JP7198881B2 - Hard material processing system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to apparatus and systems, and more particularly to hard material processing apparatus and systems.

In recent years, with the continuous and vigorous development of semiconductor technology, technological products have been able to make great progress. In the manufacturing process of semiconductors, machining processes such as cutting, grinding, and polishing are performed on materials such as wafers using processing equipment. Semiconductor materials such as silicon carbide (SiC) have the advantages of wide energy bandgap, high hardness, high thermal conductivity, and chemical inertness. The best material for manufacturing. However, since the hardness of silicon carbide is high, it is not easy to perform processing steps such as slicing, grinding, or polishing, and cutters, which are processing members, tend to wear out. Therefore, how to improve the processing efficiency and quality of high-hardness semiconductor materials is one of the most important research and development topics at present.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A main object of the present invention is to provide a hard material processing apparatus and system capable of increasing the processing speed, increasing the production capacity, and reducing the wear of the processing members.

A hard material processing apparatus according to the present invention is a hard material processing apparatus for processing a work to be processed containing a hard material, wherein a first heating is applied to the work to be processed by a contact method or a non-contact method. A heating member for heating the workpiece to be processed to a first temperature capable of reducing the hardness of the hard material of the workpiece to be processed by performing a step, the heating member being the workpiece to be processed. At least one first processing of simultaneously performing the first processing step on the to-be-processed workpiece in which the hardness of the hard material temporarily drops when performing the first heating step on the and a member, wherein the hard material of the workpiece to be processed is silicon carbide, and the heating member is adapted to approach the hardness of silicon when performing the first heating step. It is characterized in that the hardness of the hard material of the workpiece to be processed is lowered and the first processing step is a cutting, grinding and/or polishing step.

In the hard material processing apparatus according to the present invention, the first processing member performs the first processing step on the workpiece to be processed in an oil-containing environment, and the oil-containing environment is the first processing step. It is characterized by containing high temperature resistant oil capable of withstanding temperature.

The hard material processing apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the first temperature is higher than 100 degrees Celsius.

The hard material processing apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the heating member is a high-frequency heating member or a microwave heating member.

A hard material processing system according to the present invention is a hard material processing apparatus for processing a work to be processed containing a hard material, wherein the heating member is applied to the work to be processed by a contact method or a non-contact method. a heating member for performing a first heating step and a second heating step with a heating member to a first temperature capable of lowering the hardness of the hard material of the workpiece to be processed; At least one of simultaneously performing the first processing step on the workpiece to be processed in which the hardness of the hard material has temporarily decreased when performing the first heating step on the workpiece to be processed. When the two first processing members and the heating member perform the second heating step on the workpiece to be processed, the second processing member is subjected to the first processing step and and at least one second processing member that simultaneously performs a second processing step on the work to be processed in which the hardness of the hard material has temporarily decreased. is silicon carbide, and when performing the first heating step and the second heating step, the hardness of the hard material of the workpiece to be processed drops to approach the hardness of silicon; , wherein the first processing step is a cutting step, and the second processing step is a grinding and/or polishing step.

The hard material processing system according to the present invention further includes at least one cleaning member, and the cleaning member performs the first processing step and/or the second processing step on the workpiece to be processed. After washing, the workpiece to be processed is subjected to a cleaning step.

In the hard material processing system according to the present invention, the first processing member and/or the second processing member are subjected to the first processing step and/or The second processing step is performed, and the oil-containing environment contains high temperature resistant oil capable of withstanding the first temperature.

The hard material processing system according to the present invention is characterized in that the first temperature is higher than 100 degrees Celsius.

The hard material processing system according to the present invention is characterized in that the heating member is a high-frequency heating member or a microwave heating member.

The hard material processing apparatus and system according to the present invention have the following effects.
(1) By heating the workpiece to be processed, the hardness of the hard material in the workpiece to be processed is lowered, so that the workpiece can be easily subjected to processes such as cutting, grinding and/or polishing. , can increase the processing speed. This can increase production capacity and also reduce wear on the work piece.
(2) In the conventional cutting method, after completion, it is necessary to perform tempering (heating) in order to reduce stress, whereas according to the present invention, tempering can be performed. Since it is not necessary, the number of man-hours for operation can be reduced.
(3) Taking the same cutter as an example, according to the present invention, the output per unit time is higher than that of the prior art.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a first embodiment of a hard material processing apparatus according to the present invention; FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a second embodiment of a hard material processing apparatus according to the present invention; FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a third embodiment of a hard material processing apparatus according to the present invention; FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a fourth embodiment of a hard material processing apparatus according to the present invention; 4 is a flow chart showing the machining process of the hard material machining system according to the present invention;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The proportions of each member in the drawings of the embodiments of the present invention are shown for easy understanding of the description, and are not actual proportions. Also, the dimensional ratios of the assemblies shown in the figures are for the purpose of explaining each component and its structure, and of course the present invention is not limited thereto. On the other hand, for convenience of understanding, the same parts in the following embodiments will be described with the same reference numerals.

Moreover, terms used throughout the specification and claims generally have the ordinary meaning of each term used in the field, the subject matter disclosed herein, and the special subject matter, unless otherwise indicated. have Certain terms used to describe the invention are explained below or elsewhere in the specification to provide those skilled in the art with additional guidance regarding the description of the invention.

The terms "first", "second", "third", etc. used throughout the specification and in the claims are not intended to imply a particular order or sequence, but rather to limit the invention. not used in It is only used to distinguish between components or operations that are described with the same terminology.

Wherever used throughout the specification and claims, the terms "include", "comprise", "have", "contain" and the like are all open terms. That is to say, these are meant to include, but not be limited to.

A hard material processing apparatus according to the present invention is a hard material processing apparatus for processing a workpiece to be processed containing a hard material, wherein the workpiece to be processed is heated by performing a first heating step on the workpiece to be processed. Temporarily reduces the hardness of the hard material of the to-be-processed workpiece when performing the first heating step by heating the to-be-processed workpiece to a first temperature capable of lowering the hardness of the hard material of a heating member that is gradually lowered; and when the heating member performs a first heating step on the workpiece to be processed, the first workpiece is subjected to the processing to be processed in which the hardness of the hard material temporarily drops. and at least one first processing member that simultaneously performs a first processing step on the object.
A hard material according to the present invention is, for example, silicon carbide, and a workpiece to be processed in the present invention is, for example, a silicon carbide ingot (SiC Ingot) 100, but is not limited thereto.

The first processing member is, for example, a Wire-Saw Slicing Machine, a Grinding Machine, or a Polishing Machine. A first processing step is, for example, a cutting, grinding and/or polishing step.
The heating element is, for example, a Radio Frequency (RF) heating element or a microwave heating element, with a frequency of, for example, 1 KHz to 10 GHz. Since the heating member according to the present invention is for heating a workpiece to be processed, the high-frequency heating member or microwave heating member has been described as an example in the present invention, but the heating member is not limited to this. In other words, any heating member may be employed as long as it can heat the workpiece to be processed.
As shown in FIG. 1, taking the high-frequency heating member 30 as an example, in the present invention, the silicon carbide ingot 100 can be heated by the high-frequency heating member 30 to reduce the hardness of the silicon carbide ingot 100. . Therefore, the silicon carbide ingot 100 can be easily processed. For example, the wire saw cutting machine 10 cuts the silicon carbide ingot 100 into silicon carbide slices 102 (first processing step). The process becomes easier. In addition, silicon carbide ingot 100 has, for example, a cylindrical shape, but is not limited to this. In addition, in the present invention, it is preferable to lower the hardness of silicon carbide ingot 100 so as to approach the hardness of silicon (Si). Machining process becomes easier.
For example, when the silicon carbide ingot 100 is heated to 200 degrees Celsius, its hardness is about 25 GPa. When silicon ingot 100 is heated to 500 degrees Celsius, its hardness is only about 15 GPa. Similarly, when the silicon carbide ingot 100 is heated to 600 degrees Celsius, the hardness of the silicon carbide ingot 100 (14 GPa) drops and approaches or is the same as that of silicon (14 GPa). The first processing step can be performed on the silicon carbide ingot 100 by employing the same processing member as the processing member that performs the processing step on the silicon ingot.

The first work piece may also perform the first work step in the oil-containing environment 200 on the work piece to be processed (ie, the silicon carbide ingot 100). Oil containing environment 200 includes high temperature tolerant oil capable of withstanding a first temperature. The oil-containing environment 200 is, for example, a tank filled with the above-described high temperature resistant oil. The first temperature is higher than 100 degrees Celsius, preferably between 200 degrees Celsius and 900 degrees Celsius, but not limited thereto.
Part or all of the silicon carbide ingot 100 may be placed in an oil-containing environment 200, as shown in FIG. Preferably, the entire silicon carbide ingot 100 is immersed in the oil-containing environment 200 and the silicon carbide ingot 100 is heated by the high-frequency heating member 30 . Thereby, the hardness of silicon carbide ingot 100 can be lowered. Of these, the high-frequency heating member 30 may employ a commercially available high-frequency heating member. The present invention is not limited to a particular brand or model number of high-frequency heating members, as long as they are capable of heating the workpiece to be processed. Next, the wire saw cutting machine 10 cuts the silicon carbide ingot 100 with lowered hardness into silicon carbide slices 102 (first processing step), thereby further facilitating the cutting process. Of these, the wire saw cutting machine 10 may similarly employ a commercially available wire saw cutting machine. Any device may be used as long as it can cut a workpiece to be processed. As such, the present invention is not limited to any particular brand or model of wire saw cutting machine. Here, the cutting equipment for cutting the silicon carbide ingot 100 is a well-known technology and is not the focus of the technology of the present invention, so the description thereof is omitted.
The oil-containing environment 200 described above may contain, for example, fluorine-based oil. It is capable of withstanding the first heating step of the heating element on the workpiece to be processed and has a wide operating temperature range, excellent extreme temperature resistance, chemical resistance, wide material compatibility, exceptional With properties such as electrical insulation performance, excellent film formation, load bearing and lubrication performance, it provides lubrication and heating uniformity. The above fluorine-containing oil is, for example, fluorine oil (Per-Fluorina Ted Poly Ethers, PFPE), and its molecular structure is composed of, for example, three components, which are carbon (Carbon) 21.6% , Oxygen 9.4% and Fluorine 69.0%. Here, although the fluorine oil is used as an example of the fluorine-containing oil, the proportion of the composition is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this. Any oil that can withstand high temperatures in the oil-containing environment 200 may be used.

The first processing step may be the cutting step described above, or may be a grinding and/or polishing step. In other words, the invention is not limited to performing a cutting step followed by a grinding and/or polishing step. Depending on the needs of the actual manufacturing process, the workpiece to be processed may not be subjected to the cutting process, but may be subjected to only the grinding and/or polishing process. For the same reason, the grinding and/or polishing process according to the invention may employ commercially available grinding and/or polishing machines. This may employ, for example, a chemical mechanical grinder (CMP). It suffices if the workpiece to be processed can be ground and/or polished. As such, the present invention is not limited to any particular brand or model of grinder and/or polisher. The grinding and/or polishing equipment for grinding and/or polishing the silicon carbide ingot 100 is conventional technology and not the focus of the technology of the present invention, so the description has been omitted.
For example, as shown in FIG. 3, a silicon carbide slice 102 resulting from performing the cutting process of FIG. Since the receiving member 40 is, for example, a ceramic plate with holes, an air extraction device 50 (eg, an air extraction pump) secures the silicon carbide slice 102 to the receiving member 40 for subsequent grinding and/or polishing steps. It can be carried out. By heating the silicon carbide slice 102 with the high-frequency heating member 30, the hardness of the silicon carbide slice 102 can be lowered, so that the silicon carbide slice 102 is ground and/or Alternatively, it becomes easier to carry out the polishing process.
In FIG. 3, the high-frequency heating member 30 is placed below the receiving member 40, but it is not limited to this. The radio frequency heating member 30 may be placed in other suitable locations. This allows the silicon carbide slice 102 to be heated to lower its hardness. A lubricant 60 may also be used when performing grinding and/or polishing processes. Lubricant 60 can be, for example, any fluorine-containing oil to provide lubrication and heating uniformity benefits.

Also, as shown in FIG. 4, the present invention may perform a grinding and/or polishing process on the silicon carbide slice 102 in an oil-containing environment 200 . The oil-containing environment 200 includes high temperature tolerant oil capable of withstanding a first temperature. The first temperature is higher than 100 degrees Celsius, preferably between 200 degrees Celsius and 900 degrees Celsius, but not limited thereto. For example, the present invention may place some or all of the silicon carbide slice 102 in an oil-containing environment 200 . Preferably, the hardness of the silicon carbide slice 102 is lowered by immersing the entire silicon carbide slice 102 in the oil-containing environment 200 and heating the silicon carbide slice 102 with the radio frequency heating member 30 .
The grinder 20 then performs a grinding and/or polishing process on the silicon carbide slice 102 with lowered hardness. Similarly, the degree of hardness drop of the silicon carbide slice 102 is not limited. However, when the hardness of the silicon carbide slice 102 drops to approach or equal the hardness of silicon, the grinder 20 according to the present invention will grind and/or grind the silicon slice. Alternatively, the same grinding and/or polishing machine that performs the polishing process may be employed. Although the radio frequency heating element 30 in FIG. 4 is placed outside the oil-containing environment 200, the invention is not so limited. The radio frequency heating member 30 may be placed in other suitable locations to apply heat to the silicon carbide slice 102 and reduce its hardness.

In the present invention, the heating member heats the workpiece to be processed by contact or non-contact in the first heating step. For example, when the silicon carbide ingot 100 or the silicon carbide slice 102 is heated by the high-frequency heating member 30, the silicon carbide ingot 100 or the silicon carbide slice 102 may be heated directly or indirectly. For example, the oil-containing environment 200 may heat the silicon carbide ingot 100 or silicon carbide slice 102 . Those who have general knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains will know how to place the high-frequency heating member 30 outside or inside the oil-containing environment 200, and Since it should be clearly known how to heat the silicon carbide ingot 100 or the silicon carbide slice 102 by direct contact method or indirect contact method, the description is omitted.

The present invention proposes another hard material processing system. For example, it is composed of a plurality of hard material processing apparatuses and performs a plurality of the above processing steps, or is composed of one hard material processing apparatus and performs a plurality of the above processing steps.
A hard material processing system according to the present invention is a hard material processing system for processing a workpiece to be processed containing a hard material, wherein the workpiece to be processed is subjected to a first heating step and a second heating step. when performing the first heating step and the second heating step by heating the workpiece to be treated to a first temperature capable of reducing the hardness of the hard material of the workpiece to be treated by a heating member for temporarily lowering the hardness of the hard material of the workpiece to be processed; and when the heating member performs the first heating step on the workpiece to be processed, the first processing member At the same time, at least one first processing member that performs a first processing step on the workpiece to be processed whose material hardness has temporarily decreased, and a heating member are provided to the workpiece to be processed in a second step. When performing the heating step, the second processing member is subjected to the first processing step, and the second processing step is performed on the workpiece to be processed in which the hardness of the hard material is temporarily lowered. and at least one second work member. Among them, the first processing step is, for example, a cutting step, and the cutting step can be performed by the wire saw cutting machine 10 as described above. The second processing step is, for example, a grinding and/or polishing step, and can be performed by the grinding and/or polishing machine 20 as described above.

The first heating step and the second heating step may be performed using the same heating member, or may be performed using different heating members. For example, the high-frequency heating member 30 may perform the first heating step and the second heating step. Alternatively, the high-frequency heating member 30 is placed inside or outside a fixed space (for example, the oil-containing environment 200 described above), and in the oil-containing environment 200, the cutting process is first performed, and the grinding and/or polishing process is performed. may Alternatively, when the two high-frequency heating members 30 are placed at different positions and the cutting process is performed, first, one of the high-frequency heating members 30 is used for heating, the cutting process is performed, and then the cutting process is performed, and then the cutting process is performed at another position. It may be transported (a cleaning process may be selectively performed during the process of transport), and heating may be performed by another high-frequency heating member 30 . If necessary, a microwave heating member may be employed instead of the high-frequency heating member 30 described above.

Also, the hard material processing system according to the present invention may further comprise at least one cleaning member (not shown). The to-be-processed workpiece may undergo a cleaning step with a cleaning member after undergoing the first processing step and/or the second processing step.
As shown in FIG. 5, after performing the cutting step S10, the cleaning member performs a cleaning step S21 on the workpiece to be processed, then performs a grinding step S30 and a cleaning step S22, and then performs polishing. Step S40 and cleaning step S23 may be performed. The cutting step S10 may be performed by the method shown in FIG. 1 or 2, but is not limited thereto. The grinding step S30 and the polishing step S40 may be performed by the method shown in FIG. 3 or 4, but the method is not limited to this. The next step can be conveniently performed by performing a washing step to clean the material left on the workpiece to be processed from the previous step. Among them, in the cleaning process, the cleaning process may be performed by plasma cleaning, or by using an organic solvent (eg, acetone) to remove grease. The cleaning process according to the present invention has been described using plasma or an organic solvent as an example when cleaning a workpiece to be processed, but the present invention is not limited to this. In other words, the cleaning process should be able to clean the workpiece to be processed. A person who has general knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs will understand well how to clean the workpiece to be processed based on the content of the present invention, so the explanation is omitted. do.

The hard material processing apparatus and system according to the present invention have the following effects.
(1) By heating the workpiece to be processed, the hardness of the hard material in the workpiece to be processed is lowered, so that the workpiece can be easily subjected to processes such as cutting, grinding and/or polishing. , can increase the processing speed. This can increase production capacity and also reduce wear on the work piece.
(2) According to conventional cutting methods, it is necessary to perform tempering (heating) after completion in order to reduce stress. On the other hand, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the number of man-hours for operation because it is not necessary to perform the tempering process.
(3) Taking the same cutter as an example, the output per unit time according to the present invention is higher than that of the prior art.

The above description is by way of example only, and not by way of limitation. Any equivalent modifications or changes made thereto that do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are included in the appended claims.

10 Wire saw cutting machine 20 Grinding and polishing machine 30 High-frequency heating member 40 Receiving member 50 Air extraction device 60 Lubricant 100 Silicon carbide ingot 102 Silicon carbide slice 200 Oil-containing environment S10 Cutting processes S21, S22, S23 Cleaning process S30 Grinding process S40 Polishing process

Claims (5)

A hard material processing system for processing a workpiece to be processed containing a hard material,
By performing a first heating step and a second heating step on the workpiece to be processed by a contact method or a non-contact method, the hardness of the hard material of the workpiece to be processed can be lowered. a heating member for heating the workpiece to be processed to a first temperature;
When the heating member performs the first heating step on the workpiece to be processed, the first heating step is simultaneously performed on the workpiece to be processed in which the hardness of the hard material is temporarily lowered. at least one first workpiece for
When the heating member performs the second heating process on the workpiece to be processed, the second heating process is simultaneously performed on the workpiece to be processed in which the hardness of the hard material is temporarily lowered. at least one second processing member for performing
the hard material of the workpiece to be processed is silicon carbide;
the hardness of the hard material of the to-be-processed workpiece decreases to approach the hardness of silicon when performing the first heating step and the second heating step;
The first processing step is a cutting step,
The second processing step is a grinding and / or polishing step,
Hard material processing system. At least one cleaning member is provided, and the cleaning member performs the first processing step and/or the second processing step on the to-be-processed workpiece, and then cleans the to-be-processed workpiece. 2. The hard material processing system according to claim 1 , wherein a cleaning process is performed. The first processing member and/or the second processing member perform the first processing step and/or the second processing step on the workpiece to be processed in an oil-containing environment, 2. The hard material processing system of claim 1 , wherein the oil-containing environment comprises high temperature tolerant oil capable of withstanding said first temperature. 2. The hard material processing system of claim 1 , wherein said first temperature is greater than 100 degrees Celsius. 2. The hard material processing system according to claim 1 , wherein the heating member is a high frequency heating member or a microwave heating member.

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