JP6388813B2 - Cutting equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cutting apparatus for cutting a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer.

  For example, in the semiconductor device manufacturing process, circuits such as IC and LSI are formed in a number of regions partitioned by dividing lines called streets formed in a lattice shape on the surface of a semiconductor wafer having a substantially disk shape, Each semiconductor chip is manufactured by dividing each region in which the circuit is formed along a planned division line. As a dividing device for dividing a semiconductor wafer, a cutting device generally called a dicer is used. The cutting apparatus includes a workpiece holding means for holding a workpiece, a cutting means for cutting the workpiece held by the workpiece holding means, and the workpiece holding means in the cutting feed direction. A cutting feed means having a cutting blade for cutting and feeding and a cutting water supply means for supplying cutting water to a cutting portion by the cutting blade are provided, and the workpiece held by the workpiece holding means is cut by the cutting means. When cutting, the cutting water is supplied to the cutting part by the cutting blade.

  However, the cutting water supplied to the cutting portion is scattered by the centrifugal force of the cutting blade that rotates at high speed. In order to prevent the cutting water scattered in this way from adhering to the movable part, the exhaust means for sucking and discharging the atmosphere around the cutting feed means, and the cutting scattered due to the rotation of the cutting blade A cutting apparatus provided with scattered water guide means for guiding water to the exhaust means is disclosed in Patent Document 1 below.

JP 2007-88157 A

Thus, since the cutting blade rotates at a high speed of 20000 to 40,000 rpm, the cutting water supplied to the cutting portion is scattered to form a mist. In this way, when the cutting water supplied to the cutting portion scatters and forms a mist, at least the workpiece holding means, the cutting means, and the cutting water supply means are provided by a housing made of a transparent material so that they can be monitored from the outside. Although it is enclosed, there is a problem that the operator is uneasy because the fog cannot see the inside of the housing.
In addition, there is a problem that fine cutting waste adheres to the entire housing together with the mist and cleaning becomes difficult, and the stacked cutting waste drops onto the wafer held by the workpiece holding means.
Furthermore, there is a problem in that fine cutting waste reaches the inside of the apparatus from the housing together with the mist and adheres to a ball screw mechanism, a slider, or the like that constitutes the cutting feed means, thereby reducing the processing accuracy.
Further, when relatively expensive cutting water made of pure water or the like is collected and circulated for use, there is also a problem that the cutting water recovery rate decreases due to evaporation of the cutting water.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said fact, The main technical subject is to provide the cutting device which prevented the atomized cutting water supplied to the cutting process part, and being scattered.

In order to solve the above main technical problem, according to the present invention, a workpiece holding means for holding a workpiece and a cutting blade for cutting the workpiece held by the workpiece holding means are provided. The cutting means, the cutting water supply means provided with a cutting water supply nozzle for supplying cutting water to the cutting portion by the cutting blade, and the workpiece holding means and the cutting means are relatively moved in the cutting feed direction. A cutting apparatus comprising: a cutting feed means;
Cutting water comprising a duct that guides cutting water on a side where the cutting water scatters from the cutting portion due to rotation of the cutting blade , and a filter that is disposed in the duct and suppresses the momentum of the cutting water guided. An atomization suppression means that suppresses the momentum of the
A cutting device is provided.

The cutting device according to the present invention suppresses the momentum of the cutting water guided and disposed in the duct to the side where the cutting water scatters from the cutting portion due to the rotation of the cutting blade. Since the atomization suppression means that suppresses the spattering force of the cutting water consisting of the filter to be disposed is provided, the generation of fog is suppressed, and at least by the transparent material surrounding the workpiece holding means, the cutting means, and the cutting water supply means The inside of the constructed housing is not fogged by fog, and the operator's anxiety can be solved. In addition, the amount of fine cutting waste adhering to the entire housing together with the mist is reduced, and the problem that the stacked cutting waste drops onto the workpiece held by the workpiece holding means is solved. Furthermore, the problem that fine cutting waste reaches the inside of the apparatus from the housing together with the mist and adheres to a ball screw mechanism, a slider, or the like constituting the cutting feed means to reduce the processing accuracy is solved. Moreover, since generation | occurrence | production of fog is suppressed and evaporation of cutting water is suppressed, the collection rate of cutting water improves.

The perspective view of the cutting device comprised according to this invention. The perspective view which decomposes | disassembles and shows the principal part of the cutting means, the cutting water supply means, and the atomization suppression means which comprise the spindle unit shown in FIG. The perspective view which shows the state which attached the atomization suppression means to the cutting water supply means of the spindle unit shown in FIG. Explanatory drawing of the cutting process implemented by the cutting device shown in FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows the state in which cutting water is supplied to the cutting process part by a cutting blade in the cutting process shown in FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows the state by which the cutting water supplied to the cutting process part by a cutting blade is guided to the atomization suppression means in the cutting process shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a cutting device constituted by the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a cutting apparatus constructed according to the present invention. The cutting device shown in FIG. 1 includes a device housing 2 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. In the apparatus housing 2, a chuck table 3 as a work holding means for holding a work is disposed so as to be movable in a direction (X-axis direction) indicated by an arrow X which is a cutting feed direction. The chuck table 3 includes a suction chuck support 31 and a suction chuck 32 disposed on the suction chuck support 31. A workpiece is illustrated on a holding surface which is the upper surface of the suction chuck 32. Suction holding is performed by operating a suction means that does not. The chuck table 3 is configured to be rotatable by a rotation mechanism (not shown). The chuck table 3 is provided with a clamp 33 for fixing an annular frame that supports a wafer, which will be described later, as a work piece via a dicing tape. The chuck table 3 configured as described above can be moved in a cutting feed direction (X-axis direction) indicated by an arrow X by a cutting feed means (not shown).

  The cutting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes a spindle unit 4 as cutting means. The spindle unit 4 is disposed along an index feed direction (Y-axis direction) indicated by an arrow Y orthogonal to the cutting feed direction (X-axis direction). The spindle unit 4 is moved in the index feed direction (Y-axis direction) by an index feed means (not shown), and is moved in the cut feed direction (Z-axis direction) indicated by an arrow Z in FIG. 1 by a not-shown cut feed means. It is like that. The spindle unit 4 is mounted on a moving base (not shown) and is adjusted to move in an indexing direction (Y-axis direction) and a cutting direction (Z-axis direction), and is rotatably supported by the spindle housing 41. A rotary spindle 42 and a cutting blade 43 attached to the front end of the rotary spindle 42 are provided. The rotary spindle 42 is configured to be rotated by a servo motor (not shown). For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the cutting blade 43 has a disk-shaped base 431 formed of aluminum, and diamond abrasive grains are solidified by nickel plating on the outer peripheral side surface of the base 431 to have a thickness of 15 to 30 μm. It consists of the annular cutting blade 432 formed in this.

  A blade cover 44 that covers the upper half of the cutting blade 43 is attached to the front end of the spindle housing 41. The blade cover 44 includes a first cover member 441 mounted on the spindle housing 41 and a second cover member 442 mounted on the first cover member 441 in the illustrated embodiment. The first cover member 441 includes a front cover portion 441a formed with one end portion protruding toward the cutting blade 43 side. Further, a female screw hole 441b and two positioning pins 441c are provided on the side surface of the first cover member 441. The second cover member 442 has an insertion hole 442a at a position corresponding to the female screw hole 441b. Is provided. Further, on the surface of the second cover member 442 facing the first cover member 441, two recesses (not shown) into which the two positioning pins 441c are fitted are formed. The first cover member 441 and the second cover member 442 configured in this way are provided with two recesses (not shown) formed in the second cover member 442 provided in the first cover member 441. Positioning is performed by fitting to the positioning pin 441c. Then, the fastening bolt 443 is inserted into the insertion hole 442a of the second cover member 442, and is screwed into the female screw hole 441b provided in the first cover member 441, whereby the second cover member 442 is engaged with the first cover member 442. The cover member 441 is attached.

  Continuing the description with reference to FIG. 2, the cutting device in the illustrated embodiment includes a cutting water supply means 5 for supplying cutting water to a cutting portion by the annular cutting edge 432 of the cutting blade 43. . The cutting water supply means 5 includes a first cutting water supply pipe 511 and a second cutting water supply pipe 512 disposed on the first cover member 441 and the second cover member 442 constituting the blade cover 44. A first cutting water supply nozzle 531 and a second cutting water supply nozzle 532 connected to the first cutting water supply pipe 511 and the second cutting water supply pipe 512, respectively. The cutting water supply pipe 511 and the second cutting water supply pipe 512 are connected to a cutting water supply means (not shown).

  When the description is continued with reference to FIG. 2, the cutting apparatus in the illustrated embodiment suppresses the momentum that the cutting water scatters on the side where the cutting water scatters from the cutting portion due to the rotation of the cutting blade 43. Atomization suppression means 6 is provided. The atomization suppressing means 6 is provided on the side where the cutting water scatters from the cutting portion due to the rotation of the cutting blade 43 and guides the cutting water, and the cutting provided and guided in the duct 61. It comprises a filter 62 that suppresses the momentum of water, and one end of the duct 61 is attached to the first cover member 441 constituting the blade cover 44 by appropriate fixing means as shown in FIG. As described above, a filter insertion hole 611 is provided at the other end of the duct 61 to which one end is attached to the first cover member 441, and the filter 62 is mounted through the filter insertion hole 611. The filter 62 includes a filter main body 621 having a cross section corresponding to the filter insertion hole 611 provided in the duct 61, and a stopper portion 622 protruding outward in the width direction at the upper end portion. The filter 62 configured as described above is disposed in the duct 61 by inserting the filter main body 621 into the filter insertion hole 611 and bringing the stopper portion 622 into contact with the upper surface of the duct 61 as shown in FIG. In addition, as the filter 62 which comprises the atomization suppression means 6, the malt filter which INOAC Corporation manufactures and sells can be used.

  Referring back to FIG. 1, the description of the cutting apparatus in the illustrated embodiment is for imaging the surface of the workpiece held on the chuck table 3 and detecting a region to be cut by the cutting blade 43. The imaging means 7 is provided. The imaging means 7 is composed of optical means such as a microscope and a CCD camera. In addition, the cutting apparatus includes a display unit 8 that displays an image captured by the imaging unit 7.

  In the cassette mounting area 9a of the apparatus housing 2, a cassette mounting table 9 for mounting a cassette for storing a workpiece is disposed. This cassette mounting table 9 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction by a lifting means (not shown). On the cassette mounting table 9, a cassette 11 for storing a semiconductor wafer 10 as a workpiece is placed. The semiconductor wafer 10 accommodated in the cassette 11 has a lattice-shaped division planned line formed on the surface, and devices such as IC and LSI are formed in a plurality of rectangular areas partitioned by the grid-shaped division planned line. ing. The semiconductor wafer 10 thus formed is accommodated in the cassette 11 with the back surface adhered to the adhesive layer applied to the surface of the dicing tape T mounted on the annular support frame F.

  Further, the cutting apparatus in the illustrated embodiment is a semiconductor wafer 10 accommodated in a cassette 11 placed on a cassette placement table 9 (a state in which the wafer is supported on an annular frame F via a dicing tape T). The unloading / loading means 13 for unloading the semiconductor wafer 10 to the temporary table 12, the first transporting means 14 for transporting the semiconductor wafer 10 unloaded to the temporary table 12 onto the chuck table 3, and cutting on the chuck table 3. A cleaning means 15 for cleaning the semiconductor wafer 10 is provided, and a second transport means 16 for transporting the semiconductor wafer 10 cut on the chuck table 3 to the cleaning means 15 is provided. The cutting apparatus configured as described above includes a chuck table 3, a spindle unit 4 as a cutting means, an imaging means 7, a temporary placement table 12, a carry-out / carry-in means 13, a cleaning means 15, and a second transport means 16. The area that is formed is surrounded by a housing made of transparent material.

Next, a cutting operation for cutting the semiconductor wafer 10 along a predetermined division line using the above-described cutting apparatus will be described.
The semiconductor wafer 10 (in a state supported by the annular frame F via the dicing tape T) accommodated in a predetermined position of the cassette 11 placed on the cassette placement table 9 is moved by the lifting means (not shown). The mounting table 9 is positioned at the carry-out position by moving up and down. Next, the carry-out / carry-in means 13 moves forward and backward to carry the semiconductor wafer 10 positioned at the carry-out position onto the temporary placement table 12. The semiconductor wafer 10 carried out to the temporary placement table 12 is transferred onto the chuck table 3 by the turning operation of the first transfer means 14.

  When the semiconductor wafer 10 is placed on the chuck table 3, suction means (not shown) is operated to suck and hold the semiconductor wafer 10 on the chuck table 3. An annular frame F that supports the semiconductor wafer 10 via the dicing tape T is fixed by the clamp 33. The chuck table 3 that sucks and holds the semiconductor wafer 10 in this way is moved to a position immediately below the imaging means 7. When the chuck table 3 is positioned immediately below the image pickup means 7, the image pickup means 7 detects the planned division line formed on the semiconductor wafer 10, and moves and adjusts the spindle unit 4 in the arrow Y direction as the indexing direction. A precise alignment operation between the division line and the cutting blade 43 is performed (alignment process).

  If the alignment process is performed as described above, the chuck table 3 is moved to the cutting work area, and one end of a predetermined division line is moved from the position immediately below the cutting blade 43 as shown in FIG. In (a), it is positioned slightly to the right. Next, the cutting blade 43 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow 43a, and a notch feeding means (not shown) is operated to cut and feed the cutting blade 43 by a predetermined amount in the direction indicated by the arrow Z1 from the retracted position indicated by the two-dot chain line. The cutting feed amount is set at a position where the annular cutting edge 432 of the cutting blade 43 reaches the dicing tape T. Then, by operating a cutting feed means (not shown), the chuck table 3 is moved at a predetermined cutting feed speed in the direction indicated by the arrow X1 in FIG. 4A, and a predetermined semiconductor wafer 10 held on the chuck table 3 is moved. When the other end of the line to be divided reaches the left side slightly below the cutting blade 43 as shown in FIG. 4B, the movement of the chuck table 3 is stopped and the cutting blade 43 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow Z2. Raise to the retracted position indicated by the two-dot chain line. As a result, the semiconductor wafer 10 is cut along a predetermined division line (cutting process).

  When the above-described cutting process is performed, the cutting water supply means 5 operates and the annular shape of the cutting blade 43 from the first cutting water supply nozzle 531 and the second cutting water supply nozzle 532 as shown in FIG. The cutting water 50 is sprayed toward the cutting portion A by the cutting blade 432. When the cutting water 50 is jetted toward the cutting portion A by the annular cutting edge 432 of the cutting blade 43 as described above, the cutting water 50 is scattered due to the rotation of the cutting blade 43 as shown in FIG. It is done. The cutting water 50 splashed due to the rotation of the cutting blade 43 enters the duct 61 constituting the atomization suppressing means 6 from one end, is guided toward the other end, and is disposed at the other end of the duct 61. Since the momentum is suppressed when passing through the filter 62, the generation of fog is suppressed. Therefore, as described above, the area where the chuck table 3, the spindle unit 4 as the cutting means, the imaging means 7, the temporary placing table 12, the carry-out / carry-in means 13, the cleaning means 15, and the second transport means 16 are disposed. The inside of the housing constituted by the transparent material covering the cover is not fogged by fog, and the operator's anxiety can be solved. In addition, the amount of fine cutting waste adhering to the entire housing together with the mist is reduced, and the problem that the stacked cutting waste drops onto the wafer held on the chuck table 3 is solved. Furthermore, the problem that fine cutting waste reaches the inside of the apparatus from the housing together with the mist and adheres to a ball screw mechanism, a slider, or the like constituting the cutting feed means to reduce the processing accuracy is solved. Moreover, since generation | occurrence | production of fog is suppressed and evaporation of cutting water is suppressed, the collection rate of cutting water improves.

  In order to make the filter 62 constituting the atomization suppressing means 6 difficult to get dirty, the cutting water is supplied to the cutting blade 43 while the rotary spindle 42 is rotated, for example, at the end of cutting of the semiconductor wafer 10. Since clean water can be guided to the filter 62, self-cleaning is facilitated.

  When the semiconductor wafer 10 is cut along a predetermined division line as described above, the chuck table 3 is indexed and fed in the direction indicated by the arrow Y in FIG. . When the cutting process is performed along all the division lines extending in a predetermined direction of the semiconductor wafer 10, the chuck table 3 is rotated 90 degrees and formed in a direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction of the semiconductor wafer 10. By executing the cutting process along the divided division lines, all the division division lines formed in a lattice shape on the semiconductor wafer 10 are cut and divided into individual devices. The divided individual devices are not separated by the action of the dicing tape T, and the state of the wafer supported by the annular frame F is maintained.

  As described above, after the cutting process is completed along the scheduled division line of the semiconductor wafer 10, the chuck table 3 holding the semiconductor wafer 10 is first returned to the position where the semiconductor wafer 10 is sucked and held. Then, the suction holding of the semiconductor wafer 10 is released. Next, the semiconductor wafer 10 is transferred to the cleaning unit 15 by the second transfer unit 16. The semiconductor wafer 10 conveyed to the cleaning means 15 is cleaned here. The semiconductor wafer 10 thus cleaned is transported to the temporary table 12 by the first transport means 14 after drying. Then, the semiconductor wafer 10 is stored in a predetermined position of the cassette 11 by the unloading / loading means 13.

2: Device housing 3: Chuck table 4: Spindle unit 43: Cutting blade 44: Blade cover 5: Cutting water supply means 511: First cutting water supply pipe 512: Second cutting water supply pipe 531: First cutting Water supply nozzle 532: Second cutting water supply nozzle 6: Atomization suppression means 61: Duct 62: Filter 7: Imaging means 10: Semiconductor wafer 11: Cassette 12: Temporary table 13: Unloading / carrying means 14: First Transport means 15: cleaning means 16: second transport means F: annular support frame T: dicing tape

Claims (1)

A workpiece holding means for holding the workpiece, a cutting means having a cutting blade for cutting the workpiece held by the workpiece holding means, and a cutting water in a cutting portion by the cutting blade. In a cutting apparatus comprising: a cutting water supply means provided with a cutting water supply nozzle for supplying; a cutting feed means for relatively moving the workpiece holding means and the cutting means in a cutting feed direction;
Cutting water comprising a duct that guides cutting water on a side where the cutting water scatters from the cutting portion due to rotation of the cutting blade , and a filter that is disposed in the duct and suppresses the momentum of the cutting water guided. An atomization suppression means that suppresses the momentum of the
The cutting device characterized by the above.