JP2024080388A - How to clean your taping machine - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a method for cleaning a tape applicator capable of suppressing foreign matter such as cutting chips from adhering to a mounting table. [Solution] The method for cleaning a tape applicator includes a tape application step 303 in which an adhesive tape is applied to a wafer placed on the mounting surface of a mounting table by a tape application roller, a tape cutting step 304 in which the adhesive tape is cut along the outer edge of the wafer by a tape cutter after the tape application step 303, and a foreign matter removal step 302 in which the adhesive tape is applied to the mounting surface by a tape application roller and foreign matter adhering to the mounting surface is removed before or after the tape application step 303 and the tape cutting step 304. [Selected Figure] Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to a method for cleaning a tape applicator.

When using a grinding device to grind a semiconductor wafer down to its finishing thickness, a protective tape is applied to the front surface of the semiconductor wafer on which the devices are formed, and the wafer is ground from the back side while the protective tape side is held by suction on a holding table.

When applying the above-mentioned protective tape to a semiconductor wafer, a laminator (see, for example, Patent Document 1) is generally used. The laminator (hereinafter referred to as a tape applicator) applies the protective tape to the wafer placed on the mounting table with a roller, and then cuts the protective tape along the outer periphery of the wafer with a cutter, completing the wafer with the protective tape applied.

JP 2019-9373 A

However, in the above-mentioned tape applicator, the scraps of the tape cut by the cutter have adhesive properties and scatter and adhere to the mounting table. In the above-mentioned tape applicator, when a wafer is placed on the mounting table with the scraps attached, the scraps adhere to the wafer, causing grinding defects in the next grinding process.

Therefore, the above-mentioned tape applicator required a method for periodically cleaning the mounting surface of the mounting table.

The object of the present invention is to provide a method for cleaning a tape applicator that can prevent foreign matter such as cuttings from adhering to the mounting table.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the cleaning method of the taping machine of the present invention is characterized in that, in a taping machine equipped with a mounting table having a mounting surface on which a wafer is placed, a tape delivery means on which a roll-shaped adhesive tape is attached, a tape application roller for applying the adhesive tape to the wafer, a tape cutter for cutting the adhesive tape along the outer periphery of the wafer, and a tape winding means for winding up the adhesive tape not applied to the wafer, the cleaning method includes a tape application step in which the tape application roller applies the adhesive tape to the wafer placed on the mounting surface, a tape cutting step in which the tape cutter cuts the adhesive tape along the outer periphery of the wafer after the tape application step, and a foreign matter removal step in which the tape application roller applies the adhesive tape to the mounting surface and removes foreign matter attached to the mounting surface before or after the tape application step and the tape cutting step.

In the method for cleaning the tape applicator, the placement surface of the placement table may be coated with resin.

The present invention has the effect of suppressing foreign matter such as cutting chips from adhering to the mounting table.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a taping machine for carrying out a method for cleaning a taping machine according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of the taping machine shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a wafer to which an adhesive tape is applied by the tape applicator shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the method for cleaning the taping machine according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a side view showing a schematic diagram of a foreign matter removing step in the manufacturing method of the tape applicator shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a side view showing a schematic diagram of a tape application step of the manufacturing method of the taping machine shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a side view that illustrates a tape cutting step of the method for manufacturing the taping machine illustrated in FIG.

The following describes in detail the form (embodiment) for carrying out the present invention with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the contents described in the following embodiment. The components described below include those that a person skilled in the art can easily imagine and those that are substantially the same. Furthermore, the configurations described below can be combined as appropriate. Various omissions, substitutions, or modifications of the configuration can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[Embodiment 1]
A method for cleaning a taping machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a taping machine for carrying out the method for cleaning a taping machine according to the first embodiment. Fig. 2 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of the taping machine shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a wafer to which an adhesive tape is applied by the taping machine shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a flow chart showing the flow of the method for cleaning a taping machine according to the first embodiment.

(Wafer)
The method for cleaning the taping machine according to the first embodiment is carried out by a taping machine 1 shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. The taping machine 1 shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 is a device for applying an adhesive tape 210 to a wafer 200 shown in Fig. 3. In the first embodiment, the wafer 200 to which the adhesive tape 210 is applied by the taping machine 1 is a disk-shaped semiconductor wafer or an optical device wafer, etc., having a substrate made of silicon, sapphire, gallium arsenide, or the like. As shown in Fig. 3, the wafer 200 has devices 203 formed in each of areas partitioned by a plurality of planned division lines 202 on a surface 201 of the substrate.

The devices 203 are, for example, integrated circuits such as ICs (Integrated Circuits) or LSIs (Large Scale Integration), image sensors such as CCDs (Charge Coupled Devices) or CMOSs (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductors), or various types of memories (semiconductor memory devices). In the first embodiment, the wafer 200 has an adhesive tape 210 attached to its front surface 201, and its back surface 204 is ground to thin it to a predetermined finishing thickness, and then is divided into individual devices 203 along the planned division lines 202.

The adhesive tape 210 to be attached to the wafer 200 comprises a non-adhesive base layer made of synthetic resin and an adhesive layer laminated on the base layer. The adhesive tape 210 is formed as a long sheet-like member, and is wound around the outer periphery of a core (not shown) at least once with the adhesive layer positioned on the outer periphery, and wound into a roll to form the tape roll 211 shown in Figures 1 and 2. In the first embodiment, both the length and width of the adhesive tape 210 are longer than the outer diameter of the wafer 200.

(Tape applicator)
The tape applicator 1 shown in Figures 1 and 2 is a device that applies an adhesive tape 210 from a tape roll 211 to a surface 201 of a wafer 200 and cuts the adhesive tape 210 applied to the surface 201 of the wafer 200 along the outer edge of the wafer 200.

In the first embodiment, the tape applicator 1 applies the adhesive tape 210 to the front surface 201 of the wafer 200, but in the present invention, the adhesive tape 210 may be applied to the back surface 204 of the wafer 200. In the first embodiment, the tape applicator 1 may apply the adhesive tape 210 to a circular ring-shaped frame having an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the wafer 200, together with the wafer 200.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the tape applicator 1 includes a mounting table 10, a tape delivery roller 20 as a tape delivery means, a tape application roller 30, a tape cutter 40 (shown only in Figure 2), a tape take-up roller 50 as a tape take-up means, a number of guide rollers 60, and a control unit 100.

The mounting table 10 holds the wafer 200. The mounting table 10 has a flat mounting surface 11 along the horizontal direction on which the back surface 204 of the wafer 200 is placed. The mounting surface 11 is made of a porous material such as porous ceramics, and is connected to a suction source (not shown). The mounting table 10 holds the wafer 200 placed on the mounting surface 11 by suction from a suction source (not shown).

In addition, in the first embodiment, the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10 is coated with a non-adhesive resin while leaving the unevenness of the porous material such as porous ceramics. That is, in the first embodiment, the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10 is coated with a so-called Tosical (registered trademark).

The tape feed roller 20 has a cylindrical appearance, and the sheet roll 10, i.e., the roll-shaped adhesive tape 210, is inserted into the core and attached. The tape feed roller 20 is supported so as to be freely rotatable about its axis. By rotating about its axis, the tape feed roller 20 feeds the adhesive tape 210 from one end onto the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10.

The tape application roller 30 presses the adhesive tape 210, which has been sent out from the tape delivery roller 20 onto the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10, against the back surface of the wafer 200, which is held by suction on the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10, to adhere the tape. The tape application roller 30 is disposed above the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10. The tape application roller 30 is formed in a cylindrical shape with its axis parallel to that of the tape delivery roller 20, and is supported so as to be freely rotatable about its axis.

The tape application roller 30 is provided so that it can be raised and lowered in a direction perpendicular to the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10 by a moving mechanism (not shown), and is provided so that it can be moved along the mounting surface 11 in a direction perpendicular to the axis between a position shown by a solid line in FIG. 2 on one end of the mounting table 10 and a position shown by a dashed line in FIG. 2 on the other end. The tape application roller 30, in a lowered state by the moving mechanism, moves along the mounting surface 11 between a position on one end of the mounting table 10 and a position on the other end, thereby applying the adhesive tape 210 to the surface 201 of the wafer 200 held on the mounting table 10.

The tape cutter 40 cuts the adhesive tape 210 along the outer edge of the wafer 200 after the tape application roller 30 applies the adhesive tape 210 to the wafer 200. The tape cutter 40 is disposed above the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10.

In the first embodiment, the tape cutter 40 includes a cutter blade 41 and a cutter blade movement mechanism 42. The cutter blade 41 has a cutting edge at its lower end that is longer than the thickness of the adhesive tape 210 fed onto the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10. The cutting edge of the cutter blade 41 faces the outer edge of the wafer 200 that is held by suction on the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10.

The cutter blade moving mechanism 42 raises and lowers the cutter blade 41 in a direction perpendicular to the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10, and moves the cutter blade 41 along the outer edge of the wafer 200. The cutter blade moving mechanism 42 includes a base 43 that is disposed at the center of the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10 and is raised and lowered by a lifting mechanism (not shown), a rotating shaft 44 that is rotatably provided on the base 43 around its axis, disposed at the center of the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10, and rotated around its axis by a driving device such as a motor (not shown), and an arm 45 that extends from the rotating shaft 44 toward the outer edge of the mounting table 10 in parallel with the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10 and supports the cutter blade 41 at its tip.

The tape cutter 40 lowers the base 43, i.e., the cutter blade 41, by the lifting mechanism of the cutter blade movement mechanism 42, and causes the cutting edge of the cutter blade 41 to cut into the adhesive tape 210 attached to the wafer 200, outside the outer edge of the wafer 200. The tape cutter 40 rotates the arm 45, i.e., the cutter blade 41, around the axis of the rotation shaft 44 by a driving device such as a motor, and the cutter blade 41 cuts the adhesive tape 210 along the outer edge of the wafer 200.

The tape take-up roller 50 takes up the unnecessary portion of the adhesive tape 210 (corresponding to the adhesive tape 210 that was not attached to the wafer 200) after the portion attached to the wafer 200 has been cut off by the tape cutter 40. The unnecessary portion of the adhesive tape 210 is the portion on the outer periphery side of the outer edge of the wafer 200 that is cut off by the cutter blade 41.

In the first embodiment, the tape take-up roller 50 is arranged in a position that positions the mounting table 10 between it and the tape delivery roller 20 along the horizontal direction. The tape take-up roller 50 is formed in a cylindrical shape with its axis parallel to the axis of the tape delivery roller 20 and the tape application roller 30, and is rotated about its axis by a driving device such as a motor (not shown), thereby winding up the unnecessary portion of the adhesive tape 210 on its outer circumferential surface. The tape take-up roller 50 winds up the unnecessary portion of the adhesive tape 210 on its outer circumferential surface, thereby drawing out the adhesive tape 210 from the tape roll 211 supported by the tape delivery roller 20 onto the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10.

In the first embodiment, two guide rollers 60 are provided, which are disposed between the end of the mounting table 10 and the tape take-up roller 50, and sandwich unnecessary portions of the adhesive tape 210 between them to transport the adhesive tape 210 from the tape feed roller 20 to the tape take-up roller 50, and also apply tension to the adhesive tape 210 to prevent slack in the adhesive tape 210. The guide rollers 60 are formed in a cylindrical shape with their axis parallel to the axis of the tape feed roller 20 and the tape take-up roller 50, and are provided so as to be freely rotatable about their axis.

The control unit 100 controls each of the above-mentioned components of the tape applicator 1, causing the tape applicator 1 to perform the application operation of applying the adhesive tape 210 to the wafer 200. The control unit 100 is a computer having an arithmetic processing device having a microprocessor such as a CPU (central processing unit), a storage device having a memory such as a ROM (read only memory) or a RAM (random access memory), and an input/output interface device. The arithmetic processing device of the control unit 100 performs arithmetic processing according to a computer program stored in the storage device, and outputs control signals for controlling the tape applicator 1 to each of the above-mentioned units of the tape applicator 1 via the input/output interface device.

The control unit 100 is also connected to a display unit that displays the status and images of the tape application operation, an input unit that the operator uses to input information to the control unit 100 of the tape application machine 1, and an alarm unit that emits at least one of sound and light to alert the operator.

(How to clean the taping machine)
Next, a description will be given of a method for cleaning the tape applicator according to the embodiment 1. The method for cleaning the tape applicator according to the embodiment 1 is also an application operation in which the tape applicator 1 having the above-mentioned configuration applies the adhesive tape 210 to the front surface 201 of the wafer 200. As shown in Fig. 4, the method for cleaning the tape applicator according to the embodiment 1 performs a foreign matter removing step 302, a tape application step 303, and a tape cutting step 304.

When the control unit 100 of the tape applicator 1 receives the conditions of the application operation input by the operator or the like, and the control unit 100 receives an instruction to start the application operation from the operator or the like, the tape applicator 1 starts the application operation. When the application operation starts, the control unit 100 of the tape applicator 1 judges whether it is a predetermined timing or not (step 301). The predetermined timing is the timing to remove foreign matter such as scraps of the adhesive tape 210 from the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10, for example, every time the adhesive tape 210 is applied to a predetermined number of wafers 200, before the tape application step 303 is performed, after the tape cutting step 304 is performed, etc. When the control unit 100 of the tape applicator 1 judges that it is a predetermined timing (step 301: Yes), the tape applicator 1 performs the foreign matter removal step 302.

(Foreign matter removal step)
Fig. 5 is a side view showing a schematic diagram of a foreign matter removing step in the method for manufacturing the tape applicator shown in Fig. 4. The foreign matter removing step 302 is a step of removing foreign matter attached to the support surface 11 by applying the adhesive tape 210 to the support surface 11 with the tape application roller 30 before the tape application step 303 or after the tape cutting step 304.

In the first embodiment, in the foreign matter removal step 302, the tape applicator 1, with the wafer 200 not placed on the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10, sends out the adhesive tape 210 of the tape roll 211 from the tape feed roller 20 onto the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10, and makes the adhesive layer of the adhesive tape 210 face the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10. In the first embodiment, in the foreign matter removal step 302, as shown in FIG. 5, the tape applicator 1 lowers the tape application roller 30 to press the adhesive layer of the adhesive tape 210 against the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10, and moves the tape application roller 30 along the mounting surface 11 from the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 5 to the position shown by the dashed line. Then, the foreign matter attached to the mounting surface 11 is adhered to the adhesive layer of the adhesive tape 210.

In the first embodiment, in the foreign matter removal step 302, the tape applicator 1 raises the tape application roller 30. Then, since the mounting surface 11 is coated with the resin described above, the adhesive tape 210 is peeled off from the mounting surface 11, and the foreign matter attached to the adhesive tape 210 is removed from the mounting surface 11. In the first embodiment, in the foreign matter removal step 302, the tape applicator 1 winds up the adhesive tape 210, the length of which is equal to or greater than the outer diameter of one wafer 200, onto the tape winding roller 50, and moves the portion of the adhesive tape 210 pressed against the mounting surface 11 away from the mounting surface 11.

(Tape application step)
6 is a side view showing a schematic diagram of a tape application step of the manufacturing method of the taping machine shown in FIG. 4. The tape application step 303 is a step of applying an adhesive tape 210 to the wafer 200 placed on the placement surface 11 by the tape application roller 30. In the first embodiment, the taping machine 1 performs the tape application step 303 when the control unit 100 judges that it is not the predetermined timing (step 301: No) or after performing the foreign matter removal step 302. In the tape application step 303, the back surface 204 of the wafer 200 is placed on the placement surface 11 of the placement table 10 by a conveying unit (not shown), and the back surface 204 of the wafer 200 is suction-held on the placement surface 11.

In the first embodiment, in the tape application step 303, as shown in FIG. 6, the tape application machine 1 lowers the tape application roller 30 to press the adhesive layer of the adhesive tape 210 against the surface 201 of the wafer 200 held on the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10, and moves the tape application roller 30 along the mounting surface 11 from the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 6 to the position shown by the dashed line to apply the adhesive tape 210 to the surface 201 of the wafer 200. The tape application machine 1 raises the tape application roller 30 to move the tape application roller 30 away from the mounting surface 11.

(Tape cutting step)
Fig. 7 is a side view showing a tape cutting step of the method for manufacturing the tape applicator shown in Fig. 4. The tape cutting step 304 is a step of cutting the adhesive tape 210 along the outer edge of the wafer 200 with the tape cutter 40 after the tape application step 303.

In embodiment 1, in the tape cutting step 304, the tape applicator 1 lowers the cutter blade 41 as shown in FIG. 7, and causes the cutter blade 41 to cut into the outer side of the outer edge of the wafer 200 of the adhesive tape 210. In embodiment 1, in the tape cutting step 304, the tape applicator 1 causes the cutter blade moving mechanism 42 to rotate the cutter blade 41 360 degrees or more around the axis of the rotation shaft 44, and cuts the adhesive tape 210 along the outer edge of the wafer 200 while causing the cutting edge of the cutter blade 41 to cut into the outer side of the outer edge of the wafer 200 of the adhesive tape 210.

In the first embodiment, in the tape cutting step 304, the tape applicator 1 cuts the adhesive tape 210, then raises the tape cutter 40, winds up the amount of adhesive tape 210 to be applied to one wafer 200 with the tape winding roller 50, and moves the adhesive tape 210 by one wafer 200. In the first embodiment, in the tape cutting step 304, the tape applicator 1 releases the suction hold of the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10, and the wafer 200 on the mounting surface 11 is transported out by the transport unit, completing the application operation of the adhesive tape 210, i.e., the cleaning method of the tape applicator according to the first embodiment.

The cleaning method for the tape applicator according to the first embodiment described above involves, before or after the tape application step 303, in the foreign matter removal step 302, pressing the adhesive tape 210 to be applied to the wafer 200 against the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10 to remove any foreign matter adhering to the mounting table 10.

As a result, the method for cleaning the tape applicator according to embodiment 1 has the effect of easily cleaning the mounting surface 11 of the mounting table 10 and suppressing foreign matter such as cuttings from adhering to the mounting table 10.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. In other words, various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. In the present invention, the foreign matter removal step 302 may be performed after the tape cutting step 304. In addition, in the present invention, the foreign matter removal step 302 may be performed before the tape application step 303 and after the tape cutting step 304.

1 Tape applicator 10 Placement table 11 Placement surface 20 Tape delivery roller (tape delivery means)
30 Tape application roller 40 Tape cutter 50 Tape winding roller (tape winding means)
200 Wafer 210 Adhesive tape 302 Foreign matter removing step 303 Tape sticking step 304 Tape cutting step

Claims (2)

a mounting table having a mounting surface on which a wafer is placed;
a tape delivery means on which a roll of adhesive tape is attached;
a tape application roller for applying the adhesive tape to the wafer;
a tape cutter for cutting the adhesive tape along the outer periphery of the wafer;
a tape winding means for winding up the adhesive tape that has not been adhered to the wafer;
A taping machine comprising:
a tape application step of applying the adhesive tape to the wafer placed on the placement surface by the tape application roller;
a tape cutting step of cutting the adhesive tape along the outer periphery of the wafer with the tape cutter after the tape application step;
a foreign matter removing step of removing foreign matter attached to the mounting surface by applying the adhesive tape to the mounting surface with the tape application roller before the tape application step or after the tape cutting step;
A method for cleaning a tape applicator, comprising carrying out the steps of: The method for cleaning a tape applicator according to claim 1, characterized in that the mounting surface of the mounting table is covered with resin.

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