JP3283057B2 - Semiconductor wafer processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus for performing bevel processing on a semiconductor wafer having a circuit formed thereon.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of semiconductor wafer processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

That is, this semiconductor wafer processing apparatus has a Y
A wafer chuck 22 is set on a Y-axis table 23 that moves in the axial direction, and a wafer 21 is vacuum-sucked on the wafer chuck 22. On the other hand, in the vicinity of the wafer chuck 22, a shaft 26 having a grindstone 25 fixed to a lower end and a pulley 28 fixed to an upper end is rotatably supported by a bracket 27, and another pulley is fixed by the bracket 27. A motor 30 to which the motor 28 is fixed is held. A belt 29 is provided between the pulley 28 fixed to the motor 30 and the pulley 28 fixed to the shaft 26, and a core for centering the wafer 21 and the wafer chuck 22 is provided near the outer periphery of the wafer 21. An alignment gauge 24 is provided.

In the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus having such a configuration, first, after setting the wafer 21 on the wafer chuck 22, the alignment gauge 24 is brought into contact with the outer periphery of the wafer 21 to align the wafer 21 with the wafer chuck 22. Perform Then, after the wafer 21 is vacuum-sucked to the wafer chuck 22, the wafer 21 is moved in the Y-axis direction (the grindstone 25 side) by the Y-axis table 23 while rotating, and the bevel grinding is performed by the grindstone 25 rotated by the motor 30. Was.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional semiconductor wafer processing apparatus, since the centering of the wafer 21 is performed by the outer shape of the wafer 21,
Wafer 2 with respect to the circuit center formed on wafer 21
When the wafer 1 is processed off-center and the wafer 21 is brought into contact with the alignment gauge 24, chipping occurs, which causes a problem that the yield is reduced.

In addition, the processing of the wafer 21 in which the center of the wafer and the center of the circuit are shifted cannot be performed, and the alignment gauge 24 is used.
There is a problem that the workability is deteriorated because the outer shape and thickness of the device 1 must be adjusted within a certain range.

In addition, since the wafer 21 is washed in another place after the bevel processing, Si scraps and the like adhering to the wafer 21 cannot be removed, and chipping occurs on the bevel surface by 5 to 10% due to handling or the like. There was a point.

[0008] In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide
An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus capable of improving the yield with good workability.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a thickness measuring means for measuring the thickness of a semiconductor wafer having a circuit formed on a surface thereof, and a semiconductor device which recognizes the center of the circuit and recognizes the semiconductor. While performing the position correction of the wafer, position correction measurement means for measuring the maximum radius of the semiconductor wafer from the center of the circuit, the thickness measurement data of the semiconductor wafer and the maximum radius measurement data of the semiconductor wafer based on the data The semiconductor wafer is provided with grinding means for beveling the outer shape of the semiconductor wafer and cleaning means for cleaning the semiconductor wafer after processing.

[0010]

According to the present invention, the position correction measuring means for recognizing the center of the circuit and correcting the position of the wafer and measuring the maximum radius of the wafer from the center of the circuit is provided. Will be

Further, since the thickness measuring means for measuring the thickness of the wafer is provided, it is possible to perform bevel processing according to the wafer thickness, and it is not necessary to make the wafer thickness within a certain range.

Furthermore, since a cleaning means for cleaning the processed wafer is provided, the wafer is cleaned immediately after the bevel processing.

Furthermore, beveling and cleaning are automated in the same device, eliminating chipping.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

That is, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a carrier for housing and transporting the wafer 2. On the downstream side of the carrier 1, a wafer chuck 3, which sucks the wafer 2 by vacuum,
First transfer unit 6 for transferring wafer 2 in the X-axis direction
a, a first Y-axis table 7 for transferring the wafer 2 in the Y-axis direction, a second transfer unit 6b for transferring the wafer 2 in the X-axis direction, and a second Y-axis table for transferring the wafer 2 in the Y-axis direction 10, a third transfer unit 6c for transferring the wafer 2 in the X-axis direction, a spine chuck 18 for holding the wafer 2, a fourth transfer unit 6d for transferring the wafer 2 in the X-axis direction, and an unloader for storing the wafer 2 Trays 20 are sequentially arranged.

Above the wafer chuck 3, a thickness measuring device 5 fixed to an arm 4 that moves up and down and measuring the thickness of the wafer 2 is provided in proximity to the first Y-axis table 7.
A first shaft 8 that holds and rotates the wafer 2 is provided above. The wafer 2 is located above the first shaft 8.
A camera 9 for recognizing the center of a circuit formed on the surface and measuring the diameter of the wafer is provided.

Further, a second shaft 11 for holding and rotating the wafer 2 is provided on the second Y-axis table 10, and a lower stage near the second shaft 11 is provided for rough outer diameter grinding. A grindstone 12 having a grindstone portion 12a, a grindstone portion 12b for outer diameter finish grinding in a middle stage, and a grindstone portion 12c for bevel grinding in an upper stage is provided (see FIG. 2).

The grinding wheel 12 is fixed to a lower end of a shaft 13 having a pulley 14 fixed to an upper end, and the shaft 13 is rotatably pivoted by a bracket 17 connected to a vertical drive source (not shown). Supported. The bracket 17 holds the motor 15 to which the other pulley 14 is fixed, and the pulley 14 and the shaft 13 which are fixed to the motor 15.
A belt 16 is laid between the pulley 14 and the pulley 14 fixed thereto.

A cleaning nozzle 19a for discharging a cleaning agent for cleaning the wafer 2 is provided above the spine chuck 18, and a tray 19b for receiving the cleaning agent is provided around the spine chuck 18. .

Next, the operation of the semiconductor wafer processing apparatus having the above configuration will be described.

First, the wafer 2 housed in the carrier 1
Is transported onto the wafer chuck 3 by a single-wafer apparatus (not shown) and held in a vacuum. By lowering the arm 4, the thickness of the wafer 2 is measured by the thickness measuring device 5. Thereafter, the wafer 2 whose thickness has been measured is held by the first transfer unit 6a and transferred in the X direction (camera 9 side). Then, the wafer 2 is circuit center O ₁ formed on the wafer surface while being held by the first transport unit 6a is recognized by the camera 9, the data is first transport unit 6a and the first Y-axis table 7 is fed back.

Thereafter, the first transport unit 6a corrects the position in the X direction based on the X-axis data fed back, and the first Y-axis table 7 based on the Y-axis data.
Performs position correction in the Y direction. The wafer 2 held by the first transfer unit 6a is placed on the first Y-axis table 7 on the first Y-axis table 7.
The first axis 8, which is transferred on the axis 8 and holds the wafer 2, is moved by a fixed amount by the first Y-axis table 7, and the wafer 2 is rotated once by the first axis 8 at low speed. At this time,
The outer periphery of the wafer 2 is measured by the camera 9, the Max radius A from the circuit the center O ₁ is determined (see FIG. 3). In FIG. 3, α indicates the circuit range, β indicates the final outer diameter of the wafer 2, and O ₂ indicates the center of the wafer 2.

Thereafter, the wafer 2 is transferred in the X direction by the second transfer unit 6b, and is held on the second shaft 11 on the second Y-axis table 10. The wafer 2 held on the second shaft 11 rotates while the second Y-axis table 10
Thus, the wafer 2 moves at a low speed in the Y direction to a position where the Max radius A of the wafer 2 comes into contact with the grindstone 12. Then, wafer 2
Is rotated to a very low speed, and the outer diameter of the wafer 2 is ground by the grindstone 12 rotating at high speed by the motor 15 as follows.

That is, after grinding to the finished outer shape + α by the outer shape rough grinding wheel 12a, the wafer outer diameter is finished to the standard size by the outer diameter finish grinding wheel 12b. Next, based on the thickness of the wafer 2 measured by the thickness measuring device 5, the end face of the wafer 2 is ground by the bevel grinding wheel 12c.

The ground wafer 2 is transported in the X direction by the third transport unit 6c, and
8. The wafer 2 has a spine chuck 18
After being cleaned by the cleaning agent discharged from the cleaning nozzle 19a while rotating, the substrate is dried at high speed. The dried wafer 2 is transported in the X direction by the fourth transport unit 6d, and is stored in the tray 20 of the unloader.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, bevel grinding is performed with reference to the center of the circuit, thereby eliminating processing errors and improving the yield, and improving the yield of the wafer whose center is shifted from the center of the circuit. Can be processed. in addition,
There is no need to adjust the wafer diameter within a certain range, and workability can be improved.

Further, since the bevel processing according to the wafer thickness can be performed, the yield can be improved, and the workability can be improved because it is not necessary to adjust the wafer thickness within a certain range.

Further, since the cleaning of the wafer is performed immediately after the bevel processing, Si scraps and the like can be removed, and the yield can be improved.

In addition, since beveling and cleaning are automatically performed in the same apparatus, chipping is eliminated.
The yield can be improved and the floor area can be reduced to about half.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of a semiconductor wafer processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the grindstone of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a wafer on which a circuit is formed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of a conventional semiconductor wafer processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Carrier 2 Wafer 3 Wafer chuck 4 Arm 5 Thickness measuring instrument 6a First transport unit 6b Second transport unit 6c Third transport unit 6d Fourth transport unit 7 First Y-axis table 8 First axis 9 Camera 10 2nd Y-axis table 11 2nd axis 12 Whetstone 13 Shaft 14 Pulley 15 Motor 16 Belt 17 Bracket 18 Speen chuck 19a Cleaning nozzle

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A thickness measuring means for measuring a thickness of a semiconductor wafer having a circuit formed on a surface thereof, a position of the semiconductor wafer is recognized by recognizing a center of the circuit, and the thickness of the semiconductor wafer is measured from a center of the circuit. Position correction measuring means for measuring the maximum radius of the semiconductor wafer, grinding means for beveling the outer shape of the semiconductor wafer based on the thickness measurement data of the semiconductor wafer and the maximum radius measurement data of the semiconductor wafer, A semiconductor wafer processing apparatus, comprising: cleaning means for cleaning the semiconductor wafer.