JP6759524B2 - Work dividing device and work dividing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a work dividing device and a work dividing method, and more particularly to a work dividing device and a work dividing method for dividing a work such as a semiconductor wafer into individual chips along a scheduled division line.

Conventionally, in the manufacture of a semiconductor chip (hereinafter referred to as a chip), a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a wafer) in which a planned division line is formed in advance by half-cutting with a dicing blade or forming a modified region by laser irradiation. ) Is known as a work dividing device that divides) into individual chips along a planned division line (see Patent Document 1 and the like).

12A and 12B are explanatory views of a wafer unit 2 to which a disk-shaped wafer 1 divided by a work dividing device is attached, FIG. 12A is a perspective view of the wafer unit 2, and FIG. 12B is a wafer unit. It is a vertical sectional view of 2.

The wafer 1 is attached to the central portion of a dicing tape (also referred to as an expansion tape or an adhesive sheet) 3 having a thickness of about 100 μm having an adhesive layer formed on one side, and the dicing tape 3 has a ring having a rigid outer peripheral portion thereof. It is fixed to the shaped frame 4.

In the work dividing device, the frame 4 of the wafer unit 2 is brought into contact with and fixed to the frame fixing member (also referred to as a frame fixing mechanism) 7 indicated by the alternate long and short dash line. After that, the expanding ring (also referred to as a push-up ring) 8 indicated by the alternate long and short dash line is moved upward from below the wafer unit 2, and the dicing tape 3 is pressed by the expanding ring 8 to be radially expanded. The tension of the dicing tape 3 generated at this time is applied to the scheduled division line 5 of the wafer 1, so that the wafer 1 is divided into individual chips 6. The planned division lines 5 are formed in the X and Y directions orthogonal to each other. When the number of lines parallel to the X direction and the number of lines parallel to the Y direction are the same for the planned division line 5, and the intervals in the respective directions are equal, the shape of the divided chips 6 becomes a square. .. Further, when the number of chips parallel to the X direction and the number of chips parallel to the Y direction are different and the intervals in the respective directions are equal, the shape of the divided chips 6 becomes rectangular.

By the way, the dicing tape 3 is a flexible member having a low Young's modulus. Therefore, in order to smoothly divide the wafer 1 into individual chips 6, it is conceivable to cool the dicing tape 3 and expand the dicing tape 3 in a state where the spring constant of the dicing tape 3 is increased.

The tape expansion device (work splitting device) of Patent Document 2 includes a cold air supply means. According to Patent Document 2, the dicing tape is cooled by operating the cold air supply means to supply cold air into the processing space and cooling the inside of the processing space to, for example, 0 ° C. or lower.

On the other hand, in the chip dividing / separating device (work dividing device) of Patent Document 3, attention is paid to the anisotropy of the dicing tape, and the film is used to uniformly expand the dicing tape in consideration of the anisotropy. It has a surface support mechanism. This film surface support mechanism includes a plurality of independent support mechanisms in the circumferential direction, and adjusts the tension of the dicing tape by individually controlling the relative heights of the plurality of support mechanisms to adjust the X of the dicing tape. The elongation in the direction and the elongation in the Y direction are controlled independently.

Here, in the specification of the present application, the region of the dicing tape 3 having a circular shape in a plan view to which the wafer 1 is attached is referred to as a central region 3A, and the outer edge portion (outer edge portion of the wafer 1) and the frame of the central region 3A. The plan-view donut-shaped region provided between the inner edge portion of 4 is referred to as an annular portion region 3B, and the plan-view donut-shaped region of the outermost peripheral portion fixed to the frame 4 is referred to as a fixed portion region 3C. The annular portion region 3B is a region that is pressed and expanded by the expanding ring 8.

The force required to divide the wafer 1, that is, the tension that must be generated in the annular portion region 3B to divide the wafer 1, must be increased as the number of planned division lines 5 increases. Are known. Regarding the number of planned division lines 5, for example, when the wafer 1 having a diameter of 300 mm has a chip size of 5 mm, about 120 planned division lines (60 lines each in the XY direction) are formed, and the chip size is 1 mm. Is formed with about 600 scheduled division lines 5. Therefore, the tension that must be generated in the annular portion region 3B must be increased as the chip size becomes smaller.

On the other hand, in the field of the work dividing device, it is also required to prevent the quality deterioration of the chips due to the contact between the chips after the division by maintaining the expanded state of the dicing tape expanded by the expanding ring.

As a work dividing device that satisfies this requirement, a work dividing device provided with a subring is disclosed in Patent Document 4. The subring of Patent Document 4 has a function of holding the dicing tape expanded by the expanding ring in an expanded state, and is configured to have a diameter larger than the inner diameter of the frame. The subring is inserted between the outer peripheral portion of the dicing tape and the front surface of the frame immediately after being raised from the back surface side of the dicing tape toward the dicing tape and passing through the frame. As a result, the expanded state of the dicing tape is maintained even after the expansion of the dicing tape by the expanding ring is completed. By maintaining the expanded state of the dicing tape in this way, it is possible to prevent the dicing tape from loosening, and thus it is possible to prevent deterioration of the quality of the chips due to contact between the chips.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-149581 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-12585 Japanese Patent No. 5912274 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-51368

By the way, the inner diameter of the frame 4 (the diameter of the inner edge of the frame) on which the wafer 1 having a diameter of 300 mm is mounted is defined as 350 mm by the SEMI standard (specification for a tape frame for a G74-0699 300 mm wafer). According to this standard, as shown in the vertical cross-sectional view of the wafer unit 2 of FIG. 13, an annular portion region 3B having a width dimension of 25 mm exists between the outer edge portion of the wafer 1 and the inner edge portion of the frame 4. .. Further, as shown in the vertical cross-sectional view of the main part of the work dividing device shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B, the frame fixing member 7 for fixing the frame 4 does not come into contact with the annular portion region 3B expanded by the expanding ring 8. As described above, the dicing tape 3 indicated by the arrow A is installed at a position separated outward from the annular portion region 3B in the in-plane direction.

Therefore, the force for dividing the wafer 1 generated by the ascending operation of the expanding ring 8 is (i) a force for expanding the entire region of the annular portion region 3B, (ii) a force for dividing the wafer 1 into chips 6, and (iii). It is decomposed into three forces that expand the dicing tape 3 between the adjacent chips 6.

As shown in the operation diagram of the work dividing device shown in FIGS. 15A to 15E, the expanding ring 8 comes into contact with the annular portion region 3B of the dicing tape 3, and the expansion of the dicing tape 3 is started by the ascending operation of the expanding ring 8. (FIG. 15 (A)), the expansion of the annular region 3B having the lowest spring constant begins (FIG. 15 (B)). As a result, tension is generated in the annular portion region 3B, and when this tension increases to some extent, the increased tension is transmitted to the wafer 1 and division of the wafer 1 into chips 6 begins (FIG. 15 (C)). When the wafer 1 is divided into individual chips 6, the expansion of the annular portion region 3B and the expansion of the dicing tape 3 between the chips proceed at the same time (FIGS. 15 (D) to (E)).

In the conventional work dividing device, when the chip size is 5 mm or more in the wafer 1 having a diameter of 300 mm, the individual chips 6 can be divided without any problem due to the tension generated in the annular portion region 3B. However, with the miniaturization of the circuit pattern formed on the wafer 1, chips having a smaller chip size of 1 mm or less have appeared. In this case, when the number of planned division lines 5 for dividing the wafer 1 increases, the force required for dividing the wafer 1 increases, and a force greater than the tension due to the expansion of the annular portion region 3B is required. was there. Then, as shown in the vertical cross-sectional view of the wafer unit 2 of FIG. 16, even if the expansion operation by the expanding ring 8 is completed, a part of the planned division line 5 formed on the wafer 1 is not divided and remains undivided. There was a problem of doing.

Such an undivided problem of the scheduled division line 5 cannot be solved by increasing the expansion amount and expansion speed of the dicing tape 3. For example, when the expansion amount of the dicing tape 3 is increased, the annular portion region 3B starts plastic deformation. Since the spring constant of the annular portion region 3B during plastic deformation is smaller than the spring constant during elastic deformation, the tension for dividing the wafer 1 into individual chips 6 in the region exceeding the elastic deformation of the annular portion region 3B Does not occur. On the other hand, even when the expansion speed of the dicing tape 3 is increased, a part of the annular portion region 3B starts to be plastically deformed, so that the tension for dividing the wafer 1 into the individual chips 6 is not generated. This is because the frequency response of the dicing tape 3 is low, so that the force is not transmitted to the entire dicing tape 3 without a time lag.

In order to solve the problem of undivided line 5 to be divided, Patent Document 2 deals with this by cooling the dicing tape and increasing the spring constant of the dicing tape, but for small chips of 1 mm or less in recent years. It is not possible to obtain a sufficient effect.

Further, the chip dividing / separating device of Patent Document 3 can independently control the elongation in the X direction and the elongation in the Y direction of the dicing tape, but applies a force equal to or greater than the tension due to the expansion of the annular portion region to the wafer. Since it cannot be done, the problem of undivided lines to be divided cannot be solved.

Further, since the work dividing devices of Patent Documents 1 to 3 do not have the subring as in Patent Document 4, there is a possibility that the quality of the chips may be deteriorated due to the contact between the chips after the division. In this way, the conventional work dividing device solves the problem of undivided scheduled division lines that occurs when the chip size is small, and at the same time, solves the problem of chip quality deterioration due to contact between the divided chips. There was nothing that could be solved, and it was desired to realize such a device.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and the undivided problem of the scheduled division line that occurs when the chip size is small and the deterioration of chip quality due to the contact between the chips after division. An object of the present invention is to provide a work dividing device and a work dividing method capable of solving problems at the same time.

In the work dividing device of the present invention, in order to achieve the object of the present invention, the outer peripheral portion of the dicing tape is fixed to a ring-shaped frame having an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the work, and the work attached to the dicing tape is attached. In a work dividing device that divides into individual chips along a planned division line, an opening that is arranged on the back surface side of the dicing tape on the side opposite to the attachment surface of the work, is smaller than the inner diameter of the frame and larger than the outer diameter of the work. An expanding ring formed in a ring shape having a portion, which expands by pressing the dicing tape by being moved in a direction relatively close to the dicing tape, and a surface to which a work is attached on the dicing tape. A ring-shaped expansion control ring that is arranged on the same side and has an opening that is smaller than the inner diameter of the frame and larger than the outer diameter of the expanding ring, and hits the dicing tape when the dicing tape is expanded. An expansion regulation ring that regulates the expansion of the outer peripheral region located on the outer peripheral side with the contact portion of the dicing tape that is in contact with the expansion regulation ring as a boundary, and an expansion regulation ring that regulates the expansion of the outer peripheral region. An extended regulation ring moving mechanism that retracts and moves from the position where the dicing tape is used, and a ring shape that is arranged on the back side of the dicing tape on the opposite side of the work surface and has an elastically deformable fitting portion that is larger than the inner diameter of the frame. This is an expansion holding ring, and after the expansion regulation ring is retracted from the position where the expansion of the outer peripheral region is restricted by the expansion regulation ring movement mechanism, the fitting portion is fitted to the surface of the frame to expand the dicing tape. It includes an extended holding ring for holding the state.

According to the work dividing device of the present invention, with the expansion regulating ring positioned at a position that restricts the expansion of the outer peripheral region, the expanding ring is moved in a direction relatively close to the dicing tape, and the dicing tape is expanded. When the dicing tape is pressed by the ring to start the expansion of the dicing tape, the dicing tape comes into contact with the expansion restriction ring when the dicing tape is expanded. At this time, the dicing tape is divided into an outer peripheral side region located on the outer peripheral side and an inner peripheral side region located on the inner peripheral side with the contact portion in contact with the expansion regulation ring as a boundary. Then, in the expansion operation by the expanding ring after the dicing tape comes into contact with the expansion regulation ring, only the inner peripheral side region is expanded while the expansion of the outer peripheral side region is regulated by the expansion regulation ring. That is, the tension of the spring constant in the inner peripheral region region, which is larger than the spring constant of the dicing tape, is applied to the work. As a result, the tension applied to the work increases, so that it is possible to solve the undivided problem of the scheduled division line that occurs when the chip size is small. Then, when the chip division is completed, the expansion restriction ring is retracted from the position where the expansion of the outer peripheral side region is restricted by the expansion holding ring moving mechanism, and then the fitting portion of the expansion holding ring is fitted to the surface of the frame. Holds the expanded state of the dicing tape. As a result, according to the present invention, it is possible to simultaneously solve the problem of undivided lines to be divided, which occurs when the chip size is small, and the problem of chip quality deterioration due to contact between the divided chips. it can.

One aspect of the present invention preferably has a frame fixing member for fixing the frame, and the expansion regulating ring is detachably fixed to the frame fixing member at a position for restricting expansion of the outer peripheral region.

According to this aspect, by fixing the expansion regulation ring to the frame fixing member, the expansion regulation ring can be reliably fixed at the position where the expansion of the outer peripheral side region is restricted, so that the expansion regulation of the dicing tape can be performed. You can do it with certainty.

In one aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the frame fixing member is formed in a ring shape having an opening larger than the inner diameter of the frame, and the expansion regulation ring is mounted on the inner peripheral surface of the opening of the frame fixing member. ..

According to one aspect of the present invention, the position expansion restricting ring can be mounted at an appropriate position for restricting the expansion of the outer peripheral region.

In one aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the frame fixing member is provided with a fixing member for detachably fixing the expansion regulation ring.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the extended regulation ring can be fixed to the frame fixing member by the fixing member.

In the work dividing method of the present invention, in order to achieve the object of the present invention, the outer peripheral portion of the dicing tape is fixed to a ring-shaped frame having an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the work, and the work attached to the dicing tape is attached. In the work dividing method of dividing into individual chips along the planned division line, the expanding ring arranged on the back surface side opposite to the sticking surface of the work on the dicing tape is moved in a direction relatively close to the dicing tape. When the expansion step of expanding the dicing tape and the expansion step of expanding the dicing tape by pressing the annular portion region between the outer edge of the work and the inner edge of the frame of the dicing tape by the expanding ring are performed. The expansion restriction ring arranged on the same side as the sticking surface of the work on the dicing tape is brought into contact with a position outside the pressing position of the expanding ring in the annular portion region of the dicing tape, and the expansion restriction is performed in the annular portion region. An expansion regulation process that regulates the expansion of the outer peripheral region located on the outer peripheral side with the contact portion in contact with the ring as a boundary, and an expansion regulation ring retract that retracts the expansion regulation ring from the position that restricts the expansion of the outer peripheral region. It includes a step and an expanded state holding step of holding the expanded state of the dicing tape expanded by the expansion step by the expansion holding ring.

According to the work dividing method of the present invention, the problem of undivided lines to be divided, which occurs when the chip size is small, and the problem of chip quality deterioration due to contact between the divided chips can be solved at the same time. Can be done.

In one aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the expansion regulation ring retracting step is performed after the expansion step is performed, the expansion regulation ring retracting step is performed, and then the expansion state holding step is performed.

In one aspect of the present invention, the expansion holding ring is arranged on the back surface side opposite to the sticking surface of the work in the dicing tape, and the expansion state holding step is in the direction in which the expansion holding ring is relatively close to the dicing tape. It is preferable to hold the expanded state of the dicing tape by fitting the elastically deformable fitting portion formed on the outer peripheral portion of the expansion holding ring to the surface of the frame by moving the dicing tape.

According to the present invention, it is possible to simultaneously solve the undivided problem of the scheduled division line that occurs when the chip size is small and the problem of deterioration of chip quality due to contact between the divided chips.

Structural drawing of the main part of the division stage of the work division device of the embodiment Enlarged perspective view of the main part of the split stage shown in FIG. Cross-sectional view of the wafer unit showing the shape of the annular region during expansion Vertical sectional view showing the expanded state of the dicing tape by the extended holding ring. Enlarged sectional view of the main part of FIG. Block diagram showing the control system of the work dividing device Flow chart showing an example of wafer division method Operation explanatory diagram of work dividing device Operation explanatory diagram of work dividing device Graph showing the expansion rate of the annular region and the inner peripheral region when the expansion regulation ring is not used and when it is used. Graph showing the chip division ratio when the extended regulation ring is not used and when it is used Explanatory drawing of the wafer unit to which the wafer is attached Longitudinal section of wafer unit Side view of the main part of the work dividing device Operation diagram of work dividing device Longitudinal section of the wafer unit in which the wafer is divided

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the work dividing device and the work dividing method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions can be added to the following embodiments within the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a main part of a division stage provided in the work division device 10 according to the embodiment, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of the division stage. The size of the wafer unit to be divided by the work dividing device 10 is not limited, but in the embodiment, the wafer unit 2 on which the wafer 1 having a diameter of 300 mm shown in FIG. 13 is mounted is illustrated.

As shown in FIG. 2, the work dividing device 10 is a device that divides the wafer 1 on which the scheduled division line 5 is formed into individual chips 6 along the scheduled division line 5. A plurality of scheduled division lines 5 are formed in the X direction and the Y direction orthogonal to each other. In the embodiment, the number of planned division lines 5 parallel to the X direction and the number of planned division lines 5 parallel to the Y direction are 300, and the intervals are the same. Wafer 1, that is, a chip having a chip size of 1 mm. An example is a wafer 1 divided into 6.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the wafer 1 is attached to the central portion of the dicing tape 3 whose outer peripheral portion is fixed to the frame 4. The dicing tape 3 has a donut shape in a plan view between the central region 3A having a circular shape in a plan view to which the wafer 1 is attached and the outer edge portion (outer edge portion of the wafer 1) of the central portion region 3A and the inner edge portion of the frame 4. It has an annular portion region 3B of.

The thickness of the wafer 1 is, for example, about 50 μm. Further, as the dicing tape 3, for example, a PVC (polyvinyl chloride) -based tape is used. The wafer 1 may be attached to the dicing tape 3 via a film-like adhesive such as DAF (Die Attach Film). As the film-like adhesive, for example, a PO (polyolefin) -based adhesive can be used.

The work dividing device 10 is brought into contact with the frame fixing member 7 (see FIGS. 14 and 15) for fixing the frame 4 and the annular portion region 3B of the dicing tape 3 from below to press and expand the dicing tape 3. The expanding ring 14, the expansion restricting ring 16 to which the dicing tape 3 comes into contact when the dicing tape 3 is expanded by the expanding ring 14, and the expansion holding ring that holds the expanded state of the dicing tape 3 expanded by the expanding ring 14. 18 and.

The frame fixing member 7 is arranged on the same side as the sticking surface of the wafer 1 on the dicing tape 3, and the frame 4 is fixed to the lower surface 7A thereof. Further, the frame fixing member 7 is installed at a position separated outward from the annular portion region 3B in the in-plane direction of the dicing tape 3 indicated by the arrow A so as not to come into contact with the annular portion region 3B expanded by the expanding ring 14. Has been done.

As shown in FIG. 2, the shape of the frame fixing member 7 is larger than the inner diameter (350 mm) of the frame 4, for example, a ring shape having an opening 7B having a diameter of 361 mm, but the shape is not particularly limited. As the frame fixing member 7, for example, a rectangular plate-shaped material having an opening 7B can be exemplified, and a frame fixing member composed of a plurality of fixing members arranged at predetermined intervals along the outer circumference of the frame 4 can be exemplified. Can also be exemplified. The inscribed circle of these fixing members is set equal to the diameter of the opening 7B.

The expanding ring 14 is arranged on the back surface side of the dicing tape 3 opposite to the attachment surface of the wafer 1, and is an expansion opening smaller than the inner diameter (350 mm) of the frame 4 and larger than the outer diameter (300 mm) of the wafer 1. It is formed in a ring shape having a portion (opening) 14A. The expanding ring 14 is movably arranged in a direction relatively close to the dicing tape 3. Specifically, the expanding ring 14 presses the back surface of the annular portion region 3B of the dicing tape 3 to expand the annular portion region 3B (position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 1) and downward from the expansion position. It is movably arranged in the vertical direction with and from the retracted position (position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1) retracted to.

Further, the work dividing device 10 is provided with an expanding ring moving mechanism 20 that moves the expanding ring 14 up and down between the expansion position and the retracted position. As an example of the expanding ring moving mechanism 20, a feed screw device is illustrated, but an actuator such as an air cylinder device can be used instead. When the expanding ring 14 located at the retracted position is moved toward the expanded position by the expanding ring moving mechanism 20, the expanding ring 14 is moved upward in the direction of arrow B toward the annular portion region 3B. As a result, the back surface of the annular portion region 3B is pressed by the expanding ring 14 and is expanded radially. By fixing the expanding ring 14 and moving the wafer unit 2 downward in the direction of arrow C, the annular portion region 3B may be pressed by the expanding ring 14. The annular region 3B comes into contact with the expansion restricting ring 16 during expansion by the expanding ring 14.

The expansion regulation ring 16 is arranged on the same side as the sticking surface of the wafer 1 in the dicing tape 3, and is smaller than the inner diameter (350 mm) of the frame 4 and larger than the outer diameter of the expanding ring 14 (opening) for expansion regulation. Part) It is formed in a ring shape having 16A.

The expansion regulation ring 16 has an expansion regulation position (a position for restricting the expansion of the outer peripheral side region 3E: a position shown by a solid line in FIG. 1) and an expansion regulation position with which the dicing tape 3 abuts when the dicing tape 3 is expanded. It is arranged so as to be movable up and down with the retracted position (the position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 1) retracted upward from the above. The outer peripheral side region 3E will be described later.

Further, the work dividing device 10 is provided with an expansion regulation ring moving mechanism 22 for moving the expansion regulation ring 16 between the expansion regulation position and the retracted position. An air cylinder device is illustrated as an example of the extended regulation ring moving mechanism 22, but an actuator such as a feed screw device can be used instead.

Further, it is preferable that the expansion regulation ring 16 is detachably attached to the inner peripheral surface of the opening 7B of the frame fixing member 7 at the expansion regulation position. As a result, the expansion regulation ring 16 can be mounted at an appropriate position for restricting the expansion of the outer peripheral side region 3E. Further, the expansion regulation ring 16 is fixed to the frame fixing member 7 by the fixing member at the expansion regulation position. The fixing member is not particularly limited, but as an example, a fixing member using a plurality of pins 24 can be exemplified. In this fixing member, the pin 24 is slopingly arranged on the inner peripheral surface of the opening 7B, and the hole 26 fitted to the protruding pin 24 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the expansion regulation ring 16. That is, according to this fixing member, when the expansion regulation ring 16 is mounted on the inner peripheral surface of the opening 7B, the pin 24 protrudes from the frame fixing member 7 and fits into the hole 26 of the expansion regulation ring 16. .. As a result, the expansion regulation ring 16 can be fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the opening 7B of the frame fixing member 7. The fixing position of the expansion restricting ring 16 with respect to the frame fixing member 7 is not limited to the inner peripheral surface of the opening 7B, as long as the expansion of the outer peripheral side region 3E can be appropriately regulated. Often, for example, the surface of the frame fixing member 7 may be set as the fixing position.

Here, the frame fixing member 7 is fixed to the fixed structure of the work dividing device 10. As a result, the expansion regulation ring 16 located at the expansion regulation position and fixed to the frame fixing member 7 via the pin 24 is securely fixed at the expansion regulation position. As shown in FIG. 3, which will be described later, when the dicing tape 3 is expanded, the annular portion region 3B abuts on the expansion regulation ring 16 and the expansion of the outer peripheral side region 3E is restricted by the expansion regulation ring 16. Therefore, the extended regulation ring 16 receives a force from the annular portion region 3B. At this time, if the expansion regulation ring 16 is displaced upward due to the force from the annular portion region 3B, the expansion regulation of the outer peripheral side region 3E cannot be appropriately performed, but in the embodiment, the expansion regulation ring is at the expansion regulation position. Since 16 is securely fixed to the frame fixing member 7 via the pin 24, it is possible to prevent the position shift due to the force from the annular portion region 3B, and the expansion regulation of the outer peripheral side region 3E can be appropriately performed. .. The expansion regulation ring 16 may be fixed to the expansion regulation position by a fixing member (not shown) without fixing the expansion regulation ring 16 to the frame fixing member 7 by the pin 24 which is a fixing member.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the wafer unit 2 showing the shape of the annular portion region 3B being expanded by the expanding ring 14.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the annular portion region 3B is expanded by the expanding ring 14, the annular portion region 3B is brought into contact with the expansion regulation ring 16. Specifically, the annular portion region 3B is brought into contact with the inner edge portion 16B on the back surface side of the expansion regulation ring 16. That is, the expansion regulation ring 16 is brought into contact with a position outside the pressing position of the expanding ring 14 in the annular portion region 3B.

In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the diameter of the expansion regulation opening 16A is set to 338 mm. As a result, the width dimension of the outer peripheral side region 3E whose expansion is restricted by the expansion regulation ring 16 is set to 6 mm, and the width dimension of the inner peripheral side region 3F excluding the outer peripheral side region 3E of the annular portion region 3B is set to 19 mm. Will be done.

Here, of the annular portion region 3B, the inner peripheral side region 3F whose expansion is not regulated by the expansion regulation ring 16 is a region that substantially contributes to the division of the wafer 1. That is, as the width dimension of the inner peripheral side region 3F is reduced, the spring constant of the inner peripheral side region 3F increases, so that the tension applied to the wafer 1 from the inner peripheral side region 3F can be increased. Therefore, it is preferable to set the width dimension of the inner peripheral side region 3F according to the division conditions defined by the number of planned division lines 5 and the like.

The expansion holding ring 18 for holding the expanded state of the dicing tape 3 is arranged on the back surface side of the dicing tape opposite to the sticking surface of the wafer 1. Further, the expansion holding ring 18 is attached to the main body ring 28 whose outer diameter is smaller than the inner diameter (350 mm) of the frame 4 and whose inner diameter is larger than the outer diameter of the expanding ring 14 and to the outer peripheral portion of the main body ring 28. It has an elastically deformable ring-shaped fitting portion 30 having a diameter (351.3 mm) larger than the inner diameter (350 mm) of the frame 4.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view in which the expanded state of the dicing tape 3 is held by the extended holding ring 18. FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the fitting portion 30 of the expansion holding ring 18 is fitted to the surface 4A of the frame 4 at the fitting position shown by the solid line via the annular portion region 3B of the dicing tape 3. As a result, the expanded state of the dicing tape 3 is held by the expansion holding ring 18.

Before the expansion holding, the expansion holding ring 18 stands by at a standby position (the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1) below the fitting position shown by the solid line in FIGS. 4 and 5, and from the standby position during the expansion holding. It is moved up to the fitting position by the extended holding ring moving mechanism 32. An feed screw device is illustrated as an example of the extended holding ring moving mechanism 32, but an actuator such as an air cylinder device can be used instead. When the extended holding ring 18 is raised by the extended holding ring moving mechanism 32, the fitting portion 30 comes into contact with the lower surface of the frame 4, and then the fitting portion 30 is pushed against the inner peripheral surface of the frame 4 and elastically deformed. However, the extension holding ring 18 is stopped at a position where the fitting portion 30 has passed the inner peripheral surface of the frame 4. As a result, the fitting portion 30 is fitted to the surface 4A of the frame 4 at the fitting position as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The expansion holding ring 18 may be fixed and the dicing tape 3 side may be moved in a direction closer to the expansion holding ring 18. That is, the expansion holding ring 18 may be moved in a direction relatively close to the dicing tape 3 to fit the fitting portion 30 to the surface 4A of the frame 4.

The expanding regulation ring moving mechanism 20 for driving the expanding ring 14, the expanding regulating ring moving mechanism 22 for driving the expansion regulating ring 16, and the expanding holding ring moving mechanism 32 for driving the expansion holding ring 18 are block diagrams of the control system of FIG. As described above, the operation is controlled by the control unit 34 that collectively controls the work dividing device 10.

Hereinafter, an example of the work dividing method by the control unit 34 will be described.

First, the control unit 34 controls the expansion regulation ring movement mechanism 22 to move the expansion regulation ring 16 to the expansion regulation position, and then controls the expansion ring movement mechanism 20 to move the expansion ring 14 to the expansion position. .. Next, the control unit 34 controls the expansion regulation ring moving mechanism 22 to move the expansion regulation ring 16 to the retracted position. Next, the control unit 34 controls the expansion holding ring moving mechanism 32 to move the expansion holding ring 18 to the fitting position. Next, the control unit 34 controls the expanding ring moving mechanism 20 to move the expanding ring 14 to the retracted position.

Next, the above-described work dividing method will be specifically described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7, FIGS. 8 (A) to 8 (D), and the operation explanatory view of the work dividing device 10 shown in FIGS. 9 (E) to 9 (H). ..

First, in the arrangement step of step S100 of FIG. 7, as shown in FIG. 8A, the expanding ring 14 is arranged in the retracted position by the expanding ring moving mechanism 20, and the expansion regulating ring 16 is expanded and regulated by the expansion regulating ring moving mechanism 22. The extended holding ring 18 is arranged at the position, and the extended holding ring 18 is arranged at the standby position by the extended holding ring moving mechanism 32. At this time, the expansion regulation ring 16 is fixed to the frame fixing member 7 via the pin 24.

Next, in the fixing step of step S110 of FIG. 7, the frame 4 of the wafer unit 2 is fixed to the frame fixing member 7 as shown in FIG. 8 (B).

Next, in the expansion start step of step S120 of FIG. 7, as shown in FIG. 8C, the expanding ring 14 is moved by the expanding ring moving mechanism 20 from the retracted position of FIG. 8A toward the expansion position in the direction of arrow B. And start expanding the entire region of the annular region 3B. The annular portion region 3B may be cooled to a low temperature in advance by a cooling means (not shown), and the spring constant of the annular portion region 3B may be increased in advance. Examples of the cooling means include a contact type that contacts and cools the annular region 3B, and an air-cooled type that injects cold air into the annular region 3B to cool the ring.

Next, in the expansion regulation step of step S130 of FIG. 7, when the amount of ascending movement of the expanding ring 14 exceeds the thickness of the frame 4, as shown in FIG. 8D, the annular portion region 3B becomes the expansion regulation ring 16. Contact. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the annular portion region 3B is located on the outer peripheral side region 3E located on the outer peripheral side and the inner peripheral side with the contact portion 3D in contact with the inner edge portion 16B of the expansion regulation ring 16 as a boundary. It is divided into the inner circumference side area 3F. Then, of the annular portion region 3B, the expansion of the outer peripheral side region 3E is regulated by the expansion regulation ring 16. The expansion regulation step of S130 is a step performed when the expansion step from the expansion start step of S120 to the division step of S140 is performed. That is, the expansion step is a fixation including an expansion start step of S120, an expansion regulation step of S130, and a division step of S140.

Next, in the dividing step of step S140 of FIG. 7, as shown in FIG. 9E, the ascending movement of the expanding ring 14 is continued, and the inner peripheral side of the annular portion region 3B excluding the outer peripheral side region 3E of FIG. By continuously expanding the region 3F, the wafer 1 is divided into individual chips 6. After that, when the expanding ring 14 reaches the expanded position, the ascending movement of the expanding ring 14 is stopped. That is, the expansion fixing ends at this point.

In the expansion operation by the expanding ring 14 after the annular portion region 3B abuts on the inner edge portion 16B of the expansion regulation ring 16 in the division step of S140, the expansion of the outer peripheral side region 3E is regulated by the expansion regulation ring 16 while being inside. Only the peripheral area 3F is expanded. That is, the tension of the spring constant of the inner peripheral side region 3F, which is larger than the spring constant of the annular portion region 3B, is applied to the wafer 1.

Specifically, the length of the annular portion region 3B that contributes to the division of the wafer 1 is shortened from 25 mm (width dimension of the annular portion region 3B) to 19 mm (width dimension of the inner peripheral side region 3F), so that the spring constant Increases in inverse proportion to it. As a result, even if only the inner peripheral side region 3F is expanded, the spring constant of the inner peripheral side region 3F is larger than the spring constant of the annular portion region 3B, so that even if the tip size is a small tip (1 mm), each individual tip is made. A tension sufficient to divide the chip 6 can be applied to the wafer 1. Therefore, according to the work dividing device 10, it is possible to solve the problem of undivided scheduled division lines that occurs when the chip size is a small chip (1 mm).

The inner edge portion 16B of the expansion regulation ring 16 that is in line contact with the adhesive layer of the annular portion region 3B is subjected to surface processing such that the arithmetic mean roughness (Ra) is 1.6 (μm) as an example. .. As a result, it is possible to prevent the inner edge portion 16B and the annular portion region 3B from slipping relatively due to the frictional force between the inner edge portion 16B and the annular portion region 3B. Further, the inner edge portion 16B is chamfered with C0.2 as an example. As a result, when an expanding force is received from the annular portion region 3B, it is possible to prevent the annular portion region 3B from being broken by the reaction force.

When the division step of S140 is completed, in the expansion regulation ring retracting step of step S150 of FIG. 7, the expansion regulation ring 16 is expanded with the expansion regulation ring 14 arranged at the expansion position as shown in FIG. 9 (F). It is moved to the retracted position by the moving mechanism 22.

Next, in the expanded state holding step of step S160 of FIG. 7, as shown in FIG. 9 (G), the extended holding ring 18 is raised from the standby position to the fitting position by the extended holding ring moving mechanism 32 to perform extended holding. The fitting portion 30 of the ring 18 is fitted to the surface 4A of the frame 4 at the fitting position to hold the expanded state of the dicing tape 3. That is, in the work dividing device 10 of the embodiment, after the expansion step is performed, the expansion regulation ring retracting step of S150 is performed, and after the expansion regulation ring retracting step of S150 is performed, the expansion state holding step of S160 is performed. Will be done.

Next, in the expanding ring retracting step of step S170 of FIG. 7, as shown in FIG. 9H, the expanding ring 14 is moved downward toward the retracting position by the expanding ring moving mechanism 22 and placed at the retracting position. At this time, the dicing tape 3 is released from the expansion by the expanding ring 14, but since the fitting portion 30 of the expansion holding ring 18 is fitted to the surface 4A of the frame 4, the expanded state is maintained without loosening. To. As a result, it is possible to prevent the chips 6 from coming into contact with each other due to the expanded dicing tape 3 being loosened, so that the quality of the chips 6 can be prevented from deteriorating.

According to the work dividing method by the work dividing device 10 of the embodiment as described above, the undivided problem of the scheduled division line that occurs when the chip size is small and the quality deterioration of the chips due to the contact between the chips after division. Can be solved at the same time.

In the work dividing method of the embodiment, after the expansion step from the expansion start step of S120 to the division step of S140 is performed, the expansion regulation ring retracting step of S150 is performed, and the expansion regulation ring retracting step of S150 is performed. After that, the extended state holding step of S160 is performed, but the process is not limited to this step. For example, after the expansion step from the expansion start step of S120 to the division step of S140 is performed, the expansion state holding step of S160 is performed, the expansion state holding step of S160 is performed, and then the expansion regulation ring evacuation of S150 is performed. The process may be performed. In this case, when the dicing tape 3 is held in the expanded state by the expansion holding ring 18, the fitting portion 30 collides with the expansion regulation ring 16 at the expansion regulation position. Therefore, in the extended holding ring 18 of the embodiment, it is not possible to perform the extended regulation ring evacuation step of S150 after performing the extended state holding step of S160, but it is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-253071. By using the tape expansion holding ring, it is possible to perform the expansion regulation ring retracting step of S150 after performing the expansion state holding step of S160. The tape expansion holding ring described in JP-A-2009-253071 is arranged on the same side as the attachment surface of the wafer in the dicing tape, and the tape expansion holding ring is pushed down from the ascending position to the descending position by the elevating mechanism. As a result, the dicing tape in the expanded state is sandwiched between the ring located below the dicing tape and the tape expansion holding ring, and the expanded state is maintained. Then, after the step of holding the expanded state, the extended regulation ring retracting step of S150 can be performed.

Further, the work division method is not limited to the above example. For example, after moving the expanding ring 14 to the retracted position (S170), the extended holding ring 18 may be moved to the fitting position (S160). In the case of this division method, the dicing tape 3 loosens once immediately after moving the expanding ring 14 to the retracted position, but by moving the expansion holding ring 18 to the fitting position, the dicing tape 3 is expanded again, and the dicing tape 3 is expanded again. The expanded state can be maintained. In the case of this division method, it is preferable to control the moving speed of the expanding ring 14 to the retracted position at a low speed in order to alleviate the collision between the chips 6 caused by the dicing tape 3 suddenly loosening.

Here, in order to confirm the effect of the present invention, the results of experiments conducted by the present inventor will be described.

In the graph of FIG. 10, with respect to the wafer unit 2 of FIG. 13, the expansion ratio (diameter 350 mm) of the annular portion region when the expansion regulation ring is not used and the expansion of the inner peripheral side region when the expansion regulation ring is used are shown. It is a rate, and the expansion rate when the diameter of the opening for expansion regulation is set to 346 mm, 342 mm, and 338 mm is shown. The "MD (Machine Direction)" in FIG. 10 is a direction parallel to the feeding direction at the time of manufacturing the dicing tape 3, and is a direction in which the spring constant is small. Further, the "CD (Cross Direction)" is a direction orthogonal to the MD and a direction having a large spring constant.

According to the experimental results of FIG. 10, the expansion rate of the annular region when the expansion regulation ring was not used was 6.1% for "MD" and 6.0% for "CD". On the other hand, as the diameter of the opening for expansion regulation is reduced to 346 mm, 342 mm, and 338 mm, the expansion ratio of the inner peripheral region is 6.8%, 7.5%, and 8.4 for "MD". It increased to 7.2%, 7.5%, and 8.1% for "CD". That is, it was confirmed that the chip splitting ability was improved as the diameter of the expansion regulation opening was reduced.

The graph of FIG. 11 shows the chip division ratio (diameter 350 mm) when the expansion regulation ring is not used and the chip division ratio when the expansion regulation ring is used with respect to the wafer unit 2 of FIG. The division ratio when the diameter of the expansion regulation opening is set to 338 mm is shown. The "with DAF" division ratio in FIG. 11 is the division ratio of the chip 6 when the wafer 1 is attached to the dicing tape 3 via the DAF, and the "without DAF" division ratio is This is the division ratio of the chip 6 when the wafer 1 is directly attached to the dicing tape 3.

According to the experimental results of FIG. 11, the division ratio of the chip 6 when the extended regulation ring was not used was 15.0% with “with DAF” and 41.0% with “without DAF”. On the other hand, when the expansion regulation ring having the diameter of the expansion regulation opening of 338 mm is used, the division ratio of the chip 6 increases to 61.0% in the case of "with DAF" and to 100% in the case of "without DAF". Rose. That is, it was confirmed that the dividing ability of the chip 6 is improved by using the extended regulation ring regardless of whether the chip 6 has “with DAF” or “without DAF”.

From the above experimental results, according to the work dividing device 10 of the embodiment, the expansion of the outer peripheral side region 3E is restricted by the expansion restricting ring 16 and only the inner peripheral side region 3F is expanded, so that the expansion is larger than that of the annular portion region 3B. Since the expansion rate can be increased and the tension applied to the wafer 1 can be increased, it has been confirmed that the undivided problem of the scheduled division line 5 that occurs when the chip size is a small chip can be solved.

1 ... Wafer, 2 ... Wafer unit, 3 ... Dicing tape, 3A ... Central region, 3B ... Circular region, 3C ... Fixed region, 3D ... Contact, 3E ... Outer peripheral region, 3F ... Inner peripheral region 4, 4 ... Frame, 5 ... Scheduled division line, 6 ... Chip, 7 ... Frame fixing member, 8 ... Expanding ring, 10 ... Work dividing device, 14 ... Expanding ring, 14A ... Expansion opening, 16 ... Expansion regulation ring, 16A ... Expansion regulation opening, 16B ... Inner edge, 18 ... Expansion holding ring, 20 ... Expanding ring movement mechanism, 22 ... Expansion regulation ring movement mechanism, 24 ... Pin, 26 ... Hole, 28 ... Body ring, 30 ... Fitting unit, 32 ... Extended holding ring moving mechanism, 34 ... Control unit

Claims (7)

In a work dividing device in which the outer peripheral portion of a dicing tape is fixed to a ring-shaped frame having an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the work, and the work attached to the dicing tape is divided into individual chips along a scheduled division line. ,
An expanding ring that is arranged on the back surface side of the dicing tape opposite to the sticking surface of the work and has an opening smaller than the inner diameter of the frame and larger than the outer diameter of the work. An expanding ring that presses and expands the dicing tape by being moved in a direction relatively close to the dicing tape.
A ring-shaped expansion restricting ring arranged on the same side as the sticking surface of the work in the dicing tape and having an opening smaller than the inner diameter of the frame and larger than the outer diameter of the expanding ring. When the dicing tape is expanded, the expansion of the outer peripheral side region located on the outer peripheral side is restricted with the contact portion of the dicing tape that is in contact with the dicing tape and is in contact with the expansion restriction ring. With the extended regulation ring,
An expansion regulation ring movement mechanism that retracts and moves the expansion regulation ring from a position that restricts expansion of the outer peripheral region,
An expansion holding ring that is arranged on the back surface side of the dicing tape on the side opposite to the attachment surface of the work and has an elastically deformable fitting portion larger than the inner diameter of the frame, and is formed in a ring shape. After the expansion regulation ring is retracted from the position where the expansion of the outer peripheral region is restricted by the regulation ring moving mechanism, the fitting portion is fitted to the surface of the frame to hold the expanded state of the dicing tape. With an extended holding ring,
A work dividing device. It has a frame fixing member for fixing the frame.
The work dividing device according to claim 1, wherein the expansion regulating ring is detachably fixed to the frame fixing member at a position for restricting expansion of the outer peripheral side region. The frame fixing member is configured in a ring shape having an opening larger than the inner diameter of the frame.
The work dividing device according to claim 2, wherein the extended regulation ring is mounted on an inner peripheral surface of the opening of the frame fixing member. The work dividing device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the frame fixing member is provided with a fixing member for detachably fixing the expansion regulation ring. In a work dividing method in which the outer peripheral portion of a dicing tape is fixed to a ring-shaped frame having an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the work, and the work attached to the dicing tape is divided into individual chips along a planned division line. ,
By moving the expanding ring arranged on the back surface side of the dicing tape opposite to the sticking surface of the work in a direction relatively close to the dicing tape, the outer edge portion of the work of the dicing tape An expansion step of expanding the dicing tape by pressing the annular region between the frame and the inner edge of the frame by the expanding ring.
When the expansion step is being performed, the expansion restriction ring arranged on the same side as the sticking surface of the work on the dicing tape is outside the pressing position of the expanding ring in the annular portion region of the dicing tape. The expansion regulation step of restricting the expansion of the outer peripheral side region located on the outer peripheral side with the contact portion abutting on the expansion regulation ring as a boundary in the annular portion region.
An expansion regulation ring retracting step of retracting the expansion regulation ring from a position for restricting expansion of the outer peripheral region,
An expanded state holding step of holding the expanded state of the dicing tape expanded by the expanding step with an expansion holding ring,
Work division method including. After the expansion step is performed, the expansion regulation ring retracting step is performed.
The work dividing method according to claim 5, wherein the extended state holding step is performed after the extended regulation ring retracting step is performed. The expansion holding ring is arranged on the back surface side of the dicing tape opposite to the attachment surface of the work.
In the expanded state holding step, the elastically deformable fitting portion formed on the outer peripheral portion of the expanded holding ring is formed by moving the extended holding ring in a direction relatively close to the dicing tape. The work dividing method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the dicing tape is fitted to the surface of the frame to hold the expanded state of the dicing tape.

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