JPH0245956A - Semiconductor device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent occurrences of conductive foreign substances and hinder the development of cracks when a dicing process is performed by coating a scribe line region with the second and third insulating films and a passivation film. CONSTITUTION:A semiconductor device is formed by making a LOCOS oxide film 2 which is formed on a semiconductor substrate 1 act as the first insulating film. In such a case, scribe line regions 11 are coated with the second and third insulating films 4 and 6 and a passivation film 8. No bases which are formed below various patterns of a gate electrode, the first and second conduction wiring layers 5 and 7 are scooped out by photoetching in an after-treatment process. Such a superior state of the scribe line regions prevents occurrences of conductive foreign substances which give rise to inferior reliability and binder the development of cracks when a dicing process is performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to the structure of a scribe line region of a semiconductor device.

[Prior art 1 The structure of the conventional scribe line area is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-2
Various patterns (semiconductor elements for measuring characteristics of semiconductor devices, alignment marks, patterns for measuring misalignment,
It was uniform regardless of the presence or absence of a pattern (such as a pattern for measuring dimensions).

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, the semiconductor substrate that serves as the base for the alignment mark of the first conductive wiring, the pattern for measuring misalignment, the pattern for measuring dimensions, etc. in the scribe line region is During the etching process of the first conductive wiring when forming various patterns, and the etching of the third insulating film and passivation film in the subsequent process, the semiconductor substrate underlying the first conductive wiring is etched and gouged, and as a result, the first conductive wiring is etched. The conductive wiring was no longer held sufficiently by the semiconductor substrate and peeled off, becoming conductive foreign matter. This is especially true as miniaturization progresses and the dimensions of the patterns used are 2 μm.
The conductive foreign matter generated by this peeling poses a major problem in the manufacturing and quality of semiconductor devices, although the following is one of the factors.

First, if the alignment mark is damaged, alignment becomes impossible in the alignment process of the subsequent photolithography process, which hinders the manufacture of semiconductor devices. Next, if the peeled conductive foreign matter adheres to the wafer, it may cause a short circuit between the gate electrode, the first conductive wiring, and the second conductive wiring, or it may become a protrusion on the wafer, causing uneven thickness of the photoresist during the photolithography process. This hinders normal pattern formation in the photolithography process, causing pattern defects such as short circuits and disconnections in the pattern, and lowering yield. Furthermore, even if it adheres to the wafer, it does not have any adverse effects in the initial stage and is shipped as a good product, and after long-term use,
The attached conductive foreign matter deteriorates due to moisture and the like, lowering the functionality of the semiconductor device and causing defects, resulting in poor reliability, resulting in a serious quality problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide a structure of a scribe line region in which conductive foreign matter is not generated.

[Means for Solving the Problems 1] In the semiconductor device of the present invention, a scribe line region is covered with a second insulating film, a third insulating film, and a passivation film, and the passivation film is formed linearly along the periphery of the semiconductor device. A groove is formed by removing a Locos oxide film pattern, a gate electrode pattern, a second insulating film pattern, a first conductive wiring pattern, and a third conductive wiring pattern in the scribe line area.
It is formed only over the region where the insulating film pattern and the second conductive wiring pattern are formed. Further, a region is provided in which a part of the second insulating film and a part of the third insulating film are removed.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a scribe line area according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a scribe line region without various patterns in an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of a partially removed region of a second insulating film and a third insulating film in an embodiment of the present invention.

A LOCO3 oxide film 2 is formed as a first insulating film on a semiconductor substrate l, a gate electrode 3 is formed thereon, a second insulating film 4 is formed, and a photolithography process is performed to form a LOCO3 oxide film 2 as shown in FIG.
The photoresist was removed by using the area indicated by 2 as an etching monitor part 12 in the scribe line area, and the second insulating layer 114 was removed by etching. Next, a second conductive wiring 5 is formed, a third insulating film 6 is formed thereon, and the third insulating film 6 is etched into the etching monitor portion 12 of the second insulating film 4 by a photolithography process. A portion of the monitor 13 is formed using a cutout pattern of a photoresist pattern and removed by etching, a passivation film 8 is formed thereon, and various patterns are formed by photoetching.The scribe line area is 10L1m from the semiconductor device 11. The passivation film 8 was removed in parallel to the semiconductor device 11 with a width of 5 .mu.m to form a groove 9 at the location where the groove was inserted, thereby forming a scribe line region having a cross-sectional structure as shown in FIG. Further, in the scribe line region where there is no pattern, the passivation film 8 is removed from the entire surface to form a scribe line region having a cross-sectional structure as shown in FIG. By removing the passivation film 8 from the etching monitor portions 12 and 13 as well, the patterns of the gate electrode 3, the first conductive wiring 5, and the second conductive wiring 7 are formed using the underlying layer. This eliminates damage in the post-process photo-etching process, and as a result, there is no damage to the alignment mark in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices, and alignment failures do not occur in the post-process photolithography process, which prevents problems. lost. Furthermore, since there is no peeling and conductive foreign matter is no longer generated, serious problems such as a decrease in yield and poor reliability do not occur. Furthermore, in the guising process, the groove portion 9 of the passivation film 8 is formed in the scribe line region IO.
By forming this, the groove portion 9 also has the effect of stopping cracks generated in the guising process and preventing damage to the semiconductor device.

However, in order to obtain the same effect, the second insulating film 4
Also, the third insulating film 6 may be formed by photo-etching in the same way as the groove 9 of the passivation film 8, but if there is a groove in the second insulating tli4 or the third insulating tli6, each The first conductive wiring and the second
In the photolithography process of the photoetching process of conductive wiring, the photoresist used clumps up due to the step in the groove and becomes thicker, resulting in an insufficient amount of exposure for the prescribed pattern formation, leaving photoresist residue in the groove. However, this becomes the etching residue when etching the 12th Jl electrical wiring and the second electrical wiring. This etching residue is peeled off by the next photoresist stripping process or the post-process photoetching, and becomes a conductive foreign substance. However, in the present invention, the generation of conductive foreign matter is prevented by covering the entire surface of the second and third insulating films without forming grooves in the scribe line regions.

Furthermore, by forming the structure of the scribe line area where there are various patterns as shown in Figure 1, and where there are no patterns as shown in Figure 2, the load on the scribing lines used in the scribing process can be reduced. It has the effect of reducing The LOGO5 oxide film, the second insulating film, the third insulating film, and the passivation film were not formed so as not to place any burden on the scribe line region.

This makes it possible to suppress the wear and tear of the guissing tool, and to reduce the increase in man-hours for replacement and adjustment of the guissing tool, as well as the increase in the amount used.

By covering the entire surface of the scribe line region with the second insulating film and the third insulating film, the above-mentioned effects can be obtained, but in manufacturing semiconductor devices, the photo-etching process is still necessary. In this case, it would be better if the appearance could be inspected to see if etching has been completed.Furthermore, it would be desirable to have a place to measure the rate of etching. It was impossible to check the thickness of the film after it was formed because the entire surface was covered with the second insulating film. However, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, the etching monitor portion 12 of the second insulating film is formed in the scribe line area to be slightly larger, thereby making it possible to inspect the appearance and measure the etching speed. did. Also the third
The etching monitor portion 13 of the insulating film was formed smaller than the etching monitor 12 of the second insulating film. As a result, the film thickness of the third insulating film can be measured using the etching monitor part 12 of the second insulating film, and the appearance inspection and etching speed measurement after the photoetching process of the third insulating film can be performed using the etching monitor part 12. This can be done using part 13. By providing this etching monitor in the scribe line region, which is a part of the etching monitor, it is possible to control the manufacturing process of the semiconductor device without impairing the effects of the invention described above.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the patterns of the gate electrode, the first conductive wiring, and the second conductive wiring formed in the scribe line region are not peeled off from the semiconductor substrate (they are held and the semiconductor device This has the effect of preventing damage to alignment marks that can be a hindrance in manufacturing semiconductor devices, as well as preventing the generation of conductive foreign matter that can lead to lower yields and poor reliability. It also has the effect of preventing cracks in the guising process by forming a groove in the passivation film to surround the periphery of the scribe line.Furthermore, by removing the passivation film in areas where there are no patterns in the scribe line area, the guising process can be prevented. It also has the effect of reducing the load on the guising tool during the process, extending its life, and preventing an increase in the number of man-hours for replacement and adjustment of the guising tool, as well as an increase in the amount used.

In addition, by forming the second and third insulating films in the scribe line area except for a part of the etching monitor, the same film structure as the semiconductor device was achieved, so the gate electrode and first insulating film were formed.
The accuracy of the photolithography process for patterning the 21st conductive wiring and the second conductive wiring has also improved, and it has become possible to form patterns with the same shape and dimensions as those of semiconductor devices. As an effect of this, the characteristics of the semiconductor element used to measure the characteristics of the semiconductor device formed in the scribe line region match well with the characteristics of the semiconductor element used to measure the characteristics of the semiconductor device and inside the semiconductor device, making it easier to manufacture semiconductor devices. This has the effect of enabling more accurate management and improving the quality of semiconductor devices. In addition, it is no longer necessary to form semiconductor elements whose characteristics are to be measured in the semiconductor device, and the size of the semiconductor device can be reduced. Many can be formed on a single wafer, resulting in a reduction in cost. 6 Furthermore, a second insulating film and a third insulating film are formed in the scribe line region.
By providing a portion of the etching monitor for the insulating film, it is possible to inspect the appearance of the photoetching process, measure the etching speed, and measure the film thickness during film formation, thereby improving the manufacturing of semiconductor devices. We made it possible to manage it without any damage.

As described above, the effects of the present invention are due to the structure and are effective regardless of the type, material, film thickness, processing method, and formation method of the gate electrode, conductive wiring, insulating film, and passivation film used in the semiconductor device. It is something. Further, the effects of the present invention are completely obtained even when applied to semiconductor devices with two layers of gate electrodes and semiconductor devices with one layer of conductive wiring and three or more layers of conductive wiring, other than the semiconductor device with one layer of gate electrode and two layers of conductive wiring as in the embodiment. Similar effects can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a scribe line area in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a scribe line area without various patterns according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a partially removed region of the second insulating film and the third insulating film in the embodiment of the present invention. 12...Second best! ! Membrane etching monitor part 13.
・・Etching monitor of the third insulating film Part or more Applicant: Seiko Epson Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney (Masaho Usa (and one other person)) Semiconductor substrate LOGOS oxide film Gate electrode Second insulating film First conductive wiring Third insulation film second conductive wiring passivation film trench scribe line region semiconductor device

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A semiconductor device having a LOCOS oxide film formed on a semiconductor substrate as a first insulating film, in which a scribe line region is covered with a second insulating film, a third insulating film, and a passivation film. Device. (2) The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the passivation film is removed linearly along the periphery of the semiconductor device to form a groove. (3) Insert the passivation film into the scribe line area, including the LOCOS oxide film pattern, the gate electrode pattern, the second insulation pattern, the first conductive wiring pattern, the third insulation film pattern, and the second insulation film pattern. 3. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the conductive wiring pattern is formed only on the upper part of the region. (4) The semiconductor device according to claim 1, 2, or 3, further comprising a region in which a part of the second insulating film and a part of the third insulating film are removed.