JP4696321B2 - Dicing machine - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a dicing apparatus, and more particularly to a configuration of a dicing apparatus provided with a load port for delivering a cassette containing wafers to and from an external transfer device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A conventional dicing apparatus is shown in FIG. This conventional dicing apparatus divides a wafer on which a large number of semiconductor chips such as LSIs are formed into individual chips. A cutting unit 20 having cutting blades 27 and 27 and a cassette in which a large number of wafers W are stored are external transfer devices. , A cleaning unit 40 that cleans the diced wafer W, and a transfer unit 70 that transports the wafer W between the cassette, the suction table, and the cleaning unit 40. In this conventional dicing apparatus, first, an external transfer device sets a cassette containing wafers W on the mounting table 11 of the load port 10. A large number of wafers W, W,... Stored in the cassette are pulled out one by one by the transfer means 70 and transferred to the cutting unit 20. In the cutting unit 20, the wafer W is imaged by the CCD camera 36 and aligned at a predetermined cutting position by an alignment device using an image recognition unit. Next, the wafer W is cut into a grid pattern by cutting blades 27, 27 provided in the cutting unit 20. The wafer W that has been cut is transferred to the cleaning unit 40, and after being cleaned and dried, is stored in a predetermined shelf of the cassette. The above is the flow of the dicing process for one wafer W by the conventional dicing apparatus.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional dicing apparatus, as shown in FIG. 6, the load port 10 is provided on the front side of the dicing apparatus. For this reason, an external conveyance device such as an AGV (automatic guided vehicle) travels on the floor on the front side of the dicing device, and there is a risk that it may interfere with the operator. In addition, in the case of an overhead traveling type external transport device such as an overhead track guided vehicle (OHT), although the degree of interference with the operator is small, dicing so that the load port 10 comes directly below the traveling rail arranged on the ceiling. The apparatus has to be arranged, and there is a limitation on the indoor layout in which a large number of dicing apparatuses are arranged.
[0004]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides a dicing apparatus that is free from the risk of interference between an external conveyance device and an operator, and that can save floor space by providing flexibility in an indoor layout. With the goal.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, as described in claim 1, a cutting portion including a load port of a cassette storing a plurality of wafers and a cutting blade for dicing the wafer into individual chips. And a cleaning unit that cleans the diced wafer, the cleaning unit is disposed on a front side that is an operator side of the dicing device, and the load port is a front side of the dicing device. The cassette is disposed on the opposite rear surface side and delivers the cassette to and from an external transport device .
[0006]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the load port for delivering a cassette containing a large number of wafers to the external transfer device is disposed on the rear surface side of the dicing device, and the cleaning section is provided with the dicing device. Since it is arranged on the front side of the apparatus, there is no risk of interference between the external transfer apparatus and the operator, and it is safe.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, as described in claim 2, the first transport means for transporting the wafer housed in the cassette of the load port to the cutting section, and the wafer cleaned by the cleaning section. And a second transfer means for storing the wafer in a cassette in which the wafer is stored.
[0007]
A third aspect of the present invention is as claimed in claim 3, constitute the cutting unit as one cut unit, configured and said cleaning portion and said load port as another one load-cleaning units, The cutting unit and the cleaning / loading unit can be separated / coupled, and the load / cleaning unit can be rearranged 180 degrees with respect to the cutting unit. It is characterized by that.
[0008]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the cutting part and the load port / washing part can be separated / coupled by independent units, and the load / washing unit is further connected to the cutting part unit. Therefore, the load port front face arrangement type and the load port rear face arrangement type can be freely rearranged and configured. For this reason, the layout according to the arrangement | sequence of an external conveying apparatus is easy.
[0009]
Furthermore fourth invention is as described in claim 4, wherein the cutting section unit is disposed facing the two spindles symmetrically in the Y direction, two of the cutting section unit and two of said load wash A unit is used, and two sets of bilaterally symmetric dicing apparatuses are configured as one apparatus.
[0010]
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the two spindles symmetrical in the Y direction are arranged opposite to the cutting unit, two sets of symmetrical dicing apparatuses are configured as one apparatus. Can save floor space.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A preferred embodiment of a dicing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in each figure, the same number or the code | symbol is attached | subjected about the same member.
[0012]
FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a second invention. FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating the third aspect of the invention.
[0013]
2 is a perspective view for explaining the structure of the cutting portion in FIGS. 1 and 4, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view for explaining the cassette vertical drive mechanism of the load port in FIGS. 1 and 4.
[0014]
As shown in FIG. 1, the dicing apparatus 1 according to the present invention includes a cutting unit 20 provided with cutting blades 27, 27 for cutting a wafer W, and a cassette in which a large number of wafers W are stored between an external transfer device. A load port 10 that delivers the wafer W, a cleaning unit 40 that cleans the diced wafer W, and a transport means (not shown) that transports the wafer W between the load port 10, the suction table 33 of the cutting unit 20, and the cleaning unit 40. Etc.
[0015]
The structure of the cutting part 20 is as shown in FIG. That is, a column 21 that is a Y-axis base is erected on a machine base (not shown), and two Y-axis tables 24 guided by Y-axis guide rails 22, 22 and linear guides 23, 23. , 24 are connected to a driving means such as a lead screw connected to a linear motor or a stepping motor (not shown), and are index-fed in the Y-axis direction. The Y-axis tables 24, 24 are provided with Z-axis tables 25, 25 that are index-fed in the Z-axis direction (vertical direction) by Z-axis guide means and Z-axis drive means (not shown). Furthermore, high-frequency motor built-in type spindles 26 and 26 each having a cutting blade 27 at the tip are mounted on the Z-axis tables 25 and 25, respectively. The high-frequency motor built-in type spindles 26 and 26 rotate the cutting blades 27 and 27 at a high speed of 30,000 rpm to 60,000 rpm. Further, since the linear scale 34 is provided in the Y-axis driving means, the cutting blades 27 and 27 are accurately positioned on the Y-axis.
[0016]
On the other hand, the X-axis in the cutting feed direction is provided with an X-axis base 28 on a machine base (not shown), and is guided on the X-axis base 28 by X-axis guide rails 29, 29 and air bearings 36, 36. An X-axis table 31 is provided. The X-axis table 31 is driven with high accuracy in the X-axis direction by the linear motor 30, the linear scale 34 and the read head 35. Further, an adsorption table 33 for adsorbing and fixing the wafer W is provided on the X-axis table 31 via a θ-axis table 32 that is accurately driven in the rotation direction by a θ-axis driving unit (not shown).
[0017]
The load port 10 is configured as shown in FIG. The load port 10 is provided with a cassette base 11 for receiving a cassette C in which a large number of wafers W are stored from an external transfer device AGV or OHT. The three pins 11A, 11A, 11A having the are arranged at the vertices of the isosceles triangle. A kinematic coupling is formed by these three pins 11A, 11A, 11A and three inverted V-shaped grooves (not shown) provided on the bottom surface of the cassette C, so that the cassette C is correctly positioned on the cassette base 11. ing. Further, the cassette cradle 11 is connected to a nut 16 that is screwed to a ball screw 15 held by bearings 17 and 17 through a block 12 and 13 and an upper and lower linear guide 14A that moves along a vertical guide rail 14. Yes. Further, the ball screw 15 is connected to a stepping motor 19 by a coupling 18. The wafer W in the cassette C is positioned at a predetermined vertical position by the above vertical movement mechanism.
[0018]
A wafer W cutting process by the dicing apparatus 1 having the above configuration will be described. The wafer W is previously mounted on a rigid frame F by a dicing sheet S. First, a cassette C containing a large number of frames F on which the wafer W is mounted is transported by an external transport device such as AGV or OHT (not shown), and a kinematic coupling is used on the cassette base 11 of the load port 10. Positioned and set. Next, a number of wafers W are positioned at the pulling position by the vertical movement mechanism, sequentially pulled out by a conveying means (not shown), pre-aligned, and then placed on the suction table 33 at the position D shown in FIG. Here, the wafer W is sucked and held on the suction table 33. The wafer W held by suction is conveyed in the direction B shown in FIG. 1, and a pattern on the wafer W is picked up by a CCD camera (not shown) and aligned at a predetermined cutting position by an alignment device using image recognition means. In the aligned wafer W, two streets are simultaneously cut by the cutting blades 27 and 27 positioned in the Y-axis direction and the movement of the suction table 33 in the X-axis direction indicated by the arrow AA. When the first two streets are cut, the spindles 26 and 26 of the cutting unit 20 are moved in the Y-axis direction by the street pitch, and the suction table 33 is moved again in the X-axis direction. As a result, the next two streets are cut. When this cutting operation is repeated and cutting of all streets in one direction (X direction) is completed, the suction table 33 is rotated 90 ° to sequentially cut streets in the other direction (Y direction) perpendicular to the cut street. To do. Thereby, the wafer W is finally cut into a grid pattern.
[0019]
After being cut, the wafer W is returned to the position D by the suction table 33 and then transferred to the spinner table of the cleaning unit 40 by a transfer means (not shown). Here, the wafer W is washed with washing water and then dried by air blow. The dried wafer W is stored in the cassette C by the conveying means.
[0020]
The above is the cutting process of one wafer W by the dicing apparatus 1.
[0021]
Although the mechanism has been described in which the cassette cradle 11 of the load port 10 moves up and down and the wafer W is positioned at a predetermined vertical position, the cassette cradle 11 is fixed at a predetermined height, and is externally transported. The cassette C loaded from the apparatus may be replaced with an elevator mechanism provided separately by another transport apparatus. In the above description, the cutting unit 20 is provided with two spindles 26 and 26, and the two streets are cut at the same time. However, different spindles 27 are attached to the respective spindles 26, and one street is provided. May be cut in two stages, and a dicing apparatus having only one spindle 26 may be used.
[0022]
According to the dicing apparatus 1 according to the present invention described above, the load port 10 for delivering the cassette C in which a large number of wafers W are stored with the external transfer apparatus is disposed on the rear surface side of the dicing apparatus 1. At the same time, since the cleaning unit 40 is disposed on the front side of the dicing apparatus 1, there is no risk of interference between the external transfer device and the operator, and the cleaning unit 40 is safe.
[0023]
The dicing apparatus 1 according to the second invention shown in FIG. 4 is a load / cleaning in which the cutting unit 20 having the cutting unit 20 as one unit, and the load port 10 and the cleaning unit 40 constitute another unit. The unit 60 is comprised. The mechanism of the cutting part 20 and the load port 10 is the same as that of the invention shown in FIGS. In this dicing apparatus 1, the load / cleaning unit 60 is moved in the direction of the thick line arrow in FIG. 4 and coupled to the cutting unit 50, so that it can be configured as one dicing apparatus 1, and at the same time, the load / cleaning unit The unit 60 is moved in the opposite direction to the thick arrow in FIG. 4 to separate it from the cutting unit 50, and the load / cleaning unit is turned 180 degrees with respect to the cutting unit as shown by the rotation arrow in FIG. Can be rearranged. For this reason, two types of dicing apparatuses of the load port front surface arrangement type and the load port rear surface arrangement type can be freely combined. Therefore, the layout according to the arrangement of the external transfer device is easy.
[0024]
The dicing apparatus according to the third invention shown in FIG. 5 is a multi-dicing apparatus composed of two cutting unit units 50 and 50 and two load / cleaning units 60 and 60. The cutting unit 50 has two spindles 26 and 26 arranged symmetrically in the Y direction, and can be rearranged by changing the direction of the load / washing unit 60 by 180 degrees. For this reason, in this multi-dicing apparatus, two load / cleaning units 60, 60 are arranged at the center, and one cutting unit 50 is arranged symmetrically on both sides thereof.
[0025]
According to the dicing apparatus according to the third aspect of the invention, since the dicing apparatuses having functions for two units are combined into one unit, floor space can be saved. Further, by separately providing a transfer means such as a robot hand that enables transfer of the wafer W between the left and right dicing apparatuses, different spindles 27 are attached to the four spindles 26, 26,. This makes it possible to perform complex multi-processing with the cutting blades 27, 27,.
[0026]
The multi-dicing apparatus is not limited to the unit arrangement shown in FIG. 5 and can be variously modified depending on the purpose.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1, the load port for delivering the cassette storing a plurality of wafers to and from the external transport device is disposed on the rear surface side of the dicing device, and Since the cleaning unit is disposed on the front side of the dicing apparatus, there is no risk of interference between the external transfer apparatus and the operator, which is safe.
[0028]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the cutting unit and the load port / washing unit can be separated / coupled by independent units, and the load / washing unit is further connected to the cutting unit. Therefore, the load port front face arrangement type and the load port rear face arrangement type can be freely rearranged and configured. For this reason, the layout according to the arrangement | sequence of an external conveying apparatus is easy.
[0029]
Further, according to the invention described in claim 3, since two spindles symmetrical in the Y direction are arranged opposite to the cutting unit, two sets of bilaterally symmetric dicing apparatuses are configured as one apparatus. Can save floor space. Further, complicated multi-processing can be performed by effectively using four cutting blades.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a dicing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view for explaining a mechanism of a cutting portion of the dicing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a cassette vertical drive mechanism of the dicing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a second invention.
FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating a third invention.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional dicing apparatus.
[Explanation of symbols]
W ... wafer, C ... cassette, 1 ... dicing device, 10 ... load port, 20 ... cutting section, 26 ... spindle, 27 ... cutting blade, 40 ... cleaning section, 50 ... cutting section unit, 60 ... load / cleaning unit

Claims (4)

And the load port of the multi-sheet cassette wafer is accommodated, a dicing device having a cutting portion having a cutting blade for dicing the wafer into individual chips, and a cleaning unit for cleaning the diced the c d Doha In
The cleaning unit is disposed on the front side which is an operator side of the dicing apparatus,
The load port is disposed on the rear side opposite to the front side of the dicing device, and delivers the cassette to and from an external transfer device.   First conveying means for conveying the wafer stored in the cassette of the load port to the cutting unit;
  Second transport means for storing the wafer cleaned by the cleaning unit in a cassette in which the wafer is stored;
  The dicing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: The cutting unit is configured as one cutting unit, the load port and the cleaning unit are configured as another load / cleaning unit, and the cutting unit and the load / cleaning unit can be separated / coupled. 3. The dicing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the dicing apparatus is configured to be rearranged by changing the direction of the load / washing unit by 180 degrees with respect to the cutting unit. Two spindles are arranged opposite to each other in the Y direction symmetrically in the cutting unit, and two sets of dicing devices that are symmetrical to each other are formed by using the two cutting unit and the two load / cleaning units. The dicing apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the dicing apparatus is configured as a stand apparatus.

Images