusting the pressure difference between the upper space and the lower space to be equal to or less than a predetermined value is performed before the second integration process. By performing the pressure difference adjustment process, in the second integration process, the pressure in the inner space of the chamber is reduced to the atmospheric pressure while the pressure difference between the upper space and the lower space is adjusted to a predetermined value or less. above pressure. Therefore, by pressurizing the inner space of the chamber to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure, a large pressure difference is generated between the upper space and the lower space. It is possible to avoid the situation that occurs in the work. Therefore, in the process of integrating the work and the sheet material, it is possible to improve the adhesion between the work and the sheet material while avoiding damage to the work.

Further, in the above-described invention, it is preferable that the pressure difference adjustment step includes forming a through hole in the sheet material so that the upper space and the lower space are communicated with each other through the through hole.

(Function and Effect) According to this configuration, the sheet material is formed with the through hole in the process of adjusting the pressure difference. That is, by performing the pressure difference adjustment process, the upper space and the lower space are communicated through the through hole. The bias is quickly eliminated by the gas flowing between the upper space and the lower space through the gap. In the second integration process, the internal space of the chamber is pressurized above the atmospheric pressure while the through holes are formed, so that the pressure difference between the upper space and the lower space is suppressed to a predetermined value or less more reliably. The internal space of the chamber can be pressurized above the atmospheric pressure while

In the above-described invention, it is preferable that the pressure difference adjustment process maintains the pressure difference by controlling the pressure in at least one of the upper space and the lower space to increase stepwise.

(Action and Effect) According to this configuration, by performing the pressure difference adjustment process, in the second integration process, the pressure in at least one of the upper space and the lower space is controlled to increase stepwise, The internal space of the chamber is pressurized above atmospheric pressure. By stepwise increasing the pressure of at least one of the upper space and the lower space, it is possible to prevent the pressure difference between the upper space and the lower space from becoming larger than a predetermined value. Therefore, the internal space of the chamber can be pressurized to the atmospheric pressure or higher while suppressing the pressure difference generated between the upper space and the lower space to a predetermined value or less more reliably.

Further, in the above-described invention, the chamber includes a first transformation mechanism that adjusts the pressure in the upper space, a second transformation mechanism that regulates the pressure in the lower space, the first transformation mechanism and the second transformation mechanism. and a control unit that independently controls the pressure difference adjustment process, wherein the control unit independently controls the first transformation mechanism and the second transformation mechanism to maintain the pressure difference and the Preferably, the pressure in the upper space and said lower space is increased.

(Function and Effect) According to this configuration, the first variable pressure mechanism for adjusting the pressure in the upper space and the second variable pressure mechanism for adjusting the pressure in the lower space are provided. By independently controlling the first transformation mechanism and the second transformation mechanism, the controller can independently adjust the pressure in the upper space and the pressure in the lower space. Therefore, in the pressure difference adjustment process, the control unit independently controls the first transformation mechanism and the second transformation mechanism, so that the pressure difference generated between the upper space and the lower space can be more reliably generated in the second integration process. can be suppressed to a predetermined value or less, and the internal space of the chamber can be pressurized to the atmospheric pressure or higher.

In the above-described invention, it is preferable that in the first integration step, the sheet material is brought into contact with the work by deforming the sheet material into a convex shape toward the work.

(Function and Effect) According to this configuration, the sheet material is deformed into a convex shape toward the work, so that the sheet material can be brought into contact with the work so as to spread radially from one point. Therefore, it is possible to avoid entrainment of air bubbles when the sheet material is brought into contact with the work.

Moreover, in the invention described above, it is preferable that the sheet material has a predetermined shape corresponding to the work.

(Function and Effect) According to this configuration, the sheet material has a predetermined shape corresponding to the workpiece. Therefore, the sheet material can be appropriately brought into contact with the work according to the shape of the work. Moreover, since the process of cutting the sheet material into an appropriate predetermined shape becomes unnecessary, the process of integrating the sheet material and the workpiece can be shortened.

Further, in the above-described invention, the sheet material is held by a long conveying sheet, and is provided with a sheet-like elastic body disposed inside the upper housing. By sandwiching the conveying sheet between the housing and the lower housing, the sheet-like elastic body is arranged so that the sheet-like elastic body abuts against the surface of the conveying sheet that does not hold the sheet material. is preferably provided.

(Function and Effect) According to this configuration, in the first integration process, the sheet-like elastic body is made convex with a more uniform curvature rate due to the differential pressure generated between the upper space and the lower space. shape. Therefore, the sheet material is easily deformed according to the shape of the surface of the work, so that the adhesion of the sheet material to the work can be further improved. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably avoid a situation in which the sheet material integrated with the work is peeled off from the work over time.

Further, in the above-described invention, it is preferable that the workpiece has an annular projection on the outer circumference of one surface, and the sheet member is in close contact with the surface of the workpiece on which the annular projection is formed.

(Function and Effect) According to this configuration, by bringing the sheet material into close contact with the surface of the workpiece having the annular protrusion formed on the outer periphery of one surface thereof, the workpiece and the sheet material are separated. unify. In general, when a sheet material is integrated with a workpiece having an annular projection, pressure is likely to concentrate on the inner corners of the annular projection, so damage is likely to occur. Easy to peel off from corners.

In the present invention, since the first integration process, the pressure difference adjustment process, and the second integration process are performed, damage to the work can be avoided while increasing the adhesion between the work and the sheet material. Therefore, even when the sheet material is integrated with a work having an annular convex portion on the outer periphery, both damage to the work and peeling of the sheet material from the work can be prevented. Therefore, the sheet material can be more preferably integrated with the workpiece having the annular projection on the outer circumference of one surface.

Moreover, in the invention described above, it is preferable that the work is a substrate on which an optical element is mounted, and the sheet material is brought into close contact with a surface of the work on which the optical element is mounted.

(Function and Effect) According to this configuration, the work and the sheet material are integrated by bringing the sheet material into close contact with the optical element mounting surface of the substrate on which the optical element is mounted. In the present invention, since the first integration process, the pressure difference adjustment process, and the second integration process are performed, damage to the work can be avoided while increasing the adhesion between the work and the sheet material. Therefore, the sheet material can be more preferably integrated with the substrate on which the optical element is mounted.

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention may take the following configuration.
That is, the present invention is a work and sheet material integration apparatus for integrating a work and a sheet material in an internal space of a chamber having an upper chamber and a lower chamber,
a holding table that holds the work;
a chamber that accommodates the holding table and is formed by sandwiching the sheet material between the upper chamber and the lower chamber, and is divided into an upper space and a lower space via the sheet material;
a supply mechanism for supplying the sheet material;
The inside of the chamber is decompressed so that the pressure in the lower space is lower than the pressure in the upper space, and the sheet-like sealing material is compressed by a differential pressure formed between the upper space and the lower space in the chamber. a first integration mechanism that attaches the sheet material to the work by contacting the work;
a differential pressure adjusting mechanism that adjusts the pressure difference between the upper space and the lower space in the chamber after the sheet material adheres to the work;
a second integration mechanism that brings the sheet material into close contact with the workpiece by raising the pressure in the internal space of the chamber to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure in the state where the pressure difference is adjusted;
It is characterized by comprising

(Function and Effect) According to this configuration, the first integration mechanism brings the sheet material into contact with the workpiece in the chamber divided into the lower space and the upper space by the sheet material. At this time, the pressure inside the chamber is decompressed, so air bubbles are not trapped between the sheet material and the work when the sheet material is brought into contact with the work using the pressure difference formed between the upper space and the lower space. can be avoided.

In addition, since the second integration mechanism raises the pressure in the inner space of the chamber to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure to integrate the sheet material and the work, a strong pressing force acts between the work and the sheet material in contact with the work. do. As a result, the adhesiveness between the sheet material and the work can be greatly improved, so that the sheet material can be prevented from peeling off from the work even after a long period of time has passed since the sheet material was attached to the work.

Then, the differential pressure adjusting mechanism adjusts the pressure difference between the upper space and the lower space to a predetermined value or less. That is, by operating the differential pressure adjusting mechanism in advance, the second integrated mechanism adjusts the pressure difference between the upper space and the lower space to be equal to or less than a predetermined value. Raise the pressure to above atmospheric pressure. Therefore, by pressurizing the inner space of the chamber to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure, a large pressure difference is generated between the upper space and the lower space. It is possible to avoid the situation that occurs in the work. Therefore, in the process of integrating the work and the sheet material, it is possible to improve the adhesion between the work and the sheet material while avoiding damage to the work.

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention may take the following configuration.
That is, the present invention is a semiconductor product manufacturing method for manufacturing a semiconductor product by integrating a work and a sheet material in an inner space of a chamber having an upper chamber and a lower chamber,
The sheet material is sandwiched between the upper chamber and the lower chamber, and the internal space of the chamber is divided into a lower space in which the work is arranged and an upper space facing the lower space with the sheet material interposed therebetween. The upper and lower space formation process,
The inside of the chamber is decompressed so that the pressure in the lower space is lower than the pressure in the upper space, and the sheet material is pressed against the work by a differential pressure formed between the upper space and the lower space in the chamber. a first integration step of attaching the sheet material to the workpiece by contact;
a pressure difference adjustment step of adjusting the pressure in the chamber so that the pressure difference between the upper space and the lower space in the chamber is reduced after the first integration step;
a second integration step of bringing the sheet material into close contact with the workpiece by raising the pressure in the internal space of the chamber to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure in the state where the pressure difference is adjusted;
It is characterized by comprising

(Function and Effect) According to this configuration, after the inner space of the chamber is divided into the lower space and the upper space by the sheet material in the upper and lower space formation process, the sheet material is brought into contact with the work in the first integration process. Since the interior of the chamber is decompressed in the first integration process, air bubbles are generated between the sheet material and the work when the sheet material is brought into contact with the work using the differential pressure formed between the upper space and the lower space. can avoid being involved.

Also, in the second integration process, the internal space of the chamber is raised to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure, so a strong pressing force acts between the work and the sheet material in contact with the work. As a result, the adhesiveness between the sheet material and the work can be greatly improved, so that the sheet material can be prevented from being peeled off from the work even after a long period of time has elapsed since the sheet material was attached to the work.

Then, a pressure difference adjustment process for adjusting the pressure difference between the upper space and the lower space to be equal to or less than a predetermined value is performed before the second integration process. By performing the pressure difference adjustment process, in the second integration process, the pressure in the inner space of the chamber is reduced to the atmospheric pressure while the pressure difference between the upper space and the lower space is adjusted to a predetermined value or less. above pressure. Therefore, by pressurizing the inner space of the chamber to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure, a large pressure difference is generated between the upper space and the lower space. It is possible to avoid the situation that occurs in the work. Therefore, in the process of integrating the work and the sheet material, it is possible to improve the adhesion between the work and the sheet material while avoiding damage to the work. Therefore, when manufacturing a semiconductor product in which the work and the sheet material are integrated, it is possible to prevent the production of defective products in which the work is damaged, and to further improve the quality of the manufactured semiconductor product.

According to the work and sheet material integration method, the work and sheet material integration apparatus, and the semiconductor product manufacturing method according to the present invention, the inner space of the chamber is divided into the lower space and the upper space by the sheet material in the process of forming the upper and lower spaces. , the sheet material is brought into contact with the workpiece in the first integration process. Since the interior of the chamber is decompressed in the first integration process, air bubbles are generated between the sheet material and the work when the sheet material is brought into contact with the work using the differential pressure formed between the upper space and the lower space. can avoid being involved.

Also, in the second integration process, the internal space of the chamber is raised to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure, so a strong pressing force acts between the work and the sheet material in contact with the work. As a result, the adhesiveness between the sheet material and the work can be greatly improved, so that the sheet material can be prevented from being peeled off from the work even after a long period of time has elapsed since the sheet material was attached to the work.

Then, a pressure difference adjustment process for adjusting the pressure difference between the upper space and the lower space is performed before the second integration process. By performing the pressure difference adjustment process, the pressure in the inner space of the chamber can be raised to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure in a state where the pressure difference between the upper space and the lower space is adjusted in the second integration process.

Therefore, by pressurizing the inner space of the chamber to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure, a large pressure difference is generated between the upper space and the lower space. It is possible to avoid the situation that occurs in the work. Therefore, in the process of integrating the work and the sheet material, it is possible to improve the adhesion between the work and the sheet material while avoiding damage to the work. Therefore, when manufacturing a semiconductor product in which the work and the sheet material are integrated, it is possible to prevent the production of defective products in which the work is damaged, and to further improve the quality of the manufactured semiconductor product.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a semiconductor wafer according to Example 1; FIG. (a) is a partially broken perspective view of a semiconductor wafer, (b) is a perspective view of the back side of the semiconductor wafer, and (c) is a partial longitudinal sectional view of the semiconductor wafer. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of an adhesive sheet according to Example 1. FIG. 1 is a plan view of an adhesive sheet sticking device according to Example 1. FIG. 1 is a front view of an adhesive sheet sticking device according to Example 1. FIG. 1 is a front view of a sticking unit according to Example 1. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a chamber according to Example 1. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a sheet punching part according to Example 1. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation of the adhesive sheet sticking device according to Example 1. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mount frame according to Example 1. FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining step S2 according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining step S3 according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining step S3 according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining step S4 according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining step S4 according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining step S4 according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining step S5 according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 10 is a plan view illustrating positions of through holes formed by lowering the sheet punching unit in step S5 according to the first embodiment; FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining step S5 according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 8 is a plan view for explaining the positions of through holes formed by rotating the sheet punching unit in step S5 according to the first embodiment; FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining step S5 according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining step S6 according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining step S7 according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining step S7 according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining step S8 according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 10 is a graph illustrating a pressurization control pattern inside a chamber according to a comparative example; FIG. 10 is a graph illustrating a pressurization control pattern inside the chamber according to Example 2; FIG. 10 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a chamber according to Example 3; FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining step S6 according to Example 3; FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating changes in pressure inside the chamber according to Example 3; FIG. 11 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a chamber according to Example 4; FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of a sealing member according to Example 5; (a) is a perspective view of the rear surface side of the sealing member, and (b) is a longitudinal sectional view of the sealing member. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a substrate and a ring frame according to Example 5; FIG. 11 is a plan view of a device sealing apparatus according to Example 5; FIG. 11 is a front view of a device sealing apparatus according to Example 5; FIG. 11 is a front view of a sealing unit according to Example 5; 14 is a flow chart showing the operation of the device sealing apparatus according to Example 5. FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining step S2 according to Example 5; FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining step S2 according to Example 5; FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining step S3 according to Example 5; FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining step S3 according to Example 5; FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining step S4 according to Example 5; FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining step S4 according to Example 5; FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining step S5 according to Example 5; FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining step S5 according to Example 5; FIG. 16 is a plan view for explaining the positions of through holes formed by rotating the sheet punching unit in step S5 according to the fifth embodiment; FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining step S6 according to Example 5; FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining step S7 according to Example 5; FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining step S7 according to Example 5; FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining step S8 according to Example 5; FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the effect of Example 5; (a) is a vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the configuration in the case where a gap is formed when sealing is performed by reducing the pressure in the chamber, and (b) is a vertical cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration when sealing is performed by pressurizing the inside of the chamber. , and a longitudinal sectional view for explaining a state in which the gap is being filled. It is a figure explaining step S4 which concerns on a modification. It is a figure explaining the structure which concerns on a modification. (a) is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a chamber according to a modified example having an elastic body, (b) is a diagram for explaining problems that may occur in a comparative example that does not have an elastic body, and (c). FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining advantages in a modification having an elastic body; It is a figure explaining the structure which concerns on a modification. (a) is a diagram showing a configuration of a modification provided with a heating mechanism, and (b) is a diagram showing a configuration of a modification in which the heating mechanism is brought close to the adhesive tape. It is a figure explaining the structure which concerns on a modification. (a) is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a substrate according to a modification, and (b) is a vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the configuration of a holding table according to the modification. It is a figure explaining the process of step S3 which concerns on a modification. It is a figure explaining the process of step S2 which concerns on a modification. It is a figure explaining the process of step S3 which concerns on a modification. FIG. 10 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a chamber according to Example 2;

Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Embodiment 1 will be described using an adhesive sheet sticking apparatus 1 that sticks an adhesive sheet to a work as an example of a configuration for integrating a work and a sheet material.

In the adhesive sheet sticking apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, a supporting adhesive tape DT (dicing tape) is used as an adhesive sheet, and a semiconductor wafer W (hereinafter referred to as "wafer W") is used as a work to which the adhesive sheet is stuck. ), and ring frame f. That is, in the adhesive sheet sticking apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, the mount frame MF is created by sticking the adhesive tape DT over the wafer W and the ring frame f. Mount frame MF is a semiconductor product in which adhesive tape DT is integrated with wafer W and ring frame f. In Example 1, the mount frame MF corresponds to the semiconductor product in the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1(a) to 1(c), the wafer W was back-grinded while a protective tape PT for protecting the circuit was adhered to the surface on which the circuit pattern was formed. be. The back surface of the wafer W is ground (back-ground) leaving an outer peripheral portion of about 3 mm in the radial direction. That is, a flat concave portion He is formed on the back surface, and a shape processed into a shape in which an annular convex portion Ka is left along the outer circumference is used. As an example, the grinding depth d of the flat recess He is several hundred μm, and the wafer thickness J of the flat recess He is 30 μm to 50 μm. Therefore, the annular convex portion Ka formed on the outer periphery of the back surface functions as an annular rib that increases the rigidity of the wafer W, and suppresses bending deformation of the wafer W during handling and other processing steps. Note that the inner corners of the annular convex portion Ka are indicated using the symbol Kf. The inner corner portion Kf corresponds to the boundary between the annular convex portion Ka and the flat concave portion He. The back surface of the wafer W corresponds to the annular protrusion forming surface of the workpiece in the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the adhesive tape DT used in this embodiment has a long structure in which a non-adhesive base material Ta and an adhesive material Tb are laminated. A separator S is attached to the adhesive material Tb. That is, the separator S is attached to the adhesive surface of the adhesive tape DT, and the adhesive surface of the adhesive tape DT is exposed by peeling off the separator S from the adhesive tape DT.

Examples of materials constituting the base material Ta include polyolefin, polyethylene, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyester, polyimide, polyurethane, vinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene terenaphthalate, polyvinylidene chloride, and polyethylene methacryl. acid copolymers, polypropylene, methacrylic acid terephthalate, polyamideimide, polyurethane elastomers, and the like. A combination of a plurality of the materials described above may be used as the substrate Ta. Also, the base material Ta may be a single layer, or may have a structure in which a plurality of layers are laminated.

The adhesive material Tb is preferably made of a material capable of ensuring the function of keeping the adhesive tape DT adhering to the wafer W and the ring frame f and the function of preventing chip components from scattering in the subsequent dicing process. . Examples of the material forming the adhesive material Tb include an acrylic acid ester copolymer. Examples of the separator S include elongated paper materials and plastics. In addition, you may use an adhesive material or an adhesive material instead of the adhesive material Tb.

<Explanation of overall configuration>
Here, the overall configuration of the adhesive sheet sticking device 1 according to Example 1 will be described. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the basic configuration of the adhesive sheet sticking device 1 according to the first embodiment. The adhesive sheet sticking device 1 is configured to include a horizontally long rectangular portion 1a and a projecting portion 1b. The protruding portion 1b is configured to connect with the central portion of the rectangular portion 1a and protrude upward. In the following description, the longitudinal direction of the rectangular portion 1a is called the left-right direction (x-direction), and the horizontal direction (y-direction) orthogonal thereto is called the front-back direction.

A wafer transfer mechanism 3 is provided on the right side of the rectangular portion 1a. Two containers 5 containing wafers W are placed in parallel on the lower right side of the rectangular portion 1a. Inside the container 5, wafers W having protective tapes PT attached to their surfaces are stored in multiple stages with their surfaces facing downward. At the left end of the rectangular portion 1a, a frame recovery section 6 is provided for recovering the mount frame MF shown in FIG. 9 on which the wafer W has been completely mounted.

The aligner 7, the holding table 9, and the frame supply section 12 are arranged in this order from the upper right of the rectangular section 1a. A sticking unit 13 for sticking a supporting adhesive tape DT (dicing tape) over the rear surface of the wafer W and the ring frame f is arranged on the projecting portion 1b.

As shown in FIG. 4, the wafer transfer mechanism 3 is provided with a wafer transfer device 16 which is supported so as to reciprocate left and right on the right side of a guide rail 15 which is horizontally installed above the rectangular portion 1a. A frame transfer device 17 is provided on the left side of the guide rail 15 so as to be horizontally movable.

The wafer transfer device 16 is configured to transfer the wafer W taken out from one of the containers 5 to the left and right and to the front and back. The wafer transfer device 16 is equipped with a laterally movable table 18 and a longitudinally movable table 19 .

The laterally movable table 18 is configured to be reciprocally movable in the lateral direction along the guide rails 15 . The front-rear movable table 19 is configured to be reciprocally movable in the front-rear direction along a guide rail 20 provided on the left-right movable table 18 .

Further, a holding unit 21 for holding the wafer W is provided below the front-rear movable table 19 . The holding unit 21 is configured to be able to reciprocate in the vertical direction (z direction) along the vertically extending elevating rail 22 . Further, the holding unit 21 is rotatable about an axis in the z direction by a rotation shaft (not shown).

The lower part of the holding unit 21 is equipped with a horseshoe-shaped holding arm 23 . A holding surface of the holding arm 23 is provided with a plurality of slightly projecting suction pads, and the wafer W is held by suction via the suction pads. Further, the holding arm 23 is connected to the pneumatic device through a channel formed therein and a connection channel connected to the proximal end of the channel.

By using the movable structure described above, the wafer W sucked and held can be moved back and forth, left and right, and pivoted around the z-axis by the holding arm 23 .

The frame conveying device 17 includes a laterally movable table 24, a longitudinally movable table 25, a bending and stretching link mechanism 26 connected to the lower portion of the laterally moving movable table 24, and a suction plate 27 provided at the lower end of the bending and stretching link mechanism 26. etc. The suction plate 27 holds the wafer W by suction. A plurality of suction pads 28 are arranged around the suction plate 27 to hold the ring frame f by suction. Therefore, the frame conveying device 17 can suck and hold the ring frame f or the mount frame MF placed and held on the holding table 9 and convey it up and down, front and rear, and right and left. The suction pad 28 can be horizontally slidably adjusted according to the size of the ring frame f.

The holding table 9, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, is a metal chuck table having the same shape or larger size than the wafer W, and is used for the vacuum device 31 and the pressurizing device 32 provided outside. communicatively connected with each other. Operations of the vacuum device 31 and the pressure device 32 are controlled by the controller 33 .

In Embodiment 1, the holding table 9 is provided with an annular protrusion 9a on its outer periphery and is hollow as a whole. The projecting portion 9a is arranged at a position that substantially matches the arrangement of the annular projecting portion Ka of the wafer W in a plan view. The wafer W can be held without contacting the recess He.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the holding table 9 is housed in a lower housing 29A forming a chamber 29, and is connected to one end of a rod 35 passing through the lower housing 29A. The other end of the rod 35 is drivingly connected to an actuator 37 having a motor or the like. Therefore, the holding table 9 can move up and down inside the chamber 29 .

The lower housing 29A has a frame holding portion 38 surrounding the lower housing 29A. The frame holding portion 38 is configured such that when the ring frame f is placed thereon, the upper surface of the ring frame f and the cylindrical top portion of the lower housing 29A are flush with each other. Moreover, it is preferable that the cylindrical top portion of the lower housing 29A is subjected to mold release treatment.

As shown in FIG. 3, the holding table 9 and the lower housing 29A are configured to reciprocate along rails 40 provided in the front-rear direction between the initial position and the sticking position. The initial position is inside the rectangular portion 1a, which is the position where the holding table 9 is indicated by solid lines in FIG. The wafer W and ring frame f are placed on the holding table 9 at the initial position.

The sticking position is inside the projecting portion 1b, and is the position where the holding table 9 is indicated by the dotted line in FIG. By moving the holding table 9 to the sticking position, it becomes possible to perform the sticking step of sticking the adhesive tape DT to the wafer W placed on the holding table 9 .

The frame supply unit 12 stores drawer-type cassettes in which a predetermined number of ring frames f are stacked and stored.

As shown in FIG. 5, the pasting unit 13 includes a sheet supply section 71, a separator collection section 72, a sheet pasting section 73, a sheet collection section 74, a sheet punching section 76, and the like. The sheet supply unit 71 includes a supply bobbin loaded with a raw roll around which a supporting adhesive tape DT is wound. The separator S is peeled off by the peel roller 75 in the process of supplying the adhesive tape DT from the supply bobbin of the sheet supply section 71 to the sticking position. The supply bobbin provided in the sheet supply section 71 is interlocked with an electromagnetic brake and is subjected to moderate rotational resistance. Therefore, excessive feeding of the tape from the supply bobbin is prevented.

The separator collection unit 72 is provided with a collection bobbin for winding the separator S separated from the adhesive tape DT. The recovery bobbin is controlled to rotate in forward and reverse directions by a motor.

The sheet sticking section 73 includes a chamber 29, a sheet sticking mechanism 81, a sheet cutting mechanism 82, and the like.

The chamber 29 is composed of a lower housing 29A and an upper housing 29B. The lower housing 29A is arranged so as to surround the holding table 9, and reciprocates back and forth together with the holding table 9 between the initial position and the sticking position. The upper housing 29B is arranged on the projecting portion 1b and configured to be movable up and down.

As shown in FIG. 6, the lower housing 29A is communicated with a pressure reducing channel 201, and the upper housing 29B is communicated with a pressure reducing channel 202. As shown in FIG. Both the flow path 201 and the flow path 202 are connected to the vacuum device 31 through the pressure reduction flow path 101 . That is, the lower housing 29A is communicated with a vacuum device 31 for decompression via a flow path 101 and a flow path 201. As shown in FIG. The upper housing 29B is communicated with a vacuum device 31 for pressure reduction via a flow path 101 and a flow path 202. As shown in FIG.

Further, the lower housing 29A is communicated with a pressurizing channel 203, and the upper housing 29B is communicated with a pressurizing channel 204. As shown in FIG. Both the flow path 203 and the flow path 204 are connected to the pressurizing device 32 via the pressurizing flow path 102 . That is, the lower housing 29A is communicated with the pressurizing device 32 via the flow path 102 and the flow path 203. As shown in FIG. The upper housing 29B is connected to the pressurizing device 32 via the flow path 102 and the flow path 204. As shown in FIG.

The flow path 101 is equipped with an electromagnetic valve 103 , and the flow path 102 is equipped with an electromagnetic valve 104 . Flow paths 109 provided with electromagnetic valves 105 and 107 for opening to the atmosphere are connected to both housings 29A and 29B, respectively. The flow path 201 is equipped with an electromagnetic valve 113 , and the flow path 203 is equipped with an electromagnetic valve 114 .

Further, the upper housing 29B is connected to a flow path 111 having an electromagnetic valve 110 for adjusting the internal pressure once reduced by leakage. The electromagnetic valve 110 is provided with an opening control valve 112 . The opening control valve 112 adjusts the amount of gas leaked through the flow path 111 by appropriately adjusting the opening of the electromagnetic valve 110 . The opening and closing operations of these electromagnetic valves 103, 104, 105, 107, 113, and 114, the adjustment of the opening of the electromagnetic valve 110, the operation of the vacuum device 31, and the operation of the pressurizing device 32 are performed by the control unit 33. there is

That is, the vacuum device 31 is configured to be able to reduce and adjust the air pressure in the space on the lower housing 29A side and the air pressure in the space on the upper housing 29B side. The pressurizing device 32 is configured to be able to pressurize and adjust the air pressure in the space on the lower housing 29A side and the air pressure in the space on the upper housing 29B side.

Note that in the first embodiment, when the electromagnetic valve 103 is arranged in the flow path 101 , the electromagnetic valve 113 may be arranged in the flow path 202 instead of the flow path 201 . When electromagnetic valve 113 is arranged in flow path 201 , electromagnetic valve 103 may be arranged in flow path 202 instead of flow path 101 . When electromagnetic valve 104 is arranged in flow path 102 , electromagnetic valve 114 may be arranged in flow path 204 instead of flow path 203 . When electromagnetic valve 114 is arranged in flow path 203 , electromagnetic valve 104 may be arranged in flow path 204 instead of flow path 102 .

The sheet pasting mechanism 81 includes a movable table 84, a pasting roller 85, a nip roller 86, and the like. The movable table 84 horizontally moves left and right along a guide rail 88 that extends in the left and right direction. The pasting roller 85 is pivotally supported by a bracket connected to the tip of a cylinder provided on the movable table 84 . The nip roller 86 is arranged on the sheet collecting portion 74 side, and includes a feed roller 89 driven by a motor and a pinch roller 90 which moves up and down by a cylinder.

The sheet cutting mechanism 82 is provided on an elevation drive table 91 for raising and lowering the upper housing 29B, and has a support shaft 92 extending in the z-direction and a boss portion 93 rotating around the support shaft 92 . The boss portion 93 includes a plurality of radially extending support arms 94 . A disc-shaped cutter 95 for cutting the adhesive tape DT along the ring frame f is provided at the tip of at least one support arm 94 so as to be vertically movable. A pressing roller 96 is arranged at the tip of the other support arm 94 so as to be vertically movable.

The sheet recovery unit 74 includes a recovery bobbin that winds up the unnecessary adhesive tape DT peeled off after cutting. This recovery bobbin is controlled to rotate in forward and reverse directions by a motor (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 4, the frame recovery section 6 is provided with a cassette 41 for loading and recovering the mount frames MF. The cassette 41 is provided with a vertical rail 45 connected and fixed to an apparatus frame 43 and an elevator table 49 that is lifted and lowered by a motor 47 along the vertical rail 45 . Therefore, the frame recovery unit 6 is configured to place the mount frame MF on the lifting table 49 and move it down by pitch feeding.

The sheet punching portion 76 is arranged inside the upper housing 29B. As shown in FIG. 7, the sheet punching section 76 includes an elevation drive table 97 and a rotating shaft section 99 . The elevation drive table 97 is configured to be vertically movable in the z-direction inside the upper housing 29B. The rotary shaft portion 99 extends in the z-direction and is connected to the lower portion of the elevation drive table 97 . The rotating shaft portion 99 is configured to be rotatable about an axis in the z direction by a motor (not shown).

A support arm 127 extending in the radial direction of the rotating shaft portion 99 is provided on the side surface of the rotating shaft portion 99 . The base end side of each support arm 127 is connected to the rotating shaft portion 99 . A cutter 129 supported by a cutter holder 128 is arranged on the tip side of each support arm 127 . In Embodiment 1, the sheet punching unit 76 has four support arms 127, but the number of support arms 127 may be changed as appropriate.

The cutter 129 forms a through hole in the adhesive tape DT inside the chamber 29, and is arranged below the cutter holder 128 with the cutter blade facing downward. That is, when the elevation drive table 97 moves up and down in the z-direction, the cutter 129 supported by each support arm 127 moves up and down together with the elevation drive table 97 in the z-direction. Further, by rotating the rotating shaft portion 99, each of the cutters 129 moves along the circular orbit L1 around the rotating shaft portion 99 together with the support arm 127. As shown in FIG.

<Outline of operation>
Here, the basic operation of the adhesive sheet sticking device 1 according to Example 1 will be described. FIG. 8 is a flow chart for explaining a series of steps for applying the adhesive tape DT to the wafer W using the adhesive sheet applying apparatus 1. As shown in FIG.

Step S1 (supply of work)
When a sticking command is issued, the ring frame f is transferred from the frame supply section 12 to the frame holding section 38 of the lower housing 29A, and the wafer W is transferred from the container 5 to the holding table 9. FIG.

That is, the frame conveying device 17 sucks the ring frame f from the frame supply section 12 and transfers it to the frame holding section 38 . When the frame conveying device 17 releases the suction of the ring frame f and ascends, the ring frame f is aligned. The alignment is performed, for example, by synchronously moving a plurality of support pins erected so as to surround the frame holding portion 38 toward the center. The ring frame f is set on the frame holder 38 and stands by until the wafer W is transferred.

While the frame transfer device 17 transfers the ring frame f, the wafer transfer device 16 inserts the holding arm 23 between the wafers W stored in multiple stages inside the container 5 . The holding arm 23 sucks and holds the wafer W, carries it out, and carries it to the aligner 7 . The aligner 7 sucks the center of the wafer W with a suction pad protruding from the center. At the same time, the wafer transfer device 16 releases the suction of the wafer W and retreats upward. The aligner 7 holds and rotates the wafer W with a suction pad, and aligns the wafer W based on notches or the like.

After the alignment is completed, the suction pad that has suctioned the wafer W is made to protrude from the surface of the aligner 7 . The wafer transfer device 16 moves to that position and holds the wafer W by suction. The suction pad releases suction and descends.

The wafer transfer device 16 moves above the holding table 9 and places the wafer W on the holding table 9 with the surface side to which the protective tape PT is attached facing downward. When the holding table 9 sucks and holds the wafer W and the frame holding portion 38 sucks and holds the ring frame f, the lower housing 29A moves along the rails 40 from the initial position to the sticking position on the sheet sticking mechanism 81 side. FIG. 10 shows a state in which the wafer W is supplied to the holding table 9 and moved to the bonding position.

Step S2 (supply of adhesive sheet)
When the work is supplied by the wafer transfer device 16 or the like, the adhesive tape DT is supplied in the pasting unit 13 . That is, a predetermined amount of the adhesive tape DT is fed from the sheet supply portion 71 while the separator S is peeled off. The adhesive tape DT, which is elongated as a whole, is guided upwards from the sticking position along a predetermined conveying path.

Step S3 (formation of chamber)
When the work and the adhesive tape DT are supplied, the joining roller 85 descends as shown in FIG. Then, while rolling on the adhesive tape DT, the adhesive tape DT is stuck over the ring frame f and the top of the lower housing 29A. In conjunction with the movement of the sticking roller 85, a predetermined amount of the adhesive tape DT is fed out from the sheet supply portion 71 while the separator S is peeled off.

When the adhesive tape DT is attached to the ring frame f, the attaching roller 85 is returned to its initial position and the upper housing 29B is lowered. As the upper housing 29B descends, as shown in FIG. 12, the portion of the adhesive tape DT attached to the top of the lower housing 29A is sandwiched between the upper housing 29B and the lower housing 29A to form the chamber 29. .

At this time, the adhesive tape DT functions as a sealing material, and the chamber 29 is divided into two spaces by the adhesive tape DT. That is, it is divided into a lower space H1 on the side of the lower housing 29A and an upper space H2 on the side of the upper housing 29B across the adhesive tape DT. The wafer W positioned in the lower housing 29A is closely opposed to the adhesive tape DT with a predetermined clearance therebetween.

Step S4 (first pasting process)
After forming the chamber 29, the first application process begins. First, the control unit 33 closes the electromagnetic valves 104, 105, 107, 110, and 114 shown in FIG. 6, and opens the electromagnetic valves 103 and 113. Then, the controller 33 operates the vacuum device 31 to reduce the pressure in the lower space H1 and the pressure in the upper space H2 to a predetermined value. Examples of the predetermined value include 10 Pa to 100 Pa.

When the atmospheric pressures of the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 are reduced to a predetermined value, the controller 33 closes the electromagnetic valve 103 and stops the operation of the vacuum device 31 . Then, the controller 33 keeps the electromagnetic valves 103, 105, 107, and 113 connected to the lower space H1 closed so that the pressure in the upper space H2 is higher than the pressure in the lower space H1. It is controlled to adjust the opening degree of the connected electromagnetic valve 110 to leak.

When the air pressure in the upper space H2 is higher than that in the lower space H1, a differential pressure Fa is generated between the two spaces as shown in FIG. Due to the generation of the differential pressure Fa, the adhesive tape DT is drawn from the central portion toward the lower housing 29A and deformed into a convex shape. In this embodiment, in step S4, after adjusting the air pressure in the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to 10 Pa, the pressure difference Fa is generated by adjusting the air pressure in the upper space H2 from 10 Pa to 100 Pa.

After generating the differential pressure Fa, the actuator 37 is driven to raise the holding table 9 as shown in FIG. Due to the deformation of the adhesive tape DT due to the differential pressure Fa and the lifting of the holding table 9, the adhesive tape DT radially contacts the back surface of the wafer W from the center to the outer periphery in the evacuated lower space H1. To go. By this contact, the back surface of the wafer W is covered with the adhesive tape DT. FIG. 15 shows a state in which the back surface of wafer W is covered with adhesive tape DT.

When the back surface of the wafer W is covered with the adhesive tape DT, the controller 33 opens the electromagnetic valves 105 and 107 to open the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to the atmosphere. The opening to the atmosphere completes the first attachment process. As described above, in the first attaching step, the back surface of the wafer W is covered with the adhesive tape DT by bringing the adhesive tape DT into contact with the back surface of the wafer W while the pressure inside the chamber 29 is reduced. In addition, in Example 1, the first pasting process corresponds to the first integration process according to the present invention.

Step S5 (pressure difference adjustment process)
After the first attachment process using the differential pressure Fa is completed, the pressure difference adjustment process is started. The pressure difference adjustment process is a process of performing processing for suppressing the pressure difference generated between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to a predetermined value or less thereafter. In Example 1, the pressure difference generated between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is suppressed below a predetermined value by forming through holes in the adhesive tape DT using the sheet punching portion 76 . An example of the predetermined value is 8000Pa to 10000Pa. The predetermined value is appropriately changed according to various conditions in the process of integrating the sheet material and the work. Examples of conditions include the material of the wafer W, the thickness of the wafer W, and the like.

When step S5 starts, as shown in FIG. 16, the control section 33 drives the elevation drive table 97 to lower the sheet punching section 76. As shown in FIG. As the sheet punching portion 76 descends, each of the cutters 129 arranged on each of the support arms 127 pierces the adhesive tape DT. By sticking the cutter 129 into the adhesive tape DT, a through hole PH is formed in a portion of the adhesive tape DT between the wafer W and the ring frame f, as shown in FIG. Since the four cutters 129 are arranged so as to surround the rotating shaft portion 99 in the first embodiment, the through holes PH are formed at four locations so as to surround the wafer W. As shown in FIG.

By forming the through hole PH, a vent hole through which gas flows between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is formed. That is, by forming the through holes PH in the adhesive tape DT, the state in which the interior of the chamber 29 is divided into the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is eliminated. By allowing gas to flow between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 through the through hole PH, the pressure difference generated between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 in step S6 is reduced to a predetermined value or less. be able to. For convenience of explanation, even after the through holes PH are formed in the adhesive tape DT, the space on the side where the wafer W is arranged with the adhesive tape DT as a boundary is referred to as a lower space H1. The space on the opposite side of the lower space H1 across the adhesive tape DT will be referred to as an upper space H2, and the description will be continued.

After the sheet punching part 76 is lowered to pierce the adhesive tape DT with the cutter 129, the rotation shaft part 99 is rotated around the axis in the z direction as shown in FIG. As the rotating shaft portion 99 rotates, each of the cutters 129 arranged on the tip end side of the support arm 127 cuts the adhesive tape DT while moving along the circular path L1. The circular orbit L<b>1 is a circular orbit whose diameter is the length of the support arm 127 with the rotating shaft portion 99 as the center. In other words, the circular orbit L1 is a circular orbit whose center is the center Q of the wafer W shown in FIG. 19 and whose diameter is the length of the support arm 127 .

As the cutter 129 moves along the circular path L1, each of the through holes PH is widened in an arc shape along the circular path L1, as shown in FIG. The rotation angle θ of the rotating shaft portion 99 in step S5 is set to an angle that allows the process of conveying the mount frame MF in step S8 to be properly executed. By widening the through-hole PH, more gas can flow between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1. can be made smaller.

After the through hole PH is formed by lowering and rotating the sheet punching unit 76, the control unit 33 drives the elevation drive base 97 to raise the sheet punching unit 76 to the initial position as shown in FIG. While raising the sheet punching part 76, the controller 33 controls the actuator 37 to lower the holding table 9 to the initial position. By forming the through holes PH at the predetermined positions, the pressure difference adjustment process according to the first embodiment is completed.

Step S6 (second pasting process)
After the through hole PH is formed in the adhesive tape DT by the sheet punching part 76, the second attaching process is started. In Example 1, the second pasting process corresponds to the second integration process in the present invention. When the second pasting process is started, the control unit 33 first closes the electromagnetic valves 103, 105, 107, 110 and 113 shown in FIG. 6 and opens the electromagnetic valves 104 and 114. As shown in FIG. Then, the control unit 33 operates the pressurizing device 32 to supply the gas Ar to the lower space H1 and the upper space H2, and pressurize the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 to the specific value PN. Examples of specific value PN include 0.3 MPa to 0.6 MPa. As the pressurizing device 32 performs the pressurizing operation, both the pressure in the lower space H1 and the pressure in the upper space H2 become higher than the atmospheric pressure.

By pressurizing the upper space H2, as shown in FIG. 21, a pressing force V1 acts from the upper space H2 toward the adhesive tape DT. Since the entire upper space H2 is pressurized, the pressing force V1 acts uniformly over the entire adhesive tape DT. In addition, since the entire lower space H1 is pressurized, the pressing force V2 uniformly acts on the downward surface of the wafer W from the lower space H1. That is, the pressing force V1 and the pressing force V2 act between the adhesive tape DT and the wafer W by applying pressure to a specific value PN higher than the atmospheric pressure. That is, the adhesive tape DT is adhered to the back surface of the wafer W with high accuracy by uniformly applying a force higher than the atmospheric pressure. As a result, the adhesion between the wafer W and the adhesive tape DT is improved, so that it is possible to prevent the adhesive tape DT from peeling off from the back surface of the wafer W over time.

In the first embodiment, after the through holes PH are formed in the adhesive tape DT in step S5, the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 are pressurized to the specific value PN. Therefore, even if a pressure difference occurs between the pressure Ph2 of the lower space H1 and the pressure Ph1 of the upper space H2 due to factors such as the difference between the width of the lower space H1 and the width of the upper space H2, the pressure difference is quickly resolved. That is, since the gas can flow between the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 via the through hole PH, it is possible to prevent the pressure Ph1 and the pressure Ph2 from being biased. Therefore, the pressure difference generated between the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 is suppressed to a predetermined value or less. Substantially, the pressure difference between the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 becomes a value close to zero.

The magnitude of the pressing force V1 depends on the atmospheric pressure Ph1, and the magnitude of the pressing force V2 depends on the atmospheric pressure Ph2. Therefore, by suppressing the difference between the atmospheric pressures Ph1 and Ph2 to a predetermined value or less, the pressing force V1 acting on the wafer W from the upper space H2 side and the pressing force V1 acting on the wafer W from the lower space H1 side The difference from the pressing force V2 can be suppressed to a predetermined value or less. Therefore, by reducing the pressure difference between the lower space H1 and the upper space H2, the wafer W can be prevented from being cracked or chipped due to the pressure difference.

While the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 are pressurized to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure, a pressing force is applied between the adhesive tape DT and the wafer W for a predetermined time. Let Then, the control unit 33 opens the electromagnetic valves 105 and 107 to open the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 to the atmosphere. The control unit 33 raises the upper housing 29B to open the chamber 29, and raises the holding table 9 to bring the surface of the wafer W into contact with the wafer holding surface of the holding table 9. FIG.

Step S7 (cutting of sheet)
Note that the sheet cutting mechanism 82 is operated to cut the adhesive tape DT while the steps S4 to S6 are being performed in the chamber 29 . At this time, as shown in FIG. 22, the cutter 95 cuts the adhesive tape DT attached to the ring frame f into the shape of the ring frame f, and the pressure roller 96 follows the cutter 95 to cut the adhesive tape DT on the ring frame f. The sheet cutting portion is pressed while rolling.

Since the first sticking process in step S4 and the second sticking process in step S5 are completed when the upper housing 29B is lifted, the pinch roller 90 is lifted to release the nip of the adhesive tape DT. After that, as shown in FIG. 23, the nip roller 86 is moved to wind up and collect the cut unnecessary adhesive tape DT toward the sheet collecting section 74, and a predetermined amount of the adhesive tape DT is collected from the sheet supplying section 71. feed out. Through the steps up to step S6, the mount frame MF is formed by integrating the ring frame f and the wafer W via the adhesive tape DT.

When the unnecessary adhesive tape DT is wound up and collected, the nip roller 86 and the joining roller 85 return to their initial positions. Then, the holding table 9 moves from the sticking position to the initial position while holding the mount frame MF.

Step S8 (recovery of mount frame)
When the holding table 9 returns to the initial position, as shown in FIG. 24, the suction pad 28 provided on the frame conveying device 17 sucks and holds the mount frame MF, thereby separating the mount frame MF from the lower housing 29A. The frame conveying device 17 sucking and holding the mount frame MF conveys the mount frame MF to the frame recovery section 6 . The transported mount frames MF are loaded and stored in the cassette 41 .

Thus, one cycle of operations for attaching the adhesive tape DT to the wafer W is completed. Thereafter, the above processing is repeated until the number of mount frames MF reaches a predetermined number.

<Effects of Configuration of Embodiment 1>
According to the apparatus according to the first embodiment, the chambers are used to perform the first attaching process and the second attaching process. That is, after the adhesive tape DT is attached to the wafer W in the first attaching process, the second attaching process is performed to attach the adhesive tape DT to the wafer W with higher accuracy. With such a configuration, the adhesive tape DT can be adhered with high accuracy to the wafer W having the annular convex portion Ka on one surface while avoiding damage to the wafer W. FIG.

In the first bonding process according to the present invention, inside the chamber 29, the inside of the lower space H1 in which the wafer W is arranged is decompressed. That is, since the space around the adhesive tape DT and the wafer W is evacuated by reducing the pressure, when the adhesive tape DT comes into contact with the wafer W and covers the back surface of the wafer W, gas is generated between the adhesive tape DT and the wafer W. It can prevent you from getting caught. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a decrease in adhesion force due to entrainment of gas.

Further, in the second attaching process according to the present invention, the adhesive tape DT is attached to the back surface of the wafer W with high accuracy by increasing the air pressure in the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 to be higher than the atmospheric pressure.

When the pressure difference Fa is generated by reducing the pressure inside the chamber using a vacuum device, the magnitude of the pressure difference Fa generated by reducing the pressure from the atmospheric pressure state is below the atmospheric pressure. That is, when the pressure difference Fa is used to press the adhesive tape DT against the wafer W, the magnitude of the force for pressing the adhesive tape DT against the back surface of the wafer W has an upper limit.

Therefore, the adhesion between the adhesive tape DT and the wafer W is low when the adhesive tape DT is in contact with the wafer W due to the differential pressure Fa caused by the reduced pressure. Further, in the conventional configuration using the first pressing member, the pressing force can be applied only to a limited portion of the adhesive tape DT. Moreover, since the magnitude of the pressing force is also insufficient, it is difficult to improve the adhesion between the adhesive tape DT and the wafer W.

On the other hand, in the present invention, the pressurizing device 32 is used to pressurize the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 in the chamber 29 so that the pressure is higher than the atmospheric pressure. That is, in the second attaching process, pressing forces V1 and V2 sufficiently larger than the differential pressure Fa can be applied to the adhesive tape DT and the wafer W. FIG. Further, the pressing forces V1 and V2 act on the entire surface of the adhesive tape DT attached to the wafer W. As shown in FIG. Therefore, by performing the second attaching process, the adhesion between the adhesive tape DT and the wafer W can be greatly improved, so that the adhesive tape DT can be peeled off from the wafer W even after a period of time has passed after the series of attaching processes are completed. can be avoided.

Also, in the second pasting process, by appropriately controlling the pressurizing device 32, the magnitudes of the pressing forces V1 and V2 can be adjusted to arbitrary values. Therefore, even when various conditions such as the constituent material of the adhesive material Tb, the size of the wafer W, and the thickness of the annular convex portion Ka are changed, the magnitudes of the pressing forces V1 and V2 can be appropriately adjusted. Thus, the adhesive tape DT can be reliably attached to the surface of the wafer W on which the annular protrusion is formed.

In the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet applying apparatus 1 according to Example 1, the pressure difference adjusting process is performed before the second applying process, so that the pressure difference generated between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 during the second applying process is adjusted. Reduce to a predetermined value or less. By performing the pressure difference adjustment process, it is possible to increase the adhesion between the adhesive tape DT and the wafer W and more reliably avoid damage such as cracking or chipping of the wafer W. FIG.

Here, the effects of the pressure difference adjustment process will be described. As a result of diligent studies by the inventors, when the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 are pressurized above the atmospheric pressure in a state in which the inside of the chamber 29 is divided into the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 by the adhesive tape DT, the wafer W A problem was found in that damage such as cracking or chipping occurred.

As a result of further intensive studies by the inventors, the following hypotheses were found. That is, by pressurizing the inside of the chamber 29 above the atmospheric pressure, a large pressure difference is generated between the pressing force V1 generated in the upper space H2 and the pressing force V2 generated in the lower space H1. Both the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 are connected to the pressure device 32 via the flow path 102, so the amount of gas supplied to each of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is equal.

However, due to the difference in volume between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1, the speed at which the air pressure (pressing force V1) in the upper space H2 rises and the pressure in the lower space H1 (pressing force V2) ) may differ from the rising speed. As a result, it is conceivable that damage such as cracking or chipping occurs in the wafer W due to the pressure difference between the pressing force V1 and the pressing force V2 in step S6.

Therefore, in the adhesive sheet sticking apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, the through holes PH are formed in the adhesive tape DT using the sheet punching part 76 before the second sticking process. Since the gas can flow between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 through the through hole PH, even if a pressure difference occurs between the pressing force V1 and the pressing force V2, the gas can flow. The pressure difference is quickly eliminated by the circulation. Therefore, when pressurizing the inside of the chamber 29 in step S6, the pressure difference generated between the pressing force V1 and the pressing force V2 can be maintained in a state of being reduced to a predetermined value or less. V2 enhances the adhesion between the adhesive tape DT and the wafer W, while preventing the wafer W from being damaged due to the pressure difference between the pressing force V1 and the pressing force V2.

A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the first embodiment, the sheet punching portion 76 is used to form the through holes PH in the adhesive tape DT, thereby reducing the pressure difference generated between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 in the second pasting process in step S6. An example of a configuration that allows On the other hand, in the second embodiment, the control unit 33 pressurizes the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 step by step, thereby reducing the pressure difference generated between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 in step S6. Reduce. The same reference numerals are given to the same configurations as those of the adhesive sheet sticking apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, and the different components will be described in detail.

The adhesive sheet applying device 1 according to Example 2 has the same configuration as the adhesive sheet applying device 1 according to Example 1 except for the chamber 29 . However, in the second embodiment, the pressure difference generated between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is reduced by the control pattern set by the controller 33 . Therefore, the sheet punching part 76 can be omitted in the adhesive sheet sticking device 1 according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 58 is a longitudinal sectional view of a chamber according to Example 2. FIG. In Example 2, the electromagnetic valve 104 is arranged in the flow path 204 and the electromagnetic valve 114 is arranged in the flow path 203 . That is, the control unit 33 independently controls the opening and closing operations of the electromagnetic valves 104 and 114, thereby turning on/off the gas supply to the lower space H1 and the gas supply to the upper space H2 in the second embodiment. can be independently controlled.

<Pressure control according to the second embodiment>
Details of the control by which the control unit 33 pressurizes the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 in the second embodiment will be described in comparison with the pressurization control in the first embodiment. FIG. 25 is a graph illustrating a general control method in which the controller 33 pressurizes the air pressure in the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 from the initial value PS to the specific value PN. A case where the initial value PS is 1 atmosphere and the specific value PN is 6 atmospheres will be described as an example. It is also assumed that the volume of the lower space H1 is larger than that of the upper space H2, and the pressurization speed in the lower space H1 is lower than that in the upper space H2.

In general, when the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 are pressurized to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure, the pressure of each of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is predetermined from the initial value PS by one pressurization step. to a specified value PN. That is, the control unit 33 pressurizes each of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1, which are in the state of 1 atmospheric pressure, with a target value of 6 atmospheric pressure, which is the specific value PN.

Both the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 are connected to the pressure device 32 through the same flow path 102, so that the same amount of gas is supplied to each of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 per unit time. be. However, the speed at which the air pressure Ph1 in the upper space H2 rises, indicated by the solid line in FIG. 25, differs from the speed at which the pressure Ph2 in the lower space H1 rises, indicated by the dotted line in FIG. That is, since the volume of the upper space H2 is smaller than the volume of the lower space H1, the rising speed of the atmospheric pressure Ph1 is faster than the rising speed of the atmospheric pressure Ph2. Therefore, the atmospheric pressure Ph1 quickly reaches the target value of 6 atm at time ta, and then maintains the target value. On the other hand, since the pressure Ph2 rises slowly, it does not reach the target value of 6 pressure at time ta, and reaches 6 pressure at time tb, which is later than time ta.

Thus, in a general pressurization control pattern in which pressurization is performed to a specific value PN by one pressurization step Rv, the pressure difference Ds between the pressure Ph1 and the pressure Ph2 becomes very large. That is, as shown in FIG. 25, the pressure difference Ds increases at time ta. When pressurization is performed at a pressurization speed as shown in FIG. 25, the pressure difference Ds at time ta is greater than 2 atmospheres. As a result, due to the extremely large pressure difference Ds, a large differential pressure acts on the wafer W in step S6, so that the wafer W is likely to be damaged.

On the other hand, in the pressurization control according to the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 26, the process of pressurizing the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is divided into n pressurization steps R1 to Rn, and both spaces are applied in stages. pressure. Note that the value of n may be appropriately changed as long as it is an integer of 2 or more.

In each of the divided pressurization steps R1 to Tn, electromagnetic valves 104 and 114 are opened to pressurize upper space H2 and lower space H1 to target value M determined for each pressurization step. Then, whichever of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 reaches the target value M first is controlled so that the air pressure value is maintained at the target value M until the other space reaches the target value M.

As an example, when the air pressure in the upper space H2 reaches the target value M first, the controller 33 closes the electromagnetic valve 104 at the time when the air pressure in the upper space H2 reaches the target value M to supply gas to the upper space H2. to stop On the other hand, the controller 33 keeps the electromagnetic valve 114 open to continue supplying the gas to the lower space H1. Through this control, the air pressure in the upper space H2 is maintained at the target value M, while the air pressure in the lower space H1 increases toward the target value M. When the air pressure in the lower space H1 reaches the target value M first, the control unit 33 performs control to close the electromagnetic valve 114 while keeping the electromagnetic valve 104 open. When the air pressures of the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 both reach the target value M, the next pressurization step R is started to open both the electromagnetic valves 104 and 114 and pressurize the lower space H1 and the upper space H2. Let

The target values M determined for each of the pressurizing steps R1 to Rn are distinguished as target values M1 to Mn. As an example, the target value M determined for the pressurizing step R1 is distinguished from the target values M of the other pressurizing steps R2 to Rn as the target value M1. The target values M1 to Mn are predetermined so as to increase stepwise. That is, the target value M2 is set to be higher than the target value M1, and the target value Mn is set to be the highest.

The number of pressurizing steps generated by dividing the process of pressurizing the upper space H2 and the lower space H1, that is, the value of n, may be changed as appropriate. That is, the number n of pressurization steps R1 to Rn is predetermined so that the pressure difference between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is maintained at a predetermined value or less.

FIG. 26 illustrates a configuration in which the process of pressurizing the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is divided into five pressurization steps R1 to T5, and control is performed to pressurize both spaces from 1 atm to 6 atm. . In this case, first, the target value M1 is set to 2 atmospheres in the first pressurization step R1. That is, the controller 33 controls the pressurizing device 32 so that the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 are pressurized from the starting value of 1 atmospheric pressure to the target value M1 of 2 atmospheric pressure.

When the first pressurization step R1 starts at time t0, the air pressure Ph1 of the upper space H2 quickly reaches the target value of 2 atmospheres at time t1. When the air pressure Ph1 in the upper space H2 reaches the target value, the control unit 33 switches the electromagnetic valve 104 from the open state to the closed state while maintaining the electromagnetic valve 114 in the open state. Through this control, the supply of gas to the upper space H2 is stopped, while the supply of gas to the lower space H1 is continued. Then, until time t2 when the pressure Ph2 in the lower space H1 reaches 2 pressure, the pressure Ph1 does not increase and maintains the state of 2 pressure, which is the target value M1.

When both the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 reach the target value M1 of 2 atmospheres, the second pressurization step R2 is started. When the second pressurization step R2 is started, the control unit 33 controls the electromagnetic valves 104 and 114 to be open to supply gas to the lower space H1 and the upper space H2.

In the second pressurization step R2, the target value M2 is set at 3 atmospheres higher than the target value M1. That is, in the second pressurization step R2, the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 are pressurized from the starting value of 2 atmospheres to the target value M2 of 3 atmospheres. The atmospheric pressure Ph1 of the upper space H2 reaches the target value M2 of 3 atmospheric pressure at time t3, and maintains the state of 3 atmospheric pressure until time t4. At time t4, the air pressure Ph2 reaches 3 atmospheres (target value M2), so that the second pressurization step R2 shifts to the third pressurization step R3.

In the third pressurization step R3, the target value M3 is set to 4 atmospheres higher than the target value M2, and the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 are pressurized from 3 atmospheres to 4 atmospheres. At time t4, the third pressurization step R3 is started, and at time t5, the atmospheric pressure Ph1 reaches 4 atmospheric pressure, which is the target value M3. At time t6, the atmospheric pressure Ph2 reaches 4 atmospheric pressures, and the process shifts from the third pressurization step R3 to the fourth pressurization step R4.

In the fourth pressurization step R4, the target value M4 is set at 5 atmospheres, which is higher than the target value M3, and the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 are pressurized from 4 atmospheres to 5 atmospheres. At time t6, the fourth pressurization step R4 is started, and at time t7, the atmospheric pressure Ph1 reaches 5 atmospheres. At time t8, the atmospheric pressure Ph2 reaches 5 atmospheric pressures, and the fourth pressurization step R4 shifts to the fifth pressurization step R5.

In the fifth pressurization step R5, the target value M5 is set to the final target of 6 atmospheres (specific value PN), and the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 are pressurized from 5 atmospheres to 6 atmospheres. . At time t8, the fifth pressurization step R5 is started, and at time t9, the atmospheric pressure Ph1 reaches 6 atmospheres. At time t10, the air pressure Ph2 reaches 6 atmospheres, completing the entire process of pressurizing the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 from the initial value PS to the specific value PN.

In this way, the process of pressurizing the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 from the initial value PS to the specific value PN is divided into a plurality of steps, and the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 are pressurized step by step. , in the second embodiment, the pressure difference Ds between the atmospheric pressures Ph1 and Ph2 can be reduced. In the configuration of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 26, the times at which the pressure difference Ds reaches its maximum are the times t1, t3, t5, t7, and t9 at which the pressure Ph1 reaches the target value in each of the pressurization steps R1 to R5. . The maximum value of the pressure difference Ds in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 26 is very small compared to the maximum value of the pressure difference Ds in the configuration in which pressure is applied to the specific value PN in one pressurization step Rv as shown in FIG. Become.

That is, the maximum value of the pressure difference Ds can be reduced by dividing the process of pressurizing the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to the specific value PN into a plurality of pressurizing steps T1 to Tn and pressurizing in stages. In other words, the maximum value of the pressure difference Ds can be reduced by repeating the operation of increasing the atmospheric pressures of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to target values set in the pressurization steps R1 to Rn.

One of the reasons why the maximum value of the pressure difference Ds can be reduced is that the difference between the start value and the target value in each pressurization step can be reduced by dividing the pressurization steps R1 to Rn. Specifically, in the configuration shown in FIG. 25, in one pressurization step, the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 are increased from 1 atm, which is the start value (initial value PS), to 6 atm, which is the target value (specific value PN). pressurize. That is, the amount of pressure increase (difference between the start value and the target value) in one pressurization step is 5 pressures. Therefore, when the pressure is increased by 5 atmospheres in one pressurization step, the maximum pressure difference Ds can be 5 atmospheres.

On the other hand, in the configuration shown in FIG. 26, since the process of increasing the pressure from 1 atm to 6 atm is divided into five pressurization steps T1 to T5, the amount of pressure increase in each of the pressurization steps T1 to T5 is 1 atm. . Therefore, the maximum value of the pressure difference Ds is suppressed to 1 atmosphere or less in each of the pressurization steps T1 to T5.

<Operation in Embodiment 2>
Here, the operation of the adhesive sheet sticking device 1 according to the second embodiment will be explained. The outline of the flowchart according to the second embodiment is common to the flowchart according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. The description of the steps that are the same as the operation of the adhesive sheet sticking apparatus 1 according to Example 1 will be simplified, and steps S5 and S6, which are different steps, will be described in detail.

Step S5 (pressure difference adjustment process)
When the first pasting process in step S4 is completed, the control section 33 sets the pressurization control pattern in step S6. In other words, the control unit 33 sets a control pattern for pressurizing the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure. Specifically, by executing five pressurization steps R1 to R5 in which target values M1 to M5 that increase stepwise are determined, the pressure in the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is set to be higher than the atmospheric pressure. The control unit 33 sets a control pattern for pressurizing to .

Each of the pressurization steps R1 to R5 is a step of increasing the atmospheric pressure of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to the target value M determined for each pressurization step. By setting the pressurization control pattern having pressurization steps R1 to R5 by the control unit 33, the pressure difference generated between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is suppressed to a predetermined value or less, that is, the pressure difference adjustment. the process is complete.

Step S6 (second pasting process)
After the pressurization control pattern for the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 using a plurality of pressurization steps R1 to R5 is set, the second pasting process is started. Control unit 33 closes electromagnetic valves 103, 105, 107, 110, and 113 shown in FIG. 6, and opens electromagnetic valves 104 and 114. FIG. Then, the control unit 33 operates the pressurizing device 32 to supply the gas to the lower space H1 and the upper space H2, and independently controls the opening and closing of the electromagnetic valves 104 and 114, so that the pressurization control pattern set in step S5 is controlled. The lower space H1 and the upper space H2 are pressurized step by step up to the specific value PN according to . In the second embodiment, the air pressures of the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 are increased by 1 atmosphere in each of the five divided pressurization steps R1 to R5.

In each of the pressurization steps R1 to R5, when the atmospheric pressure of one of the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 reaches the target value M, the atmospheric pressure of the other of the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 reaches the target value M. Until then, the controller 33 controls the pressurizing device 32 so that the air pressure in one of the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 maintains the target value M.

As an example, when the pressure Ph1 in the upper space H2 reaches the target value M1 before the pressure Ph2 in the lower space H1 in the pressurization step R1 having the target value M1, the electromagnetic valve 114 is opened and the electromagnetic valve 104 is closed. , the atmospheric pressure Ph1 maintains the target value M1 until the atmospheric pressure Ph2 reaches the target value M1. In other words, the atmospheric pressure Ph1 is not increased above the target value M1 until the atmospheric pressure Ph2 reaches the target value M1. Therefore, the pressure difference Ds between the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 generated in the pressurizing step R1 is suppressed to be equal to or less than the pressure increase amount in the pressurizing step R1 (1 atmospheric pressure or less in the second embodiment).

When the atmospheric pressures of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 both reach the target value M1, the pressurization step R1 is completed and the next pressurization step R2 is started. In the pressurization step R2, the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 are pressurized to the target value M2. When the pressure Ph1 in the upper space H2 reaches the target value M2 before the pressure Ph2 in the lower space H1, the pressure Ph1 maintains the target value M2 until the pressure Ph2 reaches the target value M2. When the atmospheric pressures of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 both reach the target value M2, the pressurization step R2 is completed and the next pressurization step R3 is started. Thereafter, the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 are pressurized stepwise by executing pressurization steps R3 to R5 in order.

In this way, by sequentially executing the pressurization steps R1 to R5 for increasing the atmospheric pressures of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to the target values M1 to M5, the atmospheric pressures of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 are increased from the initial value PS to Stepwise increase to specific value PN. By dividing the process of pressurizing the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 from the initial value PS to the specific value PN into a plurality of pressurizing steps R1 to R5, the upper space H2 generated in each of the pressurizing steps R1 to R5 and The upper limit of the pressure difference with the lower space H1 is reduced according to the number of pressure steps R1 to R5.

Therefore, by stepwise pressurizing the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 by sequentially executing the pressurizing steps R1 to R5, the upper space H2 and the lower space H2 generated in the process of pressurizing the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 The pressure difference with the lower space H1 can be suppressed to a predetermined value or less. Therefore, even when the pressure in the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is higher than the atmospheric pressure, the wafer W is not damaged due to the pressure difference between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1. can be avoided.

After the pressurizing steps R1 to R5 are completed, pressing forces V1 and V2 are applied to the wafer W for a predetermined period of time while the wafer W is pressurized to a specific value PN higher than the atmospheric pressure. It is pasted to do. After applying the pressing forces V1 and V2 for a predetermined period of time, the controller 33 stops the pressurizing device 32 . Then, the controller 33 fully opens the electromagnetic valves 105 and 107 to open the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 to the atmosphere. The control unit 33 raises the upper housing 29B to open the chamber 29, and raises the holding table 9 to bring the surface of the wafer W into contact with the wafer holding surface of the holding table 9, thereby completing the step S6. do. After step S6 is completed, the mount frame MF is created by executing steps S7 and S8 in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

In the second embodiment, the pressure difference adjustment process is executed by setting the pressurization control pattern by the controller 33 . That is, by setting the pressure control pattern set by the control unit 33 to a control pattern that gradually presses the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 through a plurality of pressure steps R1 to R5, the upper space H2 is The pressure difference between H2 and lower space H1 can be suppressed to a predetermined value or less. Therefore, even if a new mechanism such as the sheet punching section 76 is not incorporated into the adhesive tape applying apparatus 1, the occurrence of damage to the wafer W can be avoided by updating the program of the control section 33 regarding the pressure control pattern. In addition, the adhesion between the wafer W and the adhesive tape DT can be improved.

A third embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The adhesive sheet sticking device 1 according to the third embodiment has the same configuration as the adhesive sheet sticking device 1 according to the first embodiment. In Example 3, the configurations of the flow path and electromagnetic valves connected to the pressurizing device 32 are different from those of Example 1 or Example 2 shown in FIG. Further, in the third embodiment, the sheet punching portion 76 can be omitted as in the second embodiment.

FIG. 27 is a longitudinal sectional view of a chamber according to Example 3. FIG. In Embodiments 1 and 2, the electromagnetic valve 104 and the electromagnetic valve 114 are configured to switch between a completely open state and a completely closed state. That is, when gas is supplied to the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 with the electromagnetic valves 104 and 114 open, the amount of gas supplied to the lower space H1 and the amount of gas supplied to the upper space H2 per unit time It has the same configuration as the amount of gas.

On the other hand, the chamber 29 according to the third embodiment is configured to independently adjust the amount of gas supplied to the lower space H1 per unit time and the amount of gas supplied to the upper space H2 per unit time. there is In other words, the speed at which the gas pressure rises in the lower space H1 and the speed at which the gas pressure rises in the upper space H2 can be adjusted independently of each other.

In the third embodiment, as in the second embodiment, the electromagnetic valve 104 is arranged in the flow path 204 and the electromagnetic valve 114 is arranged in the flow path 203 . However, in the chamber 29 according to Example 3, as shown in FIG. The opening control valve 115 adjusts the amount of gas supplied to the upper space H2 through the flow path 204 by appropriately adjusting the opening of the electromagnetic valve 104 . The opening control valve 116 adjusts the amount of gas supplied to the lower space H<b>1 through the flow path 203 by appropriately adjusting the opening of the electromagnetic valve 114 .

In addition to the opening and closing operations of the electromagnetic valves 104 and 114, the adjustment of the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve 104 via the opening degree control valve 115 and the adjustment of the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve 114 via the opening degree control valve 116 are both performed. It is performed by the control unit 33 . That is, in the third embodiment, by providing the opening control valve 115 and the opening control valve 116, not only the on/off of the gas supply to the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 is independently controlled, but also the gas supply to the upper space H2 is controlled. It is also possible to independently adjust the velocity and the gas supply velocity to the lower space H1.

As described above, in the third embodiment, when the pressurizing device 32 is operated, the rate of increase in air pressure in the upper space H2 can be adjusted by adjusting the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve 104 . By adjusting the degree of opening of the electromagnetic valve 114, the rate of increase in atmospheric pressure in the lower space H1 can be adjusted. That is, in the third embodiment, the controller 33 independently controls the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve 114 and the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve 104, so that in step S6, the speed at which the air pressure in the upper space H2 rises and the air pressure in the lower space H1 It is configured to be able to independently control the rising speed of The controller 33 controls the opening degrees of the electromagnetic valves 114 and 104 so that the rate at which the pressure in the upper space H2 rises and the rate at which the pressure in the lower space H1 rises are equal to each other. , the pressure difference generated between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is suppressed to a predetermined value or less.

A mechanism that includes the pressurizing device 32, the flow path 204, the electromagnetic valve 104, and the opening control valve 115 and adjusts the pressure in the upper space H2 corresponds to the first transformation mechanism in the present invention. A mechanism that includes the pressurizing device 32, the flow path 203, the electromagnetic valve 114, and the opening control valve 116 and adjusts the pressure in the lower space H1 corresponds to the second transformation mechanism in the present invention.

<Operation in Embodiment 3>
Here, the operation of the adhesive sheet sticking device 1 according to Example 3 will be described. The outline of the flowchart according to the third embodiment is common to the flowchart according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. The description of the steps that are the same as the operation of the adhesive sheet sticking apparatus 1 according to Example 1 will be simplified, and steps S5 and S6, which are different steps, will be described in detail.

Step S5 (pressure difference adjustment process)
In Example 3, when the first pasting process related to step S4 is completed, the process of suppressing the pressure difference generated between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to a predetermined value or less is started. That is, the control unit 33 independently controls the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve 114 provided in the flow path 203 for pressurizing the lower space and the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve 104 provided in the flow path 204 for pressurizing the upper space. Control. At this time, the opening degrees of the electromagnetic valves 114 and 104 are respectively controlled so that the rate at which the air pressure in the upper space H2 rises and the rate at which the pressure in the lower space H1 rises are equal.

In the adhesive sheet sticking apparatus 1 according to Example 3, the volume of the upper space H2 is smaller than the volume of the lower space H1, as in the other examples. Therefore, when the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve 114 and the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve 104 are equal, the speed at which the air pressure in the upper space H2 rises is faster than the speed at which the pressure in the lower space H1 rises. Therefore, the controller 33 makes the opening of the electromagnetic valve 114 larger than the opening of the electromagnetic valve 104 so that the air pressure rising speeds of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 are equal. The control unit 33 adjusts the opening degrees of the electromagnetic valves 114 and 104 to complete the pressure difference adjustment process.

Step S6 (second pasting process)
After the control unit 33 adjusts the opening degrees of the electromagnetic valves 114 and 104, the second attaching process is started. That is, as shown in FIG. 28, the control unit 33 operates the pressurizing device 32 in a state in which the opening of the electromagnetic valve 114 is controlled to be larger than the opening of the electromagnetic valve 104, thereby opening the upper space H2 and the lower space H2. Gas is supplied to each of H1. By supplying the gas to each of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1, the controller 33 raises the pressure of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure.

As an example, when the pressurizing device 32 is operated in a state where the opening of the electromagnetic valve 114 is equal to the opening of the electromagnetic valve 104, the rate of increase of the pressure Ph2 in the lower space H1 is smaller than the rate of increase of the pressure Ph1 in the upper space H2. Therefore, a large pressure difference Ds is generated between the atmospheric pressures Ph1 and Ph2 (see FIG. 25).

On the other hand, in the third embodiment, the pressurizing device 32 is operated while the opening of the electromagnetic valve 114 is controlled to be larger than the opening of the electromagnetic valve 104. Therefore, the gas Ar1 supplied to the upper space H2 is , the gas Ar2 supplied to the lower space H1 increases in gas supply amount per unit time. Therefore, in the third embodiment, the rate of increase of the atmospheric pressure Ph2 is equal to the rate of increase of the atmospheric pressure Ph1 as shown in FIG. That is, the rising speed of the atmospheric pressure Ph2 is increased from the speed indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 29 to the speed indicated by the solid line.

By increasing the rate of increase of the atmospheric pressure Ph2 and making it equal to the rate of increase of the atmospheric pressure Ph1, the difference between the atmospheric pressures Ph1 and Ph2 is suppressed to a predetermined value or less. Therefore, the difference between the pressing force V1 acting on the wafer W from the upper space H2 side and the pressing force V2 acting on the wafer W from the lower space H1 side is suppressed to a predetermined value or less. It is possible to prevent the wafer W from being damaged in S6.

The pressure V1 and V2 are applied to the wafer W for a predetermined time while the pressure is applied to a specific value PN higher than the atmospheric pressure, so that the adhesive tape DT is adhered to the wafer W more closely. After applying the pressing forces V1 and V2 for a predetermined period of time, the controller 33 stops the pressurizing device 32 . Then, the controller 33 fully opens the electromagnetic valves 105 and 107 to open the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 to the atmosphere.

After that, the control unit 33 raises the upper housing 29B to open the chamber 29, raises the holding table 9, and brings the surface of the wafer W into contact with the wafer holding surface of the holding table 9, thereby performing the process related to step S6. is completed. After step S6 is completed, steps S7 and S8 are performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment, thereby creating a mount frame MF in which the wafer W and the adhesive tape DT are integrated.

In the third embodiment, the solenoid valve 104 is provided with the opening control valve 115, and the solenoid valve 114 is provided with the opening control valve 116, whereby the air pressure rise speed of the upper space H2 and the pressure rise speed of the lower space H1 are controlled. It has a configuration in which each of the is controlled independently. The pressure difference between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1, which is generated in step S6, is suppressed to a predetermined value or less by the configuration that pressurizes the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 independently. Since the sheet punching portion 76 is not required in the third embodiment, there is no need to consider the position and area for forming the through holes PH in the adhesive tape DT.

Further, by equalizing the air pressure increase rate in the upper space H2 and the air pressure increase rate in the lower space H1, after the air pressure in one of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 reaches the specific value PN, the other air pressure rises to the specific value PN. It is possible to avoid waiting time until the value PN is reached. As shown in FIG. 29, by increasing the rising speed of the atmospheric pressure Ph2 in the lower space H1 to be equal to the rising speed of the atmospheric pressure Ph1 in the upper space H2, the time at which the atmospheric pressure Ph2 reaches the specific value PN changes from tb to ta. be expedited. As a result, the time at which both the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 reach the specific value PN can be shortened, so the time required for the process of step S6 can be shortened.

Embodiment 4 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The adhesive sheet sticking device 1 according to the fourth embodiment has the same structure as the adhesive sheet sticking device 1 according to the first embodiment. However, in Example 4, the configuration of the chamber 29 is different from that of the other examples.

FIG. 30 is a cross-sectional view of the chamber 29 according to Example 4. FIG. The chamber 29 according to Example 4 includes a channel 135 that communicates and connects the lower housing 29A and the upper housing 29B. An electromagnetic valve 137 is provided in the flow path 135 , and the opening/closing operation of the electromagnetic valve 137 is controlled by the controller 33 . By opening the electromagnetic valve 137, gas can flow between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1. That is, by opening the electromagnetic valve 137, the flow path 135 functions as a vent through which gas flows between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1.

<Operation in Embodiment 4>
Here, the operation of the adhesive sheet sticking device 1 according to Example 4 will be described. The flowchart according to the fourth embodiment is common to the flowchart according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. The description of the steps that are the same as the operation of the adhesive sheet sticking apparatus 1 according to Example 1 will be simplified, and steps S5 and S6, which are different steps, will be described in detail.

Step S5 (pressure difference adjustment process)
In Example 4, when the first pasting process related to step S4 is completed, a process is performed as a pressure difference adjusting process to allow gas to flow between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1. That is, when step S5 starts, the controller 33 performs control to open the electromagnetic valve 137 . By opening the electromagnetic valve 137, gas can flow between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 via the flow path 135. As shown in FIG. The control unit 33 opens the electromagnetic valve 137 to complete the pressure difference adjustment process.

Step S6 (second pasting process)
After the electromagnetic valve 137 is opened by the controller 33, the second attaching process is started. First, the control unit 33 closes the electromagnetic valves 103, 105, 107, 110 and 113 shown in FIG. 6 and opens the electromagnetic valves 104 and 114. As shown in FIG. While the electromagnetic valve 137 is kept open, the controller 33 operates the pressurizing device 32 to supply the gas to the lower space H1 and the upper space H2, thereby increasing the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 to the specific value PN. pressurize to

By pressurizing the upper space H2, a pressing force V1 acts from the upper space H2 toward the adhesive tape DT and the front side of the wafer W, and a pressing force V2 acts from the lower space H1 toward the back side of the wafer W. (See FIG. 21). The adhesion between the adhesive tape DT and the wafer W is enhanced by the application of the pressing force V1 and the pressing force V2, which are pressures higher than the atmospheric pressure.

In the fourth embodiment, after opening the electromagnetic valve 137 in step S5, the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 are pressurized to a specific value PN higher than the atmospheric pressure. Therefore, even if a pressure difference occurs between the atmospheric pressure Ph2 of the lower space H1 and the atmospheric pressure Ph1 of the upper space H2, the gas flows between the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 via the flow path 135. , the pressure difference is quickly eliminated. Therefore, the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 can be pressurized to a specific value PN higher than the atmospheric pressure while the pressure difference generated between the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 is suppressed to a predetermined value or less. .

After applying the pressing forces V1 and V2 for a predetermined period of time, the controller 33 stops the pressurizing device 32 . Then, the controller 33 fully opens the electromagnetic valves 105 and 107 to open the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 to the atmosphere. The control unit 33 raises the upper housing 29B to open the chamber 29, and raises the holding table 9 to bring the surface of the wafer W into contact with the wafer holding surface of the holding table 9, thereby completing the step S6. do. After step S6 is completed, the mount frame MF is created by executing steps S7 and S8 in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

The fourth embodiment has a configuration in which gas can be circulated between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 by providing the channel 135 and the electromagnetic valve 137 . By pressurizing the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure while the electromagnetic valve 137 is open, the pressure difference between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 generated in step S6 is reduced to a predetermined value or less. can be suppressed. In the fourth embodiment as described above, the gas can be circulated between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 without forming the through holes PH in the adhesive tape DT. can be done.

A fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In Embodiments 1 to 4, the structure of the present invention was explained using the adhesive sheet sticking apparatus 1 that sticks the adhesive tape DT to the wafer W having the annular convex portion Ka as a work. On the other hand, in Example 5, as an example of a configuration in which the work and the sheet material are integrated, a sheet-like sealing material having adhesive strength is attached to the device mounted on the work, and the work and the sheet material are combined. The configuration of the present invention will be described using a device sealing apparatus 301 that integrates the .

The configuration of the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the fifth embodiment is basically the same as the configuration of the adhesive sheet sticking apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment. Therefore, the same reference numerals are given to the same configurations as those of the adhesive sheet sticking apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, and the different components will be described in detail.

The device sealing apparatus 301 seals a device mounted on a workpiece with a sheet material. LED 311 is sealed.

<Structure of workpiece and sheet material>
First, the configuration of the work and the sheet material according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 31(a) is a perspective view showing the rear surface side of the sealing member BP, and FIG. 31(b) is a longitudinal sectional view of the sealing member BP. FIG. 32 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the substrate 310 to be sealed by the sealing member BP and the ring frame f.

As shown in FIG. 31(a), the sealing member BP according to this example includes a sealing sheet BS and a transport sheet BT. The sealing sheet BS is previously cut into a predetermined shape corresponding to the shape of the substrate 310 . In this embodiment, the encapsulating sheet BS is preliminarily cut into a substantially rectangular shape. Here, the substantially rectangular shape means a rectangular shape with rounded corners, as shown in FIG. 31(a). Also, in this embodiment, the size of the sealing sheet BS is set to be larger than the substrate 310 and smaller than the inner diameter of the lower housing 29A, which will be described later.

The conveying sheet BT is elongated, and the sealing sheets BS are attached and held to the conveying sheet BT at a predetermined pitch. In Example 5, the sealing sheet BS corresponds to the sheet material in the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 31(b), the transport sheet BT has a structure in which a non-adhesive base material BTa and an adhesive material BTb are laminated. Examples of materials forming the base material BTa include polyolefin and polyethylene. An example of a material forming the adhesive BTb is an acrylic acid ester copolymer.

As shown in FIG. 31(b), the sealing sheet BS has a structure in which a non-adhesive base material BSa and an adhesive sealing material BSb are laminated. By attaching the base material BSa to the adhesive material BTb of the conveying sheet BT, the conveying sheet BT holds the sealing sheet BS. Examples of materials constituting the base material BSa include polyolefin and polyethylene. Although the sealing sheet BS has a substantially rectangular shape in this embodiment, it can be changed as appropriate according to the shape of the substrate 310 .

A separator BS (not shown) is attached to the sealing material BSb, and the adhesive surface of the sealing material BSb is exposed by peeling off the separator BS. In this embodiment, OCA (Optical Clear Adhesive), which is an optically transparent adhesive, is used as the material constituting the sealing material BSb.

As shown in FIG. 32, a plurality of LEDs 311 and TFTs (not shown) are mounted in parallel in a two-dimensional matrix on the central portion of the surface of substrate 310 . That is, the LEDs 311 make the surface of the substrate 310 uneven. The LED 311 is connected to the substrate 310 via a TFT, a bump (not shown), or the like. Examples of the substrate 310 include glass substrates, organic substrates, circuit boards, silicon wafers, and the like. Although the substrate 310 has a substantially rectangular shape in this embodiment, the shape of the substrate 310 may be appropriately changed to any shape such as a rectangular shape, a circular shape, or a polygonal shape. In Example 5, the substrate 310 corresponds to the work in the present invention. LED 311 corresponds to the device in the present invention.

The ring frame f is sized and shaped to surround the substrate 310 . The device sealing apparatus 301 according to the embodiment has a configuration in which the substrate 310 and the ring frame f are integrated by the sealing sheet BS by sealing the LEDs 311 mounted on the substrate 310 with the sealing sheet BS. An encapsulant BMF is created. In Example 5, the sealing body BMF corresponds to the semiconductor product in the present invention.

<Explanation of overall configuration>
Here, the overall configuration of the device sealing apparatus 301 according to Example 5 will be described. FIG. 33 is a plan view showing the basic configuration of a device sealing apparatus 301 according to Example 5. FIG. The device sealing apparatus 301 has a configuration including a horizontally long rectangular portion 301a and a projecting portion 301b. The protruding portion 301b is configured to connect with the central portion of the rectangular portion 301a and protrude upward.

A substrate transfer mechanism 303 is provided on the right side of the rectangular portion 301a. Two containers 305 containing substrates 310 are placed in parallel on the lower right side of the rectangular portion 301a. At the left end of the rectangular portion 301a, a sealing body collecting section 306 for collecting the sealing body BMF is provided.

The aligner 7, the holding table 309, and the frame supply section 12 are arranged in this order from the upper right of the rectangular section 301a. A sealing unit 313 that seals each of the LEDs 311 mounted on the substrate 310 with a sealing sheet BS is provided on the projecting portion 301b.

As shown in FIG. 34, the substrate transfer mechanism 303 includes a substrate transfer device 316 supported so as to reciprocate to the left and right on the right side of a guide rail 15 horizontally installed on the upper portion of the rectangular portion 301a. A frame transfer device 17 is provided on the left side of the guide rail 15 so as to be horizontally movable.

The substrate transfer device 316 is configured to transfer the substrate 310 taken out from one of the containers 5 to the left and right and to the front and rear. The substrate transfer device 16 is equipped with a laterally movable table 18 and a longitudinally movable table 19 . A holding unit 21 for holding the substrate 310 is provided below the front-rear movable table 19 . The lower part of the holding unit 21 is equipped with a horseshoe-shaped holding arm 23 . The holding arm 23 sucks and holds the substrate 310 via a suction pad provided on the holding surface. The holding arm 23 is configured to be able to move back and forth, move left and right, and turn around the z-axis while holding the substrate 310 by suction.

As shown in FIG. 35, the holding table 309 is a metal chuck table having the same shape or larger size than the substrate 310, and communicates with each of the vacuum device 31 and the pressure device 32 provided outside. It is connected. Operations of the vacuum device 31 and the pressure device 32 are controlled by the controller 33 . The holding table 309 is housed in a lower housing 29A that constitutes the chamber 29, and can move up and down inside the chamber 29. As shown in FIG.

Note that the holding table 309 in the fifth embodiment differs from the holding table 9 according to the first embodiment in that it does not have the annular projection 9a. That is, since the substrate 310 does not have the annular projection Ka and the flat recess He, the holding table 309 according to the fifth embodiment does not need to have the annular projection 9a. Therefore, the holding table 309 is flat as a whole.

The lower housing 29A has a frame holding portion 38 surrounding the lower housing 29A. The frame holding portion 38 is configured such that when the ring frame f is placed thereon, the upper surface of the ring frame f and the cylindrical top portion of the lower housing 29A are flush with each other. Moreover, it is preferable that the cylindrical top portion of the lower housing 29A is subjected to mold release treatment.

As shown in FIG. 33, the holding table 309 is configured to be able to reciprocate between an initial position and a sealing position along rails 40 attached in the front-rear direction. The initial position is inside the rectangular portion 1a, which is the position where the holding table 309 is indicated by solid lines in FIG. At the set position, the substrate 310 is placed on the holding table 309 .

The sealing position is inside the projecting portion 301b, and is the position where the holding table 309 is indicated by the dotted line in FIG. By moving the holding table 309 to the sealing position, the sealing process using the sealing member BP can be performed on the substrate 310 placed on the holding table 309 . The frame supply unit 12 stores drawer-type cassettes in which a predetermined number of ring frames f are stacked and stored.

As shown in FIG. 5, the sealing unit 313 includes a sheet supply section 371, a separator recovery section 72, a device sealing section 373, a sheet recovery section 374, and the like. The sheet supply unit 371 supplies the sealing member BP to the sealing position from the supply bobbin loaded with the original roll around which the separator-attached sealing member BPS (the sealing member BP to which the separator S is attached) is wound. In the process, the separator S is peeled off by the separator peeling roller 75 .

The separator collecting section 72 is provided with a collecting bobbin for winding the separator S separated from the sealing member BP. The recovery bobbin is controlled to rotate in forward and reverse directions by a motor.

The device sealing section 373 is composed of the chamber 29, the device sealing mechanism 381, the sheet cutting mechanism 82, and the like.

The chamber 29 is composed of a lower housing 29A and an upper housing 29B. The lower housing 29A is arranged to surround the holding table 309, and reciprocates back and forth together with the holding table 9 between the initial position and the sealing position. The upper housing 29B is arranged on the projecting portion 301b and configured to be movable up and down. In Example 5, the configuration of the chamber 29 is the same as that of Example 1 shown in FIG. 6, so details thereof are omitted.

The device sealing mechanism 381 includes a movable table 84, a pasting roller 85, a nip roller 86, and the like. The sheet cutting mechanism 82 is provided on an elevation drive table 91 for raising and lowering the upper housing 29B, and has a support shaft 92 extending in the z-direction and a boss portion 93 rotating around the support shaft 92 . The boss portion 93 includes a plurality of radially extending support arms 94 . A disc-shaped cutter 95 for cutting the conveying sheet BT of the sealing member BP along the ring frame f is provided at the tip of at least one support arm 94 so as to be vertically movable.

The sheet recovery unit 374 includes a recovery bobbin that winds up the unnecessary conveying sheet BT peeled off after cutting. This recovery bobbin is controlled to rotate in forward and reverse directions by a motor (not shown). As shown in FIG. 4, the sealing body recovery section 306 is provided with a cassette 41 for loading and recovering the sealing body BMF. The cassette 41 is provided with a vertical rail 45 connected and fixed to an apparatus frame 43 and an elevator table 49 that is lifted and lowered by a motor 47 along the vertical rail 45 . Therefore, the sealed body collecting section 306 is configured to place the sealed body BMF on the lifting table 49 and move it down by pitch feeding.

In the fifth embodiment, a sheet punching portion 76 is provided inside the upper housing 29B as in the first embodiment. In Example 5, the sheet punching unit 76 forms the through holes PH in the conveying sheet BT. The configuration of the sheet punching portion 76 according to the fifth embodiment is the same as the configuration of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

<Outline of operation>
Now, the basic operation of the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the fifth embodiment will be described. FIG. 36 is a flowchart illustrating a series of steps for manufacturing a sealed body BMF by sealing the LEDs 311 mounted on the substrate 310 with the sealing sheet BS using the device sealing apparatus 301. FIG.

Step S1 (supply of work)
When a sealing command is issued, the ring frame f is conveyed from the frame supply section 12 to the frame holding section 38 of the lower housing 29A, and the substrate 310 is conveyed from the container 305 to the holding table 309. FIG.

That is, the frame conveying device 17 sucks the ring frame f from the frame supply section 12 and transfers it to the frame holding section 38 . When the frame conveying device 17 releases the suction of the ring frame f and ascends, the ring frame f is aligned. The alignment is performed, for example, by synchronously moving a plurality of support pins erected so as to surround the frame holding portion 38 toward the center. The ring frame f is set in the frame holding portion 38 and stands by until the substrate 310 is conveyed.

While the frame conveying device 17 conveys the ring frame f, the substrate conveying device 316 inserts the holding arm 23 between the substrates 310 stored in multiple stages. The holding arm 23 sucks and holds a portion of the surface of the substrate 310 where the LEDs 311 are not mounted (portion on the peripheral edge side), carries the substrate 310 to the aligner 7 . The aligner 7 sucks the center of the back surface of the substrate 310 with a suction pad protruding from the center. At the same time, the substrate transfer device 316 releases the suction of the substrate 310 and retreats upward. The aligner 7 holds and rotates the substrate 310 with a suction pad, and aligns the substrate 310 based on notches or the like.

After the alignment is completed, the suction pad that has suctioned the substrate 310 is made to protrude from the surface of the aligner 7 . The substrate transfer device 316 moves to that position and holds the substrate 310 by suction from the surface side. The suction pad releases suction and descends.

The substrate transfer device 316 moves above the holding table 309 and places the substrate 310 on the holding table 309 with the surface side on which the LEDs 311 are mounted facing upward. When the holding table 309 sucks and holds the substrate 310 and the frame holding portion 38 sucks and holds the ring frame f, the lower housing 29A moves along the rails 40 from the initial position to the sealing position on the side of the device sealing mechanism 381. . FIG. 37 shows a state in which the substrate 310 is supplied to the holding table 309 and moved to the sealing position.

Step S2 (supply of sealing sheet)
When the workpiece is supplied by the substrate transfer device 316 or the like, the sealing sheet BS is supplied in the sealing unit 313 . That is, a predetermined amount of the sealing member BP is fed out from the sheet supply portion 371 while the separator S is peeled off. The sealing member BP, which is elongated as a whole, is guided above the sealing position along a predetermined transport path. At this time, as shown in FIG. 38 , the sealing sheet BS held by the conveying sheet BT is positioned above the substrate 310 placed on the holding table 309 .

Step S3 (formation of chamber)
When the workpiece and sealing sheet BS are supplied, the joining roller 85 descends as shown in FIG. Then, the pasting roller 85 rolls on the conveying sheet BT to adhere the conveying sheet BT over the ring frame f and the top of the lower housing 29A. In conjunction with the movement of the pasting roller 85, a predetermined amount of the sealing member BP is fed out from the sheet supply portion 371 while the separator S is peeled off.

When the conveying sheet BT is attached to the ring frame f, the attachment roller 85 is returned to its initial position, and the upper housing 29B is lowered. As the upper housing 29B descends, as shown in FIG. 40, the portion of the conveying sheet BT attached to the top of the lower housing 29A is sandwiched between the upper housing 29B and the lower housing 29A to form the chamber 29. be.

At this time, the conveying sheet BT functions as a sealing material, and the chamber 29 is divided into two spaces by the adhesive tape DT. That is, it is divided into a lower space H1 on the side of the lower housing 29A and an upper space H2 on the side of the upper housing 29B with the conveying sheet BT interposed therebetween. A substrate 310 positioned in the lower housing 29A is closely opposed to the sealing sheet BS with a predetermined clearance.

Step S4 (first sealing process)
After forming the chamber 29, the first sealing process begins. In Example 5, the first sealing process corresponds to the first integration process in the present invention. When the first sealing process is started, the controller 33 first closes the electromagnetic valves 104 , 105 , 107 , 110114 and opens the electromagnetic valves 103 and 113 . Then, the controller 33 operates the vacuum device 31 to reduce the pressure in the lower space H1 and the pressure in the upper space H2 to a predetermined value. Examples of the predetermined value include 10 Pa to 100 Pa.

When the atmospheric pressures of the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 are reduced to a predetermined value, the controller 33 closes the electromagnetic valve 103 and stops the operation of the vacuum device 31 . Then, the controller 33 keeps the electromagnetic valves 103, 105, 107, and 113 connected to the lower space H1 closed so that the pressure in the upper space H2 is higher than the pressure in the lower space H1. It is controlled to adjust the opening degree of the connected electromagnetic valve 110 to leak.

When the air pressure in the upper space H2 is higher than that in the lower space H1, a differential pressure Fa is generated between the two spaces as shown in FIG. Due to the generation of the differential pressure Fa, the adhesive tape DT is drawn from the central portion toward the lower housing 29A and deformed into a convex shape. In Example 5, as in Example 1, after adjusting the atmospheric pressures of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to 10 Pa in step S4, the differential pressure Fa is generated by adjusting the atmospheric pressure of the upper space H2 from 10 Pa to 100 Pa. Let

After generating the differential pressure Fa, the actuator 37 is driven to raise the holding table 309 as shown in FIG. Due to the deformation of the sealing member BP due to the differential pressure Fa and the lifting of the holding table 309, the sealing sheet BS is radially applied to the surface of the substrate 310 from the center toward the outer periphery in the lower space H1 from which the air is evacuated. come into contact. Due to the contact, each of the LEDs 311 mounted on the substrate 310 is covered with the sealing sheet BS.

When the LED 11 is covered with the sealing sheet BS, the controller 33 opens the electromagnetic valves 105 and 107 to open the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to the atmosphere. The opening to the atmosphere completes the first sealing process. Thus, in the first sealing process, the LEDs 311 are covered with the sealing sheet BS by bringing the sealing sheet BS into contact with the surface of the substrate 310 while the pressure inside the chamber 29 is reduced. By this operation, the sealing sheet BS is attached to the substrate 310 .

Step S5 (pressure difference adjustment process)
After the first sealing process using the differential pressure Fa is completed, the pressure differential adjustment process is started. In the fifth embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the sheet punching section 76 is used to suppress the pressure difference between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to a predetermined value or less. That is, by forming a through hole in the conveying sheet BT using the sheet punching unit 76, the pressure difference generated between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 in step S6 is suppressed to a predetermined value or less.

When step S5 starts, as shown in FIG. 43, the control section 33 drives the elevation drive table 97 to lower the sheet punching section 76. As shown in FIG. As the sheet punching portion 76 descends, each of the cutters 129 pierces the portion of the conveying sheet BT between the ring frame f and the sealing sheet BS. By piercing the conveying sheet BT with the cutter 129, a through hole PH is formed in a portion of the conveying sheet BT between the ring frame f and the sealing sheet BS.

By forming the through hole PH, a vent hole through which gas flows between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is formed. That is, by forming the through holes PH in the conveying sheet BT, the state in which the interior of the chamber 29 is divided into the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is eliminated. By allowing gas to flow between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 through the through hole PH, the pressure difference generated between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 in step S6 is reduced to a predetermined value or less. be able to. For convenience of explanation, even after the through holes PH are formed in the conveying sheet BT, the space on the side where the substrate 310 is arranged with the conveying sheet BT as a boundary is referred to as a lower space H1. The space on the opposite side of the lower space H1 with the conveying sheet BT interposed therebetween will be referred to as an upper space H2, and the description will be continued.

After the sheet punching unit 76 is lowered to pierce the conveying sheet BT with the cutter 129, as shown in FIG. 44, the rotating shaft unit 99 is rotated around the axis in the z direction. As the rotating shaft portion 99 rotates, each of the cutters 129 arranged on the tip end side of the support arm 127 moves along the circular path L1 centering on the rotating shaft portion 99, and cuts the conveying sheet BT. cut off.

As the cutter 129 moves along the circular path L1, each of the through holes PH is widened in an arc shape along the circular path L1, as shown in FIG. The rotation angle θ of the rotating shaft portion 99 in step S5 is set to an angle that allows the process of conveying the sealing body BMF in step S8 to be performed appropriately. By widening the through-hole PH, more gas can flow between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1. can be made smaller.

After the through hole PH is formed by lowering and rotating the sheet punching unit 76, the control unit 33 drives the elevation drive base 97 to raise the sheet punching unit 76 to the initial position. While the sheet punching section 76 is raised, the control section 33 controls the actuator 37 to lower the holding table 309 to the initial position. By forming the through holes PH at the predetermined positions, the pressure difference adjustment process in step S5 of the fifth embodiment is completed.

Step S6 (second sealing process)
After the through holes PH are formed in the conveying sheet BT by the sheet punching part 76, the second sealing process is started. In Example 5, the second sealing process corresponds to the second integration process in the present invention. When the second sealing process is started, the controller 33 first closes the electromagnetic valves 103, 105, 107, 110 and 113 shown in FIG. 6 and opens the electromagnetic valves 104 and 114. As shown in FIG. Then, the control unit 33 operates the pressurizing device 32 to supply the gas Ar to the lower space H1 and the upper space H2, and pressurize the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 to the specific value PN. Examples of specific value PN include 0.3 MPa to 0.6 MPa. As the pressurizing device 32 performs the pressurizing operation, both the pressure in the lower space H1 and the pressure in the upper space H2 become higher than the atmospheric pressure.

By pressurizing the upper space H2, as shown in FIG. 46, a pressing force V1 acts from the upper space H2 toward the sealing sheet BS. Since the entire upper space H2 is pressurized, the pressing force V1 acts uniformly over the entire sealing sheet BS. Further, by pressurizing the entire lower space H1, the pressing force V2 uniformly acts on the downward surface of the substrate 310 from the lower space H1. That is, pressing force V<b>1 and pressing force V<b>2 act between sealing sheet BS and substrate 310 by applying pressure to specific value PN higher than atmospheric pressure.

Then, the gaps between the LEDs 311 are filled with the sealing material BSb of the sealing sheet BS by uniformly applying the pressing force V1 and the pressing force V2, which are forces higher than the atmospheric pressure. As a result, the adhesion between the encapsulating sheet BS and the substrate 310 is improved, so that it is possible to prevent the encapsulating sheet BS from peeling off from the substrate 310 over time. As a result, the substrate 310 and the encapsulating sheet BS are brought into closer contact with each other, and the LEDs 311 are encapsulated by the encapsulating sheet BS.

In the fifth embodiment, the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 are pressurized to the specific value PN after the through holes PH are formed in the conveying sheet BT in step S5. Therefore, even if a pressure difference occurs between the pressure Ph2 of the lower space H1 and the pressure Ph1 of the upper space H2 due to factors such as the difference between the width of the lower space H1 and the width of the upper space H2, the pressure difference is quickly resolved. That is, since the gas can flow between the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 via the through hole PH, it is possible to prevent the pressure Ph1 and the pressure Ph2 from being biased. Therefore, the pressure difference generated between the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 is suppressed to a predetermined value or less.

The magnitude of the pressing force V1 depends on the atmospheric pressure Ph1, and the magnitude of the pressing force V2 depends on the atmospheric pressure Ph2. Therefore, by suppressing the difference between the atmospheric pressures Ph1 and Ph2 to a predetermined value or less, the pressing force V1 acting on the wafer W from the upper space H2 side and the pressing force V1 acting on the wafer W from the lower space H1 side The difference from the pressing force V2 can be suppressed to a predetermined value or less. Therefore, by reducing the pressure difference between the lower space H1 and the upper space H2, damage such as cracking, chipping, or distortion due to the pressure difference can be avoided. .

While the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 are pressurized to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure, a pressing force is applied between the sealing sheet BS and the substrate 310 for a predetermined time. stop. Then, the controller 33 opens the electromagnetic valves 105 and 107 to open the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 to the atmosphere. The controller 33 raises the upper housing 29B to open the chamber 29, and raises the holding table 309 to bring the back surface of the substrate 310 into contact with the substrate holding surface of the holding table 309. FIG.

Step S7 (cutting of sheet)
Note that the sheet cutting mechanism 82 is operated to cut the sealing member BP while the steps S4 to S6 are being performed in the chamber 29 . At this time, as shown in FIG. 47, the cutter 95 cuts the sealing member BP (specifically, the conveying sheet BT) attached to the ring frame f into the shape of the ring frame f, and the pressure roller 96 follows the cutter 95 and presses the cut portion of the sheet on the ring frame f while rolling.

Since the first sticking process in step S4 and the second sticking process in step S5 are completed when the upper housing 29B is lifted, the pinch rollers 90 are lifted to release the nip of the conveying sheet BT. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 48 , the nip roller 86 is moved to wind up and collect the cut unnecessary conveying sheet BT toward the sheet collecting portion 374 , and a predetermined amount of sealing is carried out from the sheet supplying portion 371 . Pay out the member BP. Through the steps up to step S7, a sealing body BMF is formed in which the ring frame f and the substrate 310 are integrated via the sealing member BP.

When the unnecessary transport sheet BT is wound and collected, the nip roller 86 and the pasting roller 85 return to their initial positions. Then, the holding table 309 moves from the affixing position to the initial position while holding the sealing body BMF.

Step S8 (recovery of sealed body)
When the holding table 309 returns to the initial position, as shown in FIG. 49, the suction pad 28 provided in the frame transfer device 17 sucks and holds the sealing body BMF, and separates the sealing body BMF from the lower housing 29A. . The frame conveying device 17 sucking and holding the sealing body BMF conveys the sealing body BMF to the sealing body recovery section 306 . The transported sealed bodies BMF are stacked and stored in the cassette 41 .

Thus, a round of operations for sealing the LEDs 311 mounted on the substrate 310 with the sealing sheet BS is completed. Thereafter, the above process is repeated until the number of sealing bodies BMF reaches a predetermined number.

<Effects of Configuration of Example 5>
According to the apparatus according to Example 5, by adjusting the air pressure inside the chamber 29, the LEDs 311 mounted on the substrate 310 are sealed with the sealing sheet BS, which is a sheet-like sealing material. In the device encapsulation method according to Patent Document 1, in which a liquid encapsulating material is filled around the device and then cured, the encapsulating material may be damaged due to, for example, the inclusion of air bubbles in the uncured resin. flatness on the surface of the

On the other hand, in the configuration of the present invention, each of the base material BSa and the sealing material BSb included in the sealing sheet BS has a flat sheet shape in advance. Therefore, the flatness of the surface of the encapsulating sheet S can be improved in a state where the encapsulation by the encapsulating sheet BS is completed. In addition, since sealing is performed by adjusting the air pressure inside the chamber 29 with the substrate 310 and the sealing sheet BS arranged inside the chamber 29, the differential pressure Fa, or The pressing forces V1 and V2 act uniformly. Therefore, it is possible to reliably avoid unevenness on the surface of the encapsulating sheet BS due to uneven force acting on the encapsulating sheet BS, so that the flatness of the encapsulating sheet BS can be more reliably improved.

According to the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the fifth embodiment, effects similar to those of the adhesive sheet sticking apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment can be obtained. By performing the first sealing process, the pressure difference adjusting process, and the second sealing process using the chamber 29, when sealing the sealing sheet BS with respect to the substrate 310 on which the LED 311 is mounted, the substrate Adhesion between the sealing sheet BS and the substrate 310 can be improved while avoiding damage to the sealing sheet BS.

In the first sealing process of step S4, inside the chamber 29, the inside of the lower space H1 in which the substrate 310 is arranged is decompressed. That is, since the space around the encapsulating sheet BS and the substrate 310 is decompressed, air is trapped between the encapsulating sheet BS and the LEDs 311 when the encapsulating sheet BS contacts and covers the LEDs 11. can be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a decrease in adhesion force due to entrainment of gas.

Further, in the second sealing process related to step S6, the air pressure in the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 is pressurized so as to be higher than the atmospheric pressure, so that the sealing material BSb of the sealing sheet BS is accurately applied to the LEDs 11. Fill the gap.

When the pressure difference Fa is generated by reducing the pressure inside the chamber using a vacuum device, the magnitude of the pressure difference Fa generated by reducing the pressure from the atmospheric pressure state is below the atmospheric pressure. That is, when the encapsulating sheet BS is pressed against the LEDs 311 using only the differential pressure Fa, there is an upper limit to the magnitude of the force that causes the encapsulating sheet BS to press the LEDs 311 . Therefore, as shown in FIG. 50A, in a state where the sealing material BSb of the sealing sheet BS covers the LED 11 due to the differential pressure Fa caused by the reduced pressure, the space around the LED 311 cannot be completely filled with the sealing material BSb. , a gap J may occur.

On the other hand, in the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the fifth embodiment, the pressurizing device 32 is used to pressurize the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 in the chamber 29 so that the pressure is higher than the atmospheric pressure. That is, in the second sealing process, pressing forces V1 and V2 larger than the differential pressure Fa can be applied to the sealing sheet BS and the LEDs 311 . Therefore, as shown in FIG. 50(b), the uncured sealing material BSb is further deformed under the action of the pressing forces V1 and V2, and fills the gap J with certainty. Therefore, the LED 311 can be sealed more accurately by performing the second sealing process, so that the substrate 310 and the sealing sheet BS can be integrated with the substrate 310 and the sealing sheet BS in a state where the adhesion between the substrate 310 and the sealing sheet BS is further enhanced. .

Also, in the second sealing process, by appropriately controlling the pressurizing device 32, the magnitudes of the pressing forces V1 and V2 can be adjusted to arbitrary values. Therefore, even if various conditions such as the constituent material of the adhesive material BTb or the size of the substrate 310 and the size of the LED 311 are changed, by appropriately adjusting the magnitudes of the pressing forces V1 and V2, the LED 311 can be sealed in

In the device sealing apparatus 1 according to Example 5, the pressure difference adjustment process is performed before the second sealing process, so that the pressure difference generated between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 in the second bonding process is reduced. is reduced below a predetermined value. By performing the pressure difference adjustment process, the adhesiveness between the encapsulating sheet BS and the substrate 310 is enhanced, and damage such as cracking, chipping, or distortion of the substrate 310 can be more reliably avoided.

Specifically, the sheet punching part 76 is used to form the through hole PH in the sealing member BP before the second attaching process. Since the gas can flow between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 through the through hole PH, even if a pressure difference occurs between the pressing force V1 and the pressing force V2, the gas can flow. The pressure difference is quickly eliminated by the circulation. Therefore, when pressurizing the inside of the chamber 29 in step S6, the pressure difference generated between the pressing force V1 and the pressing force V2 can be maintained in a state of being reduced to a predetermined value or less. It is possible to avoid damage to the substrate 310 or the LEDs 311 due to the pressure difference between the pressing force V1 and the pressing force V2 while increasing the adhesion between the encapsulating sheet BS and the substrate 310 by V2.

Next, Example 6 of the present invention will be described. In the sixth embodiment, the pressure difference adjusting process according to the second embodiment is performed in the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the fifth embodiment. That is, the configuration of the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the sixth embodiment is a configuration in which the sheet punching section 76 is omitted from the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the fifth embodiment.

When the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the sixth embodiment is used to seal the LEDs 311 mounted on the substrate 301 with the sealing sheet BS, the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 are separated by the control pattern set by the control unit 33. reduce the pressure difference that occurs between Since the control pattern set by the control unit 33 in step S5 according to the sixth embodiment is common to the control pattern of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 26, the description thereof is omitted.

The operation of the device sealing apparatus 301 according to Example 6 is as follows. In the series of operations according to the sixth embodiment, steps S1 to S4 are common to the fifth embodiment, and steps S5 to S6 are different from the fifth embodiment. When the first pasting process in step S4 is completed, the pressure difference adjusting process in step S5 is started. That is, the controller 33 sets the pressure control pattern in step S6. Specifically, by executing five pressurization steps R1 to R5 in which target values M1 to M5 that increase stepwise are determined, the pressure in the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is set to be higher than the atmospheric pressure. The control unit 33 sets a control pattern for pressurizing to .

Each of the pressurization steps R1 to R5 is a step of increasing the atmospheric pressure of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to the target value M determined for each pressurization step. By setting the pressurization control pattern having pressurization steps R1 to R5 by the control unit 33, the pressure difference generated between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is reduced to a predetermined value or less, that is, the pressure difference adjustment. the process is complete.

After the pressurization control pattern for the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is set using a plurality of pressurization steps R1 to R5, the second sealing process in step S6 is started. The control unit 33 closes the electromagnetic valves 103, 105, 107, 110 and 113 shown in FIG. 58 and opens the electromagnetic valves 104 and 114. FIG. Then, the control unit 33 operates the pressurizing device 32 to supply gas to the lower space H1 and the upper space H2, and according to the pressurization control pattern set in step S5, the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 are raised to the specific value PN. Apply pressure step by step. In the sixth embodiment, the pressures of the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 are increased by 1 atmosphere in each of the five divided pressurization steps R1 to R5.

In each of the pressurization steps R1 to R5, when the atmospheric pressure of one of the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 reaches the target value M, the atmospheric pressure of the other of the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 reaches the target value M. Until then, the controller 33 controls the pressurizing device 32 so that the air pressure in one of the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 maintains the target value M. By sequentially executing the pressurization steps R1 to R5, the pressure difference between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is maintained in a reduced state, and the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 are pressurized step by step. Since the pressure difference between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is reduced, even when the pressure in the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is higher than the atmospheric pressure, the pressure difference between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 is reduced. It is possible to avoid damage to the substrate 310 due to the pressure difference between the .

After the pressurizing steps R1 to R5 are completed, pressing forces V1 and V2 are applied to the substrate 310 and the sealing member BP for a predetermined time in a state of being pressurized to a specific value PN higher than the atmospheric pressure. 310 and LED 311 are sealed more tightly. After applying the pressing forces V1 and V2 for a predetermined period of time, the controller 33 stops the pressurizing device 32 and opens the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 to the atmosphere. Further, the control unit 33 lifts the upper housing 29B to open the chamber 29 and lifts the holding table 309, thereby completing the step S6. After step S6 is completed, the sealing body BMF is produced by performing steps S7 and S8 in the same manner as in the fifth embodiment.

Thus, in Example 6, the device sealing apparatus 301 is used to perform the pressure difference adjustment process and the second sealing process according to Example 2, so that the LED 311 is sealed with the sealing sheet BS and sealed. Advantageous effects similar to those of Example 2 can be obtained in the process of manufacturing the body BMF. That is, by setting the pressurization control pattern set by the control unit 33 as a control pattern for stepwise pressurization of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 through a plurality of pressurization steps R1 to R5, the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 are pressurized in the second sealing process. The pressure difference between the space H2 and the lower space H1 can be suppressed to a predetermined value or less. Therefore, even if a mechanical mechanism such as the sheet punching part 76 is not newly incorporated into the device sealing apparatus 301, damage to the substrate 310 can be avoided by updating the program of the control part 33 regarding the pressure control pattern. At the same time, the adhesion between the substrate 310 and the encapsulating sheet BS can be improved.

Next, Example 7 of the present invention will be described. In the seventh embodiment, the pressure difference adjusting process according to the third embodiment is performed in the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the fifth embodiment. That is, the configuration of the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the seventh embodiment is the same as that of the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the fifth embodiment, except that the chamber 29 shown in FIG. 27 is provided.

That is, in the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the seventh embodiment, the electromagnetic valve 104 arranged in the channel 204 is provided with the opening control valve 115, and the electromagnetic valve 114 arranged in the channel 203 is provided with an opening control valve 116 . That is, in the seventh embodiment, as in the third embodiment, the control unit 33 independently controls the opening of the electromagnetic valve 114 and the opening of the electromagnetic valve 104, so that the speed at which the air pressure in the upper space H2 rises in step S6 is and the speed at which the air pressure in the lower space H1 rises can be independently controlled.

<Operation in Embodiment 7>
Here, the operation of the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the seventh embodiment will be explained. The flowchart according to the seventh embodiment is common to the flowchart according to the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. The description of steps that are the same as the operation of the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the fifth embodiment will be simplified, and steps S5 and S6, which are different steps, will be described in detail.

Step S5 (pressure difference adjustment process)
In the seventh embodiment, when the first sealing process related to step S4 is completed, the process of reducing the pressure difference generated between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to a predetermined value or less is started. That is, the control unit 33 independently controls the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve 114 provided in the flow path 203 for pressurizing the lower space and the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve 104 provided in the flow path 204 for pressurizing the upper space. Control. At this time, the opening degrees of the electromagnetic valves 114 and 104 are respectively controlled so that the rate at which the air pressure in the upper space H2 rises and the rate at which the pressure in the lower space H1 rises are equal. As an example, when the volume of the upper space H2 is smaller than the volume of the lower space H1, the opening of the electromagnetic valve 114 is made larger than the opening of the electromagnetic valve 104. The control unit 33 adjusts the opening degrees of the electromagnetic valves 114 and 104 to complete the pressure difference adjustment process.

Step S6 (second pasting process)
After the opening degrees of the electromagnetic valves 114 and 134 are adjusted by the controller 33, the second attaching process is started. That is, as shown in FIG. 28, the control unit 33 operates the pressurizing device 32 in a state in which the opening of the electromagnetic valve 114 is controlled to be larger than the opening of the electromagnetic valve 104, thereby opening the upper space H2 and the lower space H2. Gas is supplied to each of H1. By supplying the gas to each of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1, the controller 33 raises the pressure of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure.

In the seventh embodiment, the pressurizing device 32 is operated while the opening of the electromagnetic valve 114 is controlled to be greater than the opening of the electromagnetic valve 104, so the rate of increase of the pressure Ph2 is equal to the rate of increase of the pressure Ph1. (See Figure 29). That is, as in Example 3, the rate of increase of Ph2 is increased from the speed indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 29 to the speed indicated by the solid line. As a result, the difference between the atmospheric pressure Ph1 and the atmospheric pressure Ph2 is suppressed to a predetermined value or less. That is, the difference between the pressing force V1 acting on the substrate 310 from the upper space H2 side and the pressing force V2 acting on the substrate 310 from the lower space H1 side is suppressed to a predetermined value or less. Damage to the substrate 310 or the LED 311 in S6 can be avoided.

By applying pressing forces V1 and V2 to the wafer W for a predetermined time while the wafer W is pressurized to a specific value PN higher than the atmospheric pressure, the sealing sheet BS is sealed so as to be in closer contact with the substrate 310 and the LEDs 311. A space around the LED 311 is filled with a sealing material BSb.

After applying the pressing forces V1 and V2 for a predetermined period of time, the controller 33 stops the pressurizing device 32 . Then, the controller 33 opens the electromagnetic valves 105 and 107 to open the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 to the atmosphere. The control unit 33 raises the upper housing 29B to open the chamber 29, and raises the holding table 309 to bring the back surface of the substrate 310 into contact with the substrate holding surface of the holding table 309, thereby completing the step S6. do. After step S6 is completed, the sealing body BMF is produced by performing steps S7 and S8 in the same manner as in the third embodiment.

In the seventh embodiment, similarly to the third embodiment, the opening degree control valve 115 and the opening degree control valve 116 are provided to independently pressurize and control the upper space H2 and the lower space H1. The pressure difference between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1, which is generated in step S6, is suppressed to a predetermined value or less by the configuration that pressurizes the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 independently. Since the sheet punching portion 76 is not required in the third embodiment, there is no need to consider the position and area of the through hole PH formed in the sealing member BP.

Further, by equalizing the air pressure increase rate in the upper space H2 and the air pressure increase rate in the lower space H1, after the air pressure in one of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 reaches the specific value PN, the other air pressure rises to the specific value PN. It is possible to avoid waiting time until the value PN is reached. As shown in FIG. 29, by increasing the rising speed of the atmospheric pressure Ph2 in the lower space H1 to be equal to the rising speed of the atmospheric pressure Ph1 in the upper space H2, the time at which the atmospheric pressure Ph2 reaches the specific value PN changes from tb to ta. be expedited. As a result, the time at which both the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 reach the specific value PN can be shortened, so the time required for the process of step S6 can be shortened.

Next, an eighth embodiment of the present invention will be described. A device sealing apparatus 301 according to the eighth embodiment performs the pressure difference adjustment process according to the fourth embodiment in the device sealing apparatus 31 according to the fifth embodiment. That is, the configuration of the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the eighth embodiment is the same as that of the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the fifth embodiment, except that the chamber 29 shown in FIG. 30 is provided.

In the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the eighth embodiment, the chamber 29 has a channel 135 that communicates and connects the lower housing 29A and the upper housing 29B. An electromagnetic valve 137 is provided in the flow path 135 , and the opening/closing operation of the electromagnetic valve 137 is controlled by the controller 33 . By opening the electromagnetic valve 137, gas can flow between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1. By opening the electromagnetic valve 137, the flow path 135 functions as a vent through which gas flows between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1.

<Operation in Embodiment 8>
Here, the operation of the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the eighth embodiment will be explained. The outline of the flowchart according to the eighth embodiment is common to the flowchart according to the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. The description of steps that are the same as the operation of the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the fifth embodiment will be simplified, and steps S5 and S6, which are different steps, will be described in detail.

Step S5 (pressure difference adjustment process)
In the eighth embodiment, when the first sealing process related to step S4 is completed, a process is performed as the pressure difference adjusting process so that the gas can flow between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1. That is, when step S5 starts, the controller 33 performs control to open the electromagnetic valve 137 . By opening the electromagnetic valve 137, gas can flow between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 via the flow path 135. As shown in FIG. The control unit 33 opens the electromagnetic valve 137 to complete the pressure difference adjustment process.

Step S6 (second pasting process)
After the electromagnetic valve 137 is opened by the controller 33, the second attaching process is started. First, the control unit 33 closes the electromagnetic valves 103, 105, 107, 110 and 113 shown in FIG. 6 and opens the electromagnetic valves 104 and 114. As shown in FIG. While the electromagnetic valve 137 is kept open, the controller 33 operates the pressurizing device 32 to supply the gas to the lower space H1 and the upper space H2, thereby increasing the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 to the specific value PN. pressurize to

By pressurizing the upper space H2, a pressing force V1 acts from the upper space H2 toward the adhesive tape DT and the front side of the wafer W, and a pressing force V2 acts from the lower space H1 toward the back side of the substrate 310. (See FIG. 46). The adhesion between the substrate 310 on which the LEDs 311 are mounted and the encapsulating sheet BS is enhanced by the action of the pressing force V1 and the pressing force V2, which are pressures higher than the atmospheric pressure.

In the eighth embodiment, as in the fourth embodiment, in step S5, the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 are pressurized to a specific value PN higher than the atmospheric pressure while the electromagnetic valve 137 is open. Therefore, even if a pressure difference occurs between the atmospheric pressure Ph2 of the lower space H1 and the atmospheric pressure Ph1 of the upper space H2, the gas flows between the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 via the flow path 135. , the pressure difference is quickly eliminated. Therefore, the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 can be pressurized to a specific value PN higher than the atmospheric pressure while the pressure difference generated between the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 is suppressed to a predetermined value or less. .

After applying the pressing forces V1 and V2 for a predetermined period of time, the controller 33 stops the pressurizing device 32 . Then, the controller 33 opens the electromagnetic valves 105 and 107 to open the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 to the atmosphere. The control unit 33 raises the upper housing 29B to open the chamber 29 and raises the holding table 309 to abut on the substrate 310, thereby completing the step S6. After step S6 is completed, the sealing body BMF is produced by performing steps S7 and S8 in the same manner as in the fourth embodiment.

The eighth embodiment has a configuration in which gas can flow between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 by providing the channel 135 and the electromagnetic valve 137 . By pressurizing the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure while the electromagnetic valve 137 is open, the pressure difference between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 generated in step S6 is reduced to a predetermined value or less. can be suppressed. In the fourth embodiment as described above, the sheet perforation portion 76 is omitted because the gas can be circulated between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 without forming the through hole PH in the sealing member BP. be able to.

<Other embodiments>
It should be noted that the embodiments disclosed this time are illustrative in all respects and are not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the scope of the claims rather than the description of the above-described embodiments, and includes all modifications (modifications) within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of the claims. As an example, the present invention can be modified and implemented as follows.

(1) In step S4 according to each embodiment, after adjusting the air pressure in the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 to 10 Pa, the pressure difference Fa is generated by adjusting the air pressure in the upper space H2 from 10 Pa to 100 Pa. , but not limited to this. That is, as long as the atmospheric pressure of the upper space H2 is adjusted to be higher than the atmospheric pressure of the lower space H1, the atmospheric pressures of the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 in step S4 may be appropriately changed. As an example, the differential pressure Fa may be generated by reducing the pressures of the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 to a predetermined value and then returning the pressure of the upper space H2 to the atmospheric pressure. In the configuration in which the pressure in the upper space H2 is returned to the atmospheric pressure to generate the differential pressure Fa, the differential pressure Fa can be increased. The covering process can be completed more quickly.

(2) In step S6 according to each embodiment, the pressurizing device 32 pressurizes the inside of both the lower space H1 and the upper space H2, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the pressurizing device 32 may pressurize only the upper space H2 until the air pressure is higher than the atmospheric pressure, and apply the adhesive tape DT more accurately with the pressing force V1.

As a further modification of the configuration in which only the upper space H2 is pressurized, the pressure inside the upper space H2 is maintained at a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure while the pressure inside the lower space H1 is maintained to be lower than the atmospheric pressure. The configuration may be such that the adhesive tape DT is affixed by applying pressure so that the adhesive tape DT is attached. In this configuration, after performing the first pasting process using the differential pressure Fa in step S4, the electromagnetic valve 105 connected to the upper space H2 is turned off while maintaining the state in which the pressure in the lower space H1 is reduced to a predetermined value. By opening, only the upper space H2 is exposed to the atmosphere. Then, in step S5, the pressurizing device 32 is operated to pressurize the inside of the upper space H2 to a higher pressure than the atmospheric pressure.

In this modification, in step S5, the holding table 9 is lifted to contact the back surface of the wafer W, and the inside of the upper space H2 is pressurized to perform the second bonding process. By applying pressure to the upper space H2 to generate the pressing force V1 while holding the wafer W by the holding table 9, the pressing force V1 can be applied to the adhesive tape even when the pressure in the lower space H1 is lower than the atmospheric pressure. The entire surface of the DT and the wafer W can be uniformly acted upon.

(3) In step S4 according to each embodiment, the vacuum device 31 is used to generate a differential pressure Fa inside the chamber 29, thereby deforming the adhesive tape DT into a convex shape to form the surface of the wafer W on which the annular convex portion is formed. However, the method of deforming the adhesive tape DT into a convex shape is not limited to the configuration of generating the differential pressure Fa. That is, as shown in FIG. 51, a configuration may be employed in which a pressing member 141 is provided inside the upper housing 29B.

The pressing member 141 has a convex bottom surface (hemispherical shape as an example), and is disposed above the adhesive tape DT. Therefore, by lowering the pressing member 141, the convex bottom surface of the pressing member 141 presses the adhesive tape DT, and the adhesive tape DT can be deformed into a convex shape and come into contact with the wafer W. FIG. In this case, the configuration necessary for generating the differential pressure Fa can be omitted. As another configuration for deforming the adhesive tape DT into a convex shape, there is a configuration in which the adhesive tape DT is pressed from above using a roller or the like.

(4) In each of the embodiments, the configuration in which the supporting adhesive tape DT is attached to the wafer W has been described as an example, but the adhesive sheet to be attached to the wafer W is not limited to this. The configuration according to each embodiment can be applied as long as it is configured to attach a sheet-like adhesive material such as an adhesive tape for circuit protection.

(5) In Examples 1 to 4, the wafer W and the ring frame f were exemplified as the workpieces to which the adhesive sheet is attached, but the workpieces are not limited to these. As an example, the ring frame f may be omitted and the adhesive sheet (adhesive tape DT) may be attached only to the wafer W. FIG. When the ring frame f is omitted, the wafer W to which the adhesive tape DT is adhered after the second attachment process is completed corresponds to the semiconductor product of the present invention. Also, in the fifth to eighth embodiments, the ring frame f may be omitted, and the sealing member BP may be attached only to the substrate 310 . When the ring frame f is omitted, the substrate 310 to which the second sealing process is completed and the sealing sheet BS is adhered and adhered corresponds to the semiconductor product in the present invention.

(6) In each embodiment, various semiconductor members such as wafers, substrates and panels can be applied as works. Furthermore, the shape of the workpiece may be rectangular, polygonal, substantially circular, or the like, in addition to the circular shape.

(7) In each embodiment, the holding table 9 or the holding table 309 is vertically moved at a predetermined timing to integrate the work and the sheet material, but the vertical movement of the holding table 9 or the holding table 309 is appropriately changed. You may As an example, the pressurizing process in step S6 is not limited to being performed after the holding table 9 is lowered, and the pressurizing process may be performed while maintaining the raised state.

(8) In each embodiment, the frame holding portion 38 is provided outside the lower housing 29A, but the frame holding portion 38 may be provided inside the lower housing 29A. In this case, the processes after step S4 are performed with the ring frame f and the wafer W housed inside the chamber 29 respectively.

(9) In each embodiment, as shown in FIG. 52(a), the chamber 29 may include a sheet-like elastic body Gs. Hereinafter, this modified example will be described by exemplifying the configuration of the sixth embodiment.

The elastic body Gs is arranged inside the upper housing 29B and is configured to contact the inner diameter of the upper housing 29B. Also, the lower surface of the elastic body Gs and the cylindrical bottom portion of the upper housing 29B are configured to be flush with each other. Therefore, when the lower housing 29A and the upper housing 29B sandwich the conveying sheet P to form the chamber 29, the elastic member Gs contacts the conveying sheet P. As shown in FIG. Specifically, the elastic body Gs is brought into contact with the conveying sheet P on the side opposite to the side holding the adhesive tape DT (upper side in the figure). By arranging the elastic body Gs so as to be in contact with the inner diameter of the lower housing 29A, the elastic body Gs is not pinched when forming the chamber 29, so that the sealing performance of the chamber 29 is not deteriorated by the elastic body Gs. can be prevented. Examples of materials forming the elastic body Gs include rubber, elastomer, and gel-like polymeric materials.

By providing the elastic body Gs in the chamber 29, the bending rate of the sealing member BP can be made more uniform when the sealing member BP is deformed into a convex shape in step S4. Here, the effect of the configuration including the elastic body Gs will be described. As an example, when the sealing sheet BS is made of a relatively hard material, the curvature of the sealing member BP tends to be uneven as shown in FIG. 52(b).

That is, in the region P1 where the sealing sheet BS is held by the transporting sheet BT, the hard sealing sheet BS is present in the transporting sheet BT. is small. On the other hand, in a region P2 of the transport sheet BT where the sealing sheet BS is not held by the transport sheet BT, the curvature of the transport sheet BT due to the differential pressure Fa is relatively large. That is, the area P2 is more easily deformed by the differential pressure Fa, and the curvature rate of the transport sheet BT in the area P1 is further reduced.

In addition, the side of the sealing sheet BS that is closer to the region P2 has a higher curvature rate, and the central portion of the sealing sheet BS has a lower curvature rate. In this way, in each of the sealing sheet BS and the conveying sheet BT, the tortuosity due to the differential pressure Fa becomes non-uniform. As a result, the adhesion between the sealing sheet BS attached to the substrate 310 and the substrate 310 is lowered.

On the other hand, when the elastic body Gs is provided, as shown in FIG. 52(c), the entire elastic body Gs is uniformly deformed into a convex shape by the differential pressure Fa. Therefore, the curvature rate of the transport sheet BT in the region P1 is improved and the difference from the curvature rate in the region P2 is reduced, so that the curvature rates of the transport sheet BT and the sealing sheet BS are uniform as a whole. That is, since the sealing sheet BS is easily deformed according to the shape of the device forming surface of the substrate 310, the adhesion between the sealing sheet BS and the substrate 310 can be further improved.

(10) Each embodiment may further include a configuration for heating the adhesive tape DT or the sealing member BP. As an example of a configuration for heating the adhesive tape DT or the like, the sheet sticking mechanism 81 has a heating mechanism 120 inside the upper housing 29B, as shown in FIG. 53(a). FIG. 53(a) shows a configuration in which the heating mechanism 120 is added to the configuration of the second embodiment as an example of this modification.

The heating mechanism 120 has a cylinder 121 and a heating member 123 . The cylinder 121 is connected to the upper part of the heating member 123 , and the heating member 123 can be raised and lowered inside the chamber 29 by the operation of the cylinder 121 . Note that the heating member 123 may not be vertically movable as long as it can heat the adhesive tape DT.

A heater 125 for heating the adhesive tape DT is embedded inside the heating member 123 . The temperature of heating by the heater 125 is adjusted so as to soften the adhesive tape DT. An example of the heating temperature is about 50°C to 70°C. The shape of the bottom surface of the heating member 123 may be changed according to the shape of the wafer W. FIG. As an example, the heating member 123 has a cylindrical shape as a whole.

It is preferable to heat the upper space H2 using the heating mechanism 120 in advance before starting step S4. That is, the controller 33 operates the heater 125 to heat the heating device 123 to a predetermined temperature. By heating the heating device 123, the upper space H2 is heated by the heat conduction effect, and the adhesive tape DT is also heated.

Since the adhesive tape DT is softened by being heated, the deformability of the adhesive tape DT due to the differential pressure Fa is improved. That is, when covering the wafer W with the adhesive tape DT, the followability of the adhesive tape DT to the wafer W can be further enhanced. As shown in FIG. 53(b), the heating member 123 may be lowered so as to approach or contact the adhesive tape DT, and the heating member 123 may directly heat the adhesive tape DT.

Note that the heating mechanism 120 is not limited to the configuration in which the heating mechanism 120 is disposed on the side of the upper space H2 in the chamber 29 and heats the upper space H2. That is, the heating mechanism 120 may be configured to heat the lower space H1. As an example, there is a configuration in which the heater 125 is arranged inside the holding table 9, and the heater 125 heats the lower space H1 to heat the adhesive tape DT. Moreover, the heating mechanism 120 may be configured to heat both the upper space H2 and the lower space H1.

(11) As the work according to Examples 5 to 8, the board 310 having the LED 311 mounted on the front side and the back side being flat was used in the description, but the back side of the work is not limited to a flat configuration. . That is, as shown in FIG. 54(a), a substrate 331 having an LED 311 mounted on the front side and a projecting member 330 on the back side may be used as a work. The convex member 330 may be an electronic component such as an LED, or may be a constituent material of the substrate 331 . That is, the substrate 331 having unevenness on the back surface side includes a configuration in which unevenness is formed on the back surface of the substrate 331 itself.

When the LEDs 311 mounted on the front side of the substrate 331 having the convex members 330 on the back side are sealed with the sealing sheet S, the device sealing apparatus 301 replaces the holding table 309 as shown in FIG. , a holding table 335 as shown in FIG.

The holding table 335 has an annular protrusion 337 on its outer periphery and a recess 339 on its center. That is, the holding table 335 is hollow as a whole. The concave portion 339 is formed at a position that includes the region where the convex member 330 is arranged on the substrate 331 in plan view. The holding table 335 can hold the substrate 331 without coming into contact with the convex member 330 by supporting the portion of the back surface of the substrate 331 where the convex member 330 is not provided.

FIG. 55 shows a state in which the holding table 335 supports the substrate 331 in a configuration in which the lower housing 29A includes the holding table 335. FIG. This state corresponds to the step of forming the chamber 29 in step S3. Each step of sealing the LEDs 311 on the substrate 310 with the sealing sheet BS in the configuration provided with the holding table 335 is the same as that of the already described embodiment, so detailed description thereof will be omitted.

(13) In Examples 5 to 8, the LED 311 was described as an example of a device to be sealed with the sealing sheet BS, but it is not limited to this. Other examples of the device include optical elements such as the LED 311, semiconductor elements, and electronic components.

(14) In Examples 5 to 8, after the LEDs 311 are sealed with the sealing sheet BS, the step of curing the sealing material BSb of the sealing sheet BS may be performed. The step of curing the sealing material BSb can be appropriately changed depending on the material of the sealing material BSb, but examples thereof include curing by heat treatment, curing by ultraviolet treatment, and the like.

(15) In Examples 5 to 8, OCA is used as the sealing material BSb, but it is not limited to this. That is, the sealing material Sb may be an optically transparent material, an optically opaque material, or a colorless or colored material.

(16) In each of the examples and modifications, the first attaching process or the first sealing process is not limited to the configuration performed inside the chamber 29 . That is, the process of attaching the sheet material to the work by bringing the sheet material into contact with the work in advance outside the chamber 29 may be performed. In the following, the modified example will be described by taking as an example a configuration in which the first sealing process is performed outside the chamber 29 in the device sealing apparatus 301 .

In a variant in which the first sealing process is performed outside the chamber 29 , the device sealing apparatus 301 has a lift table 338 outside the chamber 29 . As an example, the elevating table 338 is arranged in the rectangular portion 301a, and the aligner 7, the elevating table 338, the holding table 309, and the frame supply section 12 are arranged in this order from the upper right side of the rectangular portion 1a.

The elevating table 338 is configured to be reciprocally movable between an initial position and a sealing position along rails 54 attached in the front-rear direction (y-direction). The initial position is inside the rectangular portion 1a, and the substrate 310 is placed on the lifting table 338 at the initial position. The sealing position is inside the projecting portion 301b, and by moving the elevating table 8 to the sealing position, the substrate 310 placed on the elevating table 338 can be brought into contact with the sealing member BP.

The elevating table 338 holds the substrate 310 and is, for example, a metal chuck table having the same shape or larger size than the substrate 310 . As a preferred configuration of the elevating table 338, it is configured to suck and hold the substrate 310 by a suction device provided inside. As shown in FIGS. 56 and 57, the lifting table 338 is connected to one end of a rod 352 penetrating through a support base 351 that supports the lifting table 338 . The other end of the rod 352 is drivingly connected to an actuator 353 having a motor or the like. The lifting table 338 can be moved up and down by the rod 352 and the actuator 353 .

<Operation in modified example>
Here, the operation of the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the modification will be described. The outline of the flowchart according to the modification is common to the flowchart according to the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. The description of the steps that are the same as the operation of the device sealing apparatus 301 according to the fifth embodiment will be simplified, and steps S1 to S4, which are different steps, will be described in detail.

Step S1 (supply of work)
When a sealing command is issued, the ring frame f is conveyed from the frame supply section 12 to the frame holding section 38 of the lower housing 29A, and the substrate 310 is conveyed from the container 305 to the lifting table 338. When the frame holding portion 38 holds the ring frame f, the lower housing 29A moves along the rails 40 from the initial position to the sealing position on the device sealing mechanism 81 side together with the holding table 309 .

While the frame conveying device 17 conveys the ring frame f, the substrate conveying device 316 sucks and holds the substrate 310 using the holding arm 23 and conveys it to the aligner 7 . The aligner 7 holds and rotates the substrate 310 with a suction pad, and aligns the substrate 310 based on notches or the like. After the alignment is completed, the substrate transfer device 316 unloads the substrate 310 from the aligner 7 and places the substrate 310 on the lift table 338 . When the elevating table 8 holds the substrate 10 by suction, the elevating table 338 moves along the rail 54 from the initial position to the sealing position on the device sealing mechanism 381 side. FIG. 56 shows lift table 338 and holding table 309 each moved to the sealing position.

Step S2 (supply of sealing sheet)
When the workpiece is supplied by the substrate transfer device 316 or the like, the sealing sheet BS is supplied in the sealing unit 313 . That is, a predetermined amount of the sealing member BP is fed out from the sheet supply portion 371 while the separator S is peeled off. The sealing member BP, which is elongated as a whole, is guided above the sealing position along a predetermined transport path. At this time, as shown in FIG. 56 , the sealing sheet BS held by the transport sheet BT is positioned above the substrate 310 placed on the elevating table 338 .

Step S3 (first sealing process)
When the workpiece and sealing sheet BS are supplied, the first sealing process is started. That is, the controller 33 drives the actuator 353 to raise the lifting table 338 . As the lifting table 338 rises, the upper surfaces of the LEDs 311 mounted on the substrate 310 come into contact with the sealing sheet BS, as shown in FIG. Due to the contact, the sealing sheet BS adheres to the substrate 310 and the two are integrated.

The contact causes the LEDs 311 to adhere to the adhesive sealing layer BSb, and the substrate 310 is held by the sealing sheet BS via the LEDs 311 . A structure in which the substrate 10 and the sealing member BP are integrated via the sealing sheet BS is hereinafter referred to as a sealing material composite BM. After the sealing material composite BM is formed, the sealing member composite BM is conveyed above the holding table 309 by feeding out the sealing member BP by a predetermined amount. As the sealing material composite BM is transported, the elevating table 338 descends and returns to its initial state. By forming the sealing material composite BM and conveying it to the holding table 309, the first sealing process in step S3 is completed.

Step S4 (formation of chamber)
When the sealing material composite M is conveyed above the holding table 309, the application roller 85 is lowered. Then, while rolling on the conveying sheet BT, the conveying sheet BT is stuck over the ring frame f and the top of the lower housing 29A.

When the conveying sheet BT is attached to the ring frame f, the attachment roller 85 is returned to its initial position, and the upper housing 29B is lowered. As the upper housing 29B descends, the portion of the conveying sheet T attached to the top of the lower housing 29A is sandwiched between the upper housing 29B and the lower housing 29A to form the chamber 29. FIG. After that, steps S5 to S8 are performed in the same manner as in Examples 5 to 8 to form a sealing body BMF.

The sealing sheet BS adhering to the substrate 310 in the first sealing process becomes in a state of having higher adhesion to the substrate 310 in the second sealing process. In the second sealing process, a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure acts between the substrate 310 and the sealing sheet BS, so that the adhesion between the substrate 310 and the sealing sheet BS is increased, and the substrate 310 is mounted thereon. The LED 311 is firmly sealed with the sealing sheet BS.

(17) In Examples 1 to 4, after the long adhesive tape DT is attached over the back surface of the wafer W and the ring frame f, the shape of the workpiece (here, the shape of the wafer W or the ring frame f) ) has been described as an example, but the configuration is not limited to this. That is, an adhesive tape having a predetermined shape corresponding to the shape of the work may be attached to the work in advance.

The configuration of the adhesive tape DT according to the modification is the same as the configuration of the sealing member BP shown in FIG. 31(a). That is, the adhesive tape DT having a predetermined shape is adhered and held at a predetermined pitch on one surface of the long conveying sheet BT. The adhesive tape DT is previously cut into a predetermined shape corresponding to the shape of the surface of the wafer W on which the annular convex portion Ka is formed (the back surface in this embodiment). In this modification, the chamber 29 is formed by sandwiching the transport sheet BT between the upper housing 29B and the lower housing 29A in step S3.

(18) In Example 1 or Example 5, the sheet punching portion 76 is configured to form an arc-shaped through hole PH by vertical movement and rotational movement. The behavior may be changed as appropriate. As an example, the sheet punching part 76 may form the through hole PH only by vertical movement. Specifically, after the sheet punching part 76 descends to pierce the adhesive tape DT with the cutter 129 to form the through hole PH, the sheet punching part 76 is raised to return to the initial position.

(19) In Embodiment 1 or Embodiment 5, the sheet punching section 76 is not limited to the configuration in which the cutter 129 having a cutter blade is used to form the through hole PH. You may provide a member. In this case, the through hole PH is formed by piercing the adhesive tape DT with the tip of the needle-shaped member or the conical member.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 adhesive sheet application device 3 wafer transfer mechanism 5 container 6 frame collection unit 7 aligner 9 holding table 12 frame supply unit 13 application unit 16 wafer transfer device 17 frame transfer device 23 holding arm 31 ... Vacuum device 32 ... Pressure device 33 ... Control unit 38 ... Frame holding unit 71 ... Sheet supply unit 72 ... Separator collecting unit 73 ... Sheet sticking unit 74 ... Sheet collecting unit 76 ... Sheet punching unit 81 ... Sheet sticking mechanism 82 ... Sheet Cutting mechanism 85 Pasting roller 86 Nip roller 95 Cutter 97 Elevating drive table 99 Rotary shaft 101 Flow path 102 Flow path 103 Electromagnetic valve 104 Electromagnetic valve 120 Heating mechanism 127 Support arm 128 Cutter holder 129... Cutter 131... Flow path 132... Solenoid valve 133... Flow path 134... Electromagnetic valve 135... Flow path 137... Electromagnetic valve 141... Pressing member 301... Device sealing device 309... Holding table 310... Substrate 311... LED
f... Ring frame DT... Adhesive tape MF... Mount frame BT... Conveying sheet BS... Sealing sheet BP... Sealing member BMF... Sealing body PH... Through hole Ka... Annular protrusion Kf... Inner corner He... Flat recess

Claims (11)

A method for integrating a work and a sheet material by integrating the work and the sheet material in an internal space of a chamber having an upper chamber and a lower chamber, comprising:
The sheet material is sandwiched between the upper chamber and the lower chamber, and the internal space of the chamber is divided into a lower space in which the work is arranged and an upper space facing the lower space with the sheet material interposed therebetween. The upper and lower space formation process,
The inside of the chamber is decompressed so that the pressure in the lower space is lower than the pressure in the upper space, and the sheet material is pressed against the work by a differential pressure formed between the upper space and the lower space in the chamber. a first integration step of attaching the sheet material to the workpiece by contact;
a pressure difference adjustment step of adjusting the pressure difference between the upper space and the lower space in the chamber after the first integration step;
a second integration step of bringing the sheet material into close contact with the workpiece by raising the pressure in the internal space of the chamber to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure while the pressure difference is adjusted;
A method for integrating a work and a sheet material, comprising: In the method for integrating the work and the sheet material according to claim 1,
The pressure difference adjustment process includes:
A method for integrating a workpiece and a sheet material, wherein a through hole is formed in the sheet material so that the upper space and the lower space are communicated with each other through the through hole. In the method for integrating the work and the sheet material according to claim 1,
The pressure difference adjustment process includes:
A method for integrating a work and a sheet material, wherein the pressure difference is maintained by controlling the pressure in at least one of the upper space and the lower space to increase stepwise. In the method for integrating the work and the sheet material according to claim 1,
The chamber is
a first transformation mechanism that adjusts the pressure in the upper space;
a second transformation mechanism that adjusts the pressure in the lower space;
a control unit that independently controls the first transformation mechanism and the second transformation mechanism;
with
The pressure difference adjustment process includes:
A workpiece and a sheet, wherein the control unit independently controls the first variable pressure mechanism and the second variable pressure mechanism, thereby increasing pressures in the upper space and the lower space while maintaining the pressure difference. Material integration method. In the method for integrating a workpiece and a sheet material according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A method for integrating a work and a sheet material, wherein in the first integration process, the sheet material is brought into contact with the work by deforming the sheet material into a convex shape toward the work. In the method for integrating a work and a sheet material according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A method for integrating a work and a sheet material, wherein the sheet material has a predetermined shape corresponding to the work. In the method for integrating a workpiece and a sheet material according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The sheet material is held by a long transport sheet,
a sheet-like elastic body disposed inside the upper housing,
By sandwiching the conveying sheet between the upper housing and the lower housing in the process of forming the upper and lower spaces, the sheet-like elastic body is brought into contact with the surface of the conveying sheet which does not hold the sheet material. and, the sheet-like elastic body is arranged. In the method for integrating a work and a sheet material according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The workpiece has an annular protrusion on the outer periphery of one surface,
A method for integrating a work and a sheet material, wherein the sheet material is brought into close contact with a surface of the work on which the annular protrusion is formed. In the method for integrating a workpiece and a sheet material according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The workpiece is a substrate on which an optical element is mounted,
A method for integrating a work and a sheet material, wherein the sheet material is brought into close contact with a surface of the work on which the optical element is mounted. A work and sheet material integrating device for integrating a work and a sheet material in an internal space of a chamber having an upper chamber and a lower chamber,
a holding table that holds the work;
a chamber that accommodates the holding table and is formed by sandwiching the sheet material between the upper chamber and the lower chamber, and is divided into an upper space and a lower space via the sheet material;
a supply mechanism for supplying the sheet material;
The inside of the chamber is decompressed so that the pressure in the lower space is lower than the pressure in the upper space, and the sheet-like sealing material is compressed by a differential pressure formed between the upper space and the lower space in the chamber. a first integration mechanism that attaches the sheet material to the work by contacting the work;
a differential pressure adjusting mechanism that adjusts the pressure difference between the upper space and the lower space in the chamber after the sheet material adheres to the work;
a second integration mechanism that brings the sheet material into close contact with the workpiece by raising the pressure in the internal space of the chamber to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure in the state where the pressure difference is adjusted;
An apparatus for integrating a work and a sheet material, comprising: A semiconductor product manufacturing method for manufacturing a semiconductor product by integrating a work and a sheet material in an inner space of a chamber having an upper chamber and a lower chamber,
The sheet material is sandwiched between the upper chamber and the lower chamber, and the internal space of the chamber is divided into a lower space in which the work is arranged and an upper space facing the lower space with the sheet material interposed therebetween. The upper and lower space formation process,
The inside of the chamber is decompressed so that the pressure in the lower space is lower than the pressure in the upper space, and the sheet material is pressed against the work by a differential pressure formed between the upper space and the lower space in the chamber. a first integration step of attaching the sheet material to the workpiece by contact;
a pressure difference adjustment step of adjusting the pressure in the chamber so that the pressure difference between the upper space and the lower space in the chamber is reduced after the first integration step;
a second integration step of bringing the sheet material into close contact with the workpiece by raising the pressure in the internal space of the chamber to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure while the pressure difference is adjusted;
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor product, comprising:

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