JP2519944Y2 - Slicing machine - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a slicing machine, and more particularly to a slicing machine having a function of removing chips entering a gap between an air pad and a blade when cutting a semiconductor wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A semiconductor wafer is manufactured by rotating an inner peripheral blade or an outer peripheral blade of a slicing machine at a high speed and pressing an ingot against the blade to cut the ingot into thin pieces. At this time, blade control air is jetted from the air pad to the pressing surface of the blade based on the value of the blade sensor that detects the displacement of the blade, and the blade is cut while correcting the displacement of the blade.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the normal air pad 1 has a bottom surface of the air pad 1 so that the pressure of the jetted blade control air 2 can be effectively applied to the pressing surface 3A of the blade 3. Circumferential part 6 is blade 3
A slight gap 5 is maintained between the surface and the air pad 1, and the pressing surface 3A of the blade 3 forms an air ejection space 4.

[0004]

However, as the cutting work of the ingot progresses, the chips of the ingot tend to enter the gap 5 between the air pad bottom portion 6 and the blade 3. Therefore, the degree of openness of the air ejection space 4 formed by the air pad bottom portion 6 and the blade 3 varies depending on the degree of clogging of the chips entering the gap 5, and a desired air pressure is exerted on the blade. It is impossible to correct the displacement of the blade accurately, which is a disadvantage.

Further, since the blade is rotating at a high speed, chips entering the gap between the air pad bottom surface and the blade damage the base metal of the blade and shorten the life of the blade. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a slicing machine having a function of removing cutting chips that have entered the gap between the bottom circumferential portion of the air pad and the blade.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention ejects blade control air from an air pad to correct the displacement of the blade and at the same time, the crystal ingot is flaked with the inner peripheral edge of the blade. In the slicing machine that cuts into two, the air pad is provided with a cleaning water jet and a cleaning air jet forming an air curtain around the cleaning water jet.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the washing water jet is provided in the air pad, the washing air jet is formed around the washing water jet, and the washing water is jetted from the washing water jet to the blade. At the same time as jetting, air was jetted from the washing air jet port to the periphery of the washing water jet port.

As a result, the cleaning water becomes a water flow outward in the direction of rotation due to centrifugal force along the blade rotating at a high speed, and removes the chips entering the gap between the air pad and the blade to the outside of the gap. . At this time, since the air ejected from the cleaning air supply port functions as an air curtain, the cleaning water is confined in the air curtain to cause turbulent flow and bubble. This bubbling effect can prevent the cutting chips from sticking to the base metal on the bottom surface of the air pad, so that the cutting chips can be completely removed from the gap.

Further, by completely removing the cutting chips that have entered the gap between the air pad and the blade, it is possible to prevent the cutting chips from damaging the base metal of the blade.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of a slicing machine according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1, a chuck body 12 is fixed to the upper end of the spindle 10, and a motor (not shown) is further connected to the lower end of the spindle 10, whereby the spindle 1
0, the chuck body 12 is adapted to rotate.

An outer peripheral edge of a doughnut-shaped blade 14 is pulled up on the chuck body 12, and an inner peripheral edge 16 is formed on the inner peripheral edge of the blade 14. The inner peripheral blade 16 is composed of fine diamond abrasive grains or the like. Also,
The outer peripheral edge of the blade 14 can be adjusted in tension by a known tensioning mechanism (not shown) of the chuck body 12.

The upper end of the semiconductor ingot 18 is fixed to a work support (not shown). Further, the ingot 18 is cut by the cutting feed mechanism in the cutting feed direction (XX direction).
Further, the work support table can be moved in the work indexing direction (Z-Z direction) by the work indexing mechanism. The cutting feed mechanism and the work indexing mechanism are driven by a command signal from a control device (not shown).

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a pair of air pads 20, 20 are arranged on the upper surface of the blade 14. Further, a pair of non-contact type blade sensors 22, 22 are arranged in proximity to the air pads 20, 20. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, each of the air pads 20 and 20 has a convex columnar shape, and the center line of the column is bored in a hollow cylindrical shape to eject the blade control air (or cleaning water). The passage is formed and the hollow has a large diameter on the blade 14 side. That is, in order to effectively apply the air pressure of the blade control air of the air pads 20, 20 to the pressing surface 14A of the blade 14,
The bottom circumferential portion 30 of each of the air pads 20, 20 is a blade 14
A slight gap 28 is maintained between the surface and the air pads 20, 20 and the pressing surface 14A of the blade 14 to form an air ejection space 26.

Further, the upper end portion 2 of the washing water ejection system passage 24
A three-way valve 34 is provided in a pipe 32 extending in communication with 4A, and one of them is an air supply pipe 36 for blade control.
On the other hand, the other is connected to the wash water supply pipe 38, and is used while periodically switching the three-way valve 34 according to an instruction from the control device. In addition, a cylindrical groove is formed on the outer periphery of the large-diameter cylindrical portion of the convex cylinder so that the bottom surface of the convex cylinder communicates with the atmosphere to form a cleaning air ejection system passage 40. A cleaning air introduction system passage 42 is formed from the side surface of the cylindrical portion and communicates with the ejection system passage 40, and the introduction system passage 42 is connected to a cleaning air supply pipe 44.

The operation of the slicing machine configured as described above is carried out as follows. First, the blade 14 is stretched with a predetermined tension by the blade tensioning mechanism of the chuck body 12. After the blade 14 is stretched, the blade control air of a predetermined pressure is jetted from the air pads 20, 20 before cutting. This causes the blade 14 to bend downward. In this state, sufficient rigidity is given near the inner peripheral blade 16 of the blade 14, and cutting is started with the downwardly bent position as a reference (zero).

As shown in FIG. 2, the ingot 18 moves in the cutting feed direction (XX direction) by the cutting feed mechanism and is cut by the inner peripheral blade 16 of the blade 14, but the blade 14 is displaced. And the displacement measurement signals from the blade sensors 22 and 22 are controlled by the control mechanism,
Blade control air is ejected from 20 to cut while correcting the displacement of the blade 14.

However, as shown in FIG. 4, the ingot 18
When the chips of No. 2 enter the gap 28 between the bottom circumferential portion 30 of the air pads 20, 20 and the blade 14, the air pads 20,
20 and the pressing space 26 formed by the pressing surface 14A of the blade 14 have different degrees of openness. Therefore, the air pad 2
The air jetted from 0 and 20 causes a difference in the air pressure applied to the pressing surface 14A, so that the desired air pressure cannot be adjusted, and the blade displacement cannot be corrected accurately.

As a countermeasure against this, the three-way valve 34 is switched from the blade control air supply to the cleaning water supply based on the cutting pause time from the end of cutting the ingot 18 to the start of the next cutting and the instruction from the control mechanism, and at the same time, the cleaning is performed. The jetting of commercial air is started. When the cleaning water is ejected from the air pads 20, 20 onto the pressing surface 14A of the blade 14,
The cleaning water becomes a water flow outward in the rotational direction by centrifugal force along the blades 14 rotating at high speed, and the air pad 2
The gap 28 between the bottom circumferential portion 30 of the blades 0 and 20 and the blade 14
The chips of the ingot 18 that have entered are removed to the outside of the gap 28.

At this time, since the air jetted from the air pads 20, 20 to the periphery of the pressing surface 14A acts as an air curtain, the cleaning water is confined in the air curtain and becomes a turbulent flow to bubble. This bubbling effect prevents the cutting chips from sticking to the base metal of the air pads 20 and 20 at the bottom cylindrical portion, so that the cutting chips can be completely removed from the gap 28. The chips removed from the gap 28 are discharged to the outside of the blade 14 by the rotational centrifugal force of the blade 14.

As a result, the gap between the bottom circumferential portion of the air pad and the blade always becomes a constant distance, and the degree of opening of the pressing space can be kept constant, so that the air pressure ejected from the air pad is adjusted normally. The displacement of the blade can be corrected accurately. In addition, the chips do not damage the base metal of the blade.

[0021]

As described above, according to the slicing machine of the present invention, the washing water jetting means and the washing air jetting means are provided on the air pad to jet the washing water and the air. It is possible to completely remove the chips of the ingot that have entered the gap between the peripheral portion of the bottom surface of the air pad and the blade. Thereby, the pressure exerted on the pressing surface of the blade by the blade control air ejected from the air pad can be adjusted normally.

Further, since the cutting metal does not damage the base metal of the blade, the adverse effect on the blade can be extended.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the vicinity of a blade of a slicing machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a blade of the slicing machine of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the air pad according to the present invention with a part cut away.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure by cutting out a part of an air pad according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing an internal structure of a conventional air pad with a part cut away.

[Explanation of symbols]

 14 ... Blade 16 ... Inner peripheral blade 18 ... Ingot 20 ... Air pad

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A slicing machine for cutting a crystal ingot into flakes with an inner peripheral blade of a blade while jetting blade control air from the air pad to correct the displacement of the blade. A slicing machine having an ejection port and a cleaning air ejection port forming an air curtain around the cleaning water ejection port. 2. A spray system passage of the cleaning water jet outlet is shared with the jet system passage of the blade control air, and a switching means for periodically switching the supply system passage of the two system passages is provided. The slicing machine according to claim 1.