JP3328381B2 - Automatic protection tape sticking device for semiconductor wafers - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic protective tape applying apparatus for applying a protective tape to a surface of a semiconductor wafer having a pattern formed on the surface and cutting the semiconductor wafer along a peripheral shape of the wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When polishing (back grinding) the back surface of a semiconductor wafer that has been subjected to a pattern forming process, an adhesive protective tape is pasted on the wafer surface in advance, and the wafer surface protected by the protective tape is sucked. The polishing process is performed by suction holding. When attaching this protective tape to the surface of the semiconductor wafer, after attaching a protective tape wider than the wafer diameter to the entire wafer surface, cut out the protective tape along the outer peripheral edge of the wafer so that it does not protrude around. Is required.

[0003] Conventionally, devices that perform such processing include:
Hold the semiconductor wafer by suction on the fixed table,
After passing the protective tape wound in a roll over the surface of the semiconductor wafer and holding one end thereof, rolling the roller from above and pasting it, it was disposed above the table,
There is a configuration in which a protective tape is cut out by rotating a cutter unit that is rotatable around the center of a wafer once.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned sticking apparatus has the following problems. (1) A table for holding a semiconductor wafer is fixedly installed inside the apparatus, and a roller unit, a tape cutting mechanism, and the like are provided near the table. May touch the cutting blade of the cutter unit. (2) Further, since tension is applied only in the longitudinal direction of the tape, slack is likely to occur in the width direction of the tape, so that air bubbles easily enter between the tape and the wafer surface. (3) Further, since the cutter unit is fixedly installed, replacement of the cutting blade pieces arranged on the lower surface of the cutter unit is possible.
Maintenance is difficult.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has an excellent workability and safety, and furthermore, an automatic protection tape for a semiconductor wafer capable of adhering a tape to a wafer surface satisfactorily. An object is to provide a sticking device.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following configuration. That is, the invention according to claim 1 is an automatic protection tape attaching apparatus for attaching a protection tape to a surface of a semiconductor wafer and cutting out the protection tape along a peripheral shape of the wafer, and supplying the protection tape onto the semiconductor wafer. A tape feeding mechanism, a separator peeling mechanism for peeling and collecting the separator from the protective tape with the separator, a tape sticking mechanism for sticking a wide protective tape on the surface of the semiconductor wafer sucked and held on the table, and a semiconductor sticking on the table. A cutting cutter unit that is driven to rotate about a vertical axis that is substantially concentric with the center of the wafer, and a take-off mechanism that takes out the unnecessary tape that has been cut out,
A front loading mechanism for pulling out the table holding the semiconductor wafer to the front side of the apparatus; and a cutter unit.
The tilting standby position and the horizontal cutting action position
And a position further inverted and rocked than the standby position.
The reverse position where the lower surface of the cutter unit is
The cutter unit is configured to swing over
And a cutter swinging mechanism .

[0007] The invention described in claim 2 is the first invention.
Wherein the tape is provided with a tape tension mechanism for applying a tension in the width direction to the protective tape when attaching the protective tape.

[0008]

[0009]

The operation of the present invention is as follows. According to the first aspect of the present invention, the table on which the semiconductor wafer is placed is pulled out toward the apparatus by the front loading mechanism, so that the semiconductor wafer can be easily placed on the table. Also, a cutter unit with a cutting blade
From the standby position in the inclined state,
By setting it to the inverted position, the cutting edge piece becomes easier to see and the cutting edge
Easy replacement of pieces and maintenance.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the protective tape is applied to the semiconductor wafer, tension is applied in the width direction of the protective tape, so that the protective tape is applied without slack.

[0011]

[0012]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view showing an entire apparatus for automatically attaching a protective tape to a semiconductor wafer according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof. First, the configuration of the present apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 showing the standby state of the present apparatus.

The apparatus for automatically attaching a protective tape to a semiconductor wafer according to the embodiment includes a tape supply mechanism 100 for supplying a protective tape T with a separator S, and a separator peeling for separating and collecting the separator S from the protective tape T with the separator S. Mechanism 200, a front loading mechanism 300 for a table 301 on which the wafer W is mounted by suction, and a tape tension mechanism 400 for applying tension in the width direction of the protective tape T.
A tape attaching mechanism 500 for attaching the protective tape T while pressing the protective tape T onto the wafer W, a cutter unit 700 for cutting out the protective tape T attached to the wafer W along the outer peripheral shape of the wafer W, and a cutter unit 700. and a standby position in the inclined state, and a cutting action position in the horizontal state, and the cutter oscillating mechanism 600 to further swung over and the inverted oscillating inverted position than the standby position, switching was overtaken unnecessary tape T
1 is provided.
Hereinafter, the structure of each part will be described in detail.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing the tape supply mechanism 100 and the separator peeling mechanism 200. Hereinafter, the supply mechanism of the protection tape T and the separation mechanism of the separator S will be described with reference to FIG. The tape supply mechanism 100 includes a tape bobbin 1
01 with protective tape T with separator S
Is wound around the collection bobbin 103 by being wound around the guide rollers 102 so as to pass over the table. The tape bobbin 101 is rotatably supported by the lower part of one side end (right side in FIG. 3) of the main body plate 120, and is interlocked via a belt 105 to a brake mechanism 104 mounted on the back of the main body plate 120 to regulate rotation. The collection bobbin 103 is supported by a lower portion of the other side end (the left side in FIG. 3) of the main body plate 120, and is interlocked via a belt 107 to a motor 106 mounted on the back of the main body plate 120. A roller 10 disposed at the free end of a swing arm 108 that swings up and down around a fulcrum a is provided above the collection bobbin 103.
There are nine. Further above, the take-up roller 1 provided at the free end of a swing arm 112 that swings about a fulcrum b.
There are thirteen. The swing arm 112 is swing-driven by an air cylinder 110 connected via the arm 111, so that a predetermined amount of the protective tape T is removed from the tape bobbin 101.
Is fed and supplied onto the wafer W, and the unnecessary tape T1 after cutting, which will be described later, is wound around the collection bobbin 103 by driving the motor 106.

As shown in FIG. 3, the separator peeling mechanism 200 includes a collecting bobbin 201 for the separator S which is pivotally supported above the tape bobbin 101.
1 is a motor 202 mounted on the back of the body plate 120
Are connected to each other via a belt 203.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the front loading mechanism 300 and the tape tension mechanism 400. FIG.
Is a partially cutaway front view thereof. Hereinafter, the table 301 on which the wafer W is placed and the front loading mechanism 300 will be described with reference to these drawings. The front loading mechanism 300, as shown in FIGS.
The table 301 on which the wafer W is placed is stored in the center of the apparatus during the operation of attaching the protective tape T, and is pulled out to the front of the apparatus at the start and end of the operation, thereby facilitating the installation and removal of the wafer W. Things. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a pair of rails 302 is provided on the main body base plate 121 in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the protective tape T. A support table 304 is slidably fitted on each of the rails 302. On the support 304, a base plate 306, a heat insulating plate 307, a heat block 308, and a disk-shaped table 301 are stacked and supported in that order. The base plate 306 is connected to a rod of an air cylinder 303 arranged in parallel with the rail 302. The table 301 slides back and forth as the air cylinder 303 is driven to expand and contract.

The table 301 is capable of holding a semiconductor wafer by suction. An annular groove 309 corresponding to the wafer size for passing the cutting blade is formed concentrically on the upper surface thereof.
A suction groove 310 for wafer suction is formed. Also,
As shown in FIG. 5, an arm 312 swinging about a fulcrum c is connected to an air cylinder 311 provided at the center of the lower surface of the table 301. A guide plate 313 and a pair of guide pins 314 are connected to the free end of the arm 312 so that the arm can be protruded and retracted from the upper surface of the table 301. When the semiconductor wafer W is set on the table 301, the guide plate 313 and the guide pins 314 are projected from the upper surface of the table 301, and the wafer is positioned by bringing the wafer edge into contact with the guide plate 313 and the guide pins 314.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing the tape tension mechanism 400, the tape sticking mechanism 500, and the tape pulling mechanism 800. FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line AA. In the following, using these figures, the unnecessary
A description will be given of a series of mechanisms up to pick-up . The tape tension mechanism 400 includes a tape tension roller 405 that swings up and down.
And a pair of tape tension plates 409 (see FIG. 4) which cooperate with the rollers 405 to pinch the protective tape T and extend and slide in the tape width direction. Specifically, a frame 401 of a tape take-off mechanism 800 described later
One end of an arm 403 that is driven to swing up and down about a fulcrum d is interlockedly connected to a cylinder 402 mounted on the back of the robot, and a shaft 404 is journaled at its free end. Further, FIG.
As shown in the figure, a pair of tape tension rollers 4 is formed around the center position Y in the width direction of the protection tape T on the outer periphery of the shaft 404.
05 is loosely fitted, a pair of spring members 406 are respectively disposed outside thereof, and a pair of tape tension rollers 405 are slid toward the center position Y.

Further, below the tape tension roller 405,
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, there is an air chuck 407 mounted on the main body base plate 121. A center position Y is attached to the air chuck 407 via a pair of brackets 408.
A pair of tape tension plates 409 are slidably connected in the width direction of the tape with the boundary as a boundary. The swinging down movement of the pair of tape tension rollers 405 causes the protection tape T supplied between the pair of tape tension plates 409 to be gripped.
By the slide expansion of No. 9, tension in the width direction is applied to the protective tape T.

The tape attaching mechanism 500 includes a rail 122 attached to the main body plate 120, wherein the upper portion of the frame 501 is slidably held in the tape running direction, and the lower portion of the frame 501 is attached to a motor 502 mounted on one upper end of the main body plate 120 by a belt. They are linked and connected via 503 and 504. Further, an arm 506 that is driven to swing up and down around a fulcrum e is mounted on a cylinder 505 mounted on the back of the frame 501.
Are linked and a sticking roller 507 is rotatably supported at its free end.

The tape take-off mechanism 800 includes a rail 122
The lower part of the frame 401 slidably attached to the motor body 801 is connected to a motor 801 mounted on the upper end of the other end of the main body plate 120 by interlocking via belts 802 and 803. Cylinder 8 mounted on the back of the frame 401
An arm 805 that is driven to swing up and down about a fulcrum f is interlocked to 04, and a roller 806 is rotatably supported at its free end. Further, a take-up roller 807 rotatably supported by the frame 401 is provided in a lower portion thereof. Pull
The removal roller 807 cooperates with the roller 806 to remove the unnecessary tape T1 cut out along the outer peripheral edge of the wafer W.
It is to remove it from the surroundings. In a normal state, the protection tape T is sandwiched between the roller 806 and the take-up roller 807. However, when the protection tape T is set, the roller 806 is raised so that the protection tape T can be easily set or replaced. ing.

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway front view showing the cutter swing mechanism 600. FIG. 9 is a plan view thereof. Hereinafter, the cutter swing mechanism 600 will be described with reference to these drawings. A pair of arms 602 is attached to a support shaft 601 supported by the main body plate 120 so as to be vertically swingable.
The base plate 603 of the tape cutting section is connected across these arms 602. An arm 605 that swings around a fulcrum h is connected to a cylinder 604 provided on the main body plate 120, and a pair of arms 602 and 605 are provided.
Are independently and freely rotatably fitted to the support shaft 601. A stopper member 606 for restricting the opening angle of the cutter unit 700 is provided above the arm 605.
However, an operating member 607 for transmitting the power at the time of the cutter swing is provided at a lower portion thereof. The action member 6 is provided on the arm 602 side adjacent to the arm 605.
A contact member 608 is provided at a position where it comes into contact with 07.
When the arm 605 is oscillated by the cylinder 604, the base plate 603 is interlocked and the cutter oscillating mechanism 60
0 swings between a standby position (position P2 in FIG. 10) indicated by a chain line in FIG. 8 and a cutting action position (position P1 in FIG. 10) indicated by a solid line. Note that, by manually reversing the base plate 603 clockwise from the standby position (position P3 in FIG. 10),
As shown in (5), the cutter swinging mechanism 600 can be moved to a position where the contact member 608 contacts the stopper member 606. In the state shown in FIG. 10, since the lower surface of the cutter unit 700 faces upward, replacement of the cutting blade can be easily performed.

The cutter unit 700 is connected to a lower end of a rotating shaft 610 rotatably supported on the base plate 603 via a bearing 609 so as to be rotatable around a vertical axis X. Also,
It is driven to rotate about a vertical axis X via a belt 612 by a motor 611 provided above the base plate 603.

FIG. 11 is a partially cutaway front view of the cutter unit 700. FIG. 12 is a plan view, and FIG. 13 is a partially cutaway side view. Hereinafter, the cutter unit 700 will be described with reference to these drawings. In the cutter unit 700, a square block 701 connected to a lower portion of the rotation shaft 610, and the square block 701
Block 703 connected to plate 702 via plate 702
Thereby, the slide shaft 704 is horizontally supported so as to be slidable. As shown in FIG.
A plate 706 is rotatably supported around the longitudinal axis P at a tip end of the plate 704 via a support shaft 705, a plate 707 is connected and fixed to one end of the plate 706 in an inverted L shape, and a shaft 708 is provided below the plate 707. Through the cutter holder 70
9 is rotatably supported around the horizontal axis Y.

A slit 710 is formed in a lower portion of the front end of the cutter holder 709, and a cutting blade 711 is inserted into the slit 710 and fixed with a set screw 712. Plate 70
A guide pin 714 for controlling the cutter locus is provided upright on a top surface of the base plate 6 via a support plate 713, and a guide rail 715 acting on the guide pin 714 is attached to the base plate 60.
3 is fixed to the lower surface.

The apparatus for automatically attaching a protective tape to a semiconductor wafer according to this embodiment is configured as described above.
The operation of this device will be described.

(1) First, in a standby state as shown in FIG. 1, the table switch of the operation unit 900 shown in FIG. 2 is turned on, and the table 301 is advanced to a predetermined position in front. Then, the wafer W is placed and positioned by a guide plate 313 projecting from the upper surface of the table 301 and a pair of guide pins 314. Next, the operation unit 900
Is turned on, the wafer W is placed on the table 301.
The guide plate 313 and the pair of guide pins 314 are lowered and accommodated inside the table 301 while being held by suction.

(2) By turning on the table switch again, the table 301 retreats into the apparatus and is held below the protective tape T guided along a predetermined path. This is the initial setting state of the protective tape automatic attaching operation. Hereinafter, one round of the operation of attaching the protective tape T to the surface of the wafer W will be described with reference to FIGS.

(3) FIG. 14 shows the initial setting state of the protective tape automatic sticking operation. In the initial setting state, as shown in the figure, the tape tension mechanism 400, the tape sticking mechanism 500, and the tape pulling mechanism 800
1 and the cutter swing mechanism 600 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (2), it is in the standby position in the inclined state (position P2 in FIG. 10). When the start switch is turned on in this state, first, the tape tension roller 405 of the tape tension mechanism 400 swings down to hold the protection tape T between the tape tension plate 409 shown in FIG. When the plate 409 is driven to expand,
Tension is applied in the width direction of the protection tape T.

(4) Next, as shown in FIG. 15, the sticking roller 507 of the tape sticking mechanism 500 swings down, and the sticking roller 507 presses the protection tape T while moving on the wafer W in the tape running direction. Is the opposite direction (Fig. 1
5 from left to right), and the protective tape T
Affix evenly over the entire surface of. At that time, since the tension is applied in the width direction of the protective tape T by the tape tension mechanism 400, the tape can be stuck without causing wrinkles. Then, as shown in FIG. 15, when the tape attaching mechanism 500 reaches the end position, the attaching roller 507 moves up.

(5) Next, the cutter swinging mechanism 600 swings down to the cutting action position (position P1 in FIG. 10).
When the cutter unit 700 makes a round around the wafer W, the protection tape T is cut out along the wafer W.

(6) After the cutting of the protective tape T is completed, the cutter swinging mechanism 600 is swingably driven and returns to the standby position (position P2 in FIG. 10).

[0033] (7) Next, as to release the tension tape tension roller 405 of the tape tensioning mechanism 400 had subjected to elevated protective tape T, as shown in FIG. 16, tape
The pulling-out mechanism 800 cuts around the wafer W while moving on the wafer W in a direction opposite to the tape running direction.
The unnecessary tape T1 is wound up and taken up.

[0034] (8) Then, as shown in FIG. 17, tape
When the take- up mechanism 800 reaches the end position of the winding operation , the tape take-off mechanism 800 and the tape attaching mechanism 500
Move in the tape running direction and return to the initial set position.

(9) Next, the arm 112 of the tape supply mechanism 100 shown in FIG.
When the collection bobbin 103 is driven to rotate, unnecessary
The loop T1 is wound and collected on the collection bobbin 103, and a certain amount of the protective tape T is fed out and supplied onto the wafer W. This completes one cycle of the operation of attaching the protective tape T to the surface of the wafer W.

(10) Finally, by operating the table switch of the operation unit 900, the table 301 is advanced to a predetermined position in front of the operator, the suction switch is released, and the wafer W on which the protective tape T is stuck is moved to the table. Take out from above 301.

Thus, the attachment of the protective tape T to one wafer W is completed, and thereafter, the above operation is repeated.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be variously modified. For example, in the embodiment, the front loading mechanism 300 is connected to the air cylinder 3
Although the drive was performed at 03, this may be a belt drive using a motor. Further, instead of the air chuck 407 of the tape tension mechanism 400, an electromagnetic solenoid or the like may be used. Further, the cutter swing mechanism 600 can be driven by a motor.

Although the protective tape T with the separator S is used in the embodiment, a protective tape T without the separator S may be used. In this case, the separator peeling mechanism 200 is removed or a selection switch or the like is used. It is also possible to switch and use this.

The operation is not limited to the operation of the above-described device, and the order of the operation may be appropriately changed.

[0041]

As is clear from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the table on which the semiconductor wafer is mounted comes out before the apparatus. The semiconductor wafer can be safely and reliably placed at a predetermined position on the table without touching. Ma
In addition, the cutter unit's standby position
Setting and maintenance of the protective tape.
Easy to nonce. In addition, the cutter unit is in standby position.
Turn the cutter unit upside down, and
It is easy to see the cutting blade piece, replace the cutting blade piece, maintainer
Can be performed safely and reliably.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the protective tape is applied to the semiconductor wafer, tension is applied in the width direction of the protective tape. The protective tape can be uniformly applied over the entire wafer surface.

[0043]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an entire apparatus for automatically attaching a protective tape to a semiconductor wafer according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the entire apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the tape supply mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a front loading mechanism and a tape tension mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a cutaway front view showing a front loading mechanism and a tape tension mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a tape tension mechanism, an attaching mechanism, and a take-off mechanism .

7 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway front view showing the cutter swing mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the cutter swing mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state at the time of replacement of a cutting blade piece.

FIG. 11 is a partially cutaway front view of the cutter unit.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the cutter unit.

FIG. 13 is a side view of the cutter unit.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing an initial setting state of a protective tape automatic attaching operation.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a protective tape attaching process of the protective tape automatic attaching operation.

FIG. 16: Take-up of unnecessary tape for automatic application of protective tape
Ri is an explanatory diagram showing a stroke.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing a take-off completion process of the protective tape automatic attaching operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Tape supply mechanism 200 ... Separator peeling mechanism 300 ... Front loading mechanism 400 ... Tape tension mechanism 500 ... Tape sticking mechanism 600 ... Cutter swing mechanism 700 ... Cutter unit 800 ... Tape take-off mechanism 900 ... Operation part T ... Protective tape W … Wafer

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-1-1431211 (JP, A) JP-A-2-51249 (JP, A) JP-A-3-297136 (JP, A) JP-A-4- 171932 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/304 H01L 21/68 H01L 21/301

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A protection tape automatic attachment device for attaching a protection tape to a surface of a semiconductor wafer and cutting out the protection tape along the outer peripheral shape of the semiconductor wafer, a tape supply mechanism for supplying the protection tape onto the semiconductor wafer, A separator peeling mechanism that separates and recovers a separator from a protective tape with a separator, a tape attaching mechanism that attaches a wide protective tape to the surface of a semiconductor wafer that is sucked and held on a table, and is substantially concentric with the center of the semiconductor wafer on the table A cutter unit that is driven to rotate about the vertical axis of the cutter unit; a take-off mechanism that takes out the unnecessary tape that has been cut out; a front loading mechanism that pulls out the table holding the semiconductor wafer to the front side of the apparatus; and the cutter unit. The standby position and the horizontal
State, the cutting action position and the reversal swing more than the standby position.
Moved position, the lower surface of the cutter unit is facing up
Swing the cutter unit over the reversal position
And a cutter swinging mechanism configured as described above . 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a tape tension mechanism for applying a tension to the protective tape in a width direction when the protective tape is adhered.