JPH0547892A - Semiconductor device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent short circuits between pads located on split semiconductor chips with regard to a semiconductor device having semiconductor chips split from a semiconductor wafer having monitor elements on scribe lines. CONSTITUTION:This device comprises monitor elements 14 formed on scribe lines 12, monitor pads 20,24,25 formed in a semiconductor circuit region surrounded by scribe lines 12, and semiconductor chips split from a semiconductor wafer 11 which are formed narrower than the distance of pads provided in the semiconductor circuit region and have monitor elements 14 and metallic wiring electrodes 21, 22, 23 which connect the monitor pads 20, 24, 25.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, and more particularly to a semiconductor device having a semiconductor chip divided from a semiconductor wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A semiconductor chip on which a semiconductor integrated circuit is formed is obtained by dividing a semiconductor wafer 1 as shown in FIG. 2 (a), and variations in characteristics of each semiconductor integrated circuit and semiconductor wafers in a manufacturing line. In order to investigate the variation in the circuit characteristics for each device, the monitor element 3 is formed at the position shown in FIGS. 2 (b) and 2 (c).

That is, what is shown in FIG. 2 (b) is one in which a plurality of rectangular semiconductor integrated circuit regions 2 formed on a semiconductor wafer 1 are provided with monitor elements 3 at the four corners. It is used to investigate the variation of

On the other hand, the one shown in FIG. 2 (c) has a monitor element 5 formed on a scribe line 4 which divides a plurality of semiconductor integrated circuit regions 2 on a semiconductor wafer 1. It is provided to investigate the variation of Since the monitoring element 5 is provided outside the semiconductor integrated circuit area 2, it has nothing to do with the circuit configuration, and is also destroyed when the semiconductor wafer 1 is divided. Different from the one.

The monitor element 5 is connected to a monitor pad 6 formed on the scribe line 4, and a needle of a probe for wafer inspection is applied to the monitor pad 6.

[0006]

However, the size of the plane of the monitor pad 6 needs to be 80 μm × 80 μm or more because of the contact with the needle of the probe.
When the semiconductor wafer 1 is divided along the scribe lines 4 shown in FIG. 2 (c), the metal pieces forming the monitor pad 6 together with the monitor element 5 are scattered to be divided into semiconductor integrated circuit regions 2 (semiconductor chips ), And pads 7 thereabove are short-circuited to cause a malfunction of the semiconductor integrated circuit 2 or to reduce the yield of products.

In this case, it is conceivable to remove the metal pieces on the semiconductor chip by air blow or the like, but it takes a lot of time to carry out with a large number of pieces. In addition, the metal piece may remain in a projecting state without being completely cut at the side portion of the divided semiconductor chip, and the metal piece may later be separated and placed on the semiconductor chip, so that the effect of the air blow cannot be expected so much.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor device capable of preventing a short circuit between pads on a divided semiconductor chip.

[0009]

As shown in FIG. 1, the above-mentioned problems are formed in a monitor element 14 formed on a scribe line 12 and a semiconductor circuit region surrounded by the scribe line 12. Monitor pad 20, 24,
25, and metal wiring electrodes 21, 22, 23 formed in a width narrower than the distance between pads provided in the semiconductor circuit region and connecting the monitoring elements 14, 26 and the monitoring pads 20, 24, 25. And a semiconductor chip divided from a semiconductor wafer (11) having

Alternatively, the monitor pads 20, 24, 25
Is achieved by the semiconductor device characterized by being connected to a semiconductor circuit formed in the semiconductor circuit region.

The semiconductor device, wherein the metal wiring electrodes 21, 22 and 23 wired in the scribe line (12) are formed in a direction orthogonal to the scribe direction.

[0012]

[Operation] According to the present invention, the monitor pads 20, 2 are formed in the semiconductor integrated circuit region surrounded by the scribe line 12.
4 are provided, the monitor element 14 is formed on the scribe line 12, and thin metal wiring electrodes 21 and 22 are provided.
The monitor pads 20, 24, ... Are connected to the monitor element 14 via.

Therefore, when the semiconductor wafer 11 is cut along the scribe line 12, the pads 20, 24 ...
Metal pieces having a size of about several tens of μm do not scatter, and the metal pieces prevent short-circuiting between pads on the semiconductor chip.

According to the second invention, the monitor pad is connected to the internal circuit and is used as a bonding pad after being divided. For this reason, large metal pieces are not scattered even when cutting and dividing a semiconductor wafer that cannot afford a pad dedicated to a monitor.

Further, according to the third aspect of the invention, since the metal wiring electrodes are wired in the direction orthogonal to the scribe lines, the area of the metal formed on the scribe lines is further reduced, and at the time of wafer division. The size of the metal pieces scattered in the area is further reduced, and the occurrence of an accident such as a short circuit is reliably avoided.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (A) Description of First Embodiment of the Present Invention FIG. 1 is a plan view and a partially enlarged plan view of an apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1A, reference numeral 11 is silicon.
A semiconductor wafer made of germanium or the like, and a scribe line 1 having a depression on the upper surface side of the semiconductor wafer 11.
Semiconductor integrated circuit device 1 partitioned by 2 into a planar rectangular shape
The semiconductor wafer 11 is cut along the scribe line 12 after the wafer test.

In the vicinity of the corner of the semiconductor integrated circuit 13 on the surface of the scribe line 12, as shown in FIG. 1 (b),
A monitor MOS transistor 14 and a resistance element 26 are formed. The monitoring elements 14 and 26 are provided, for example, for investigating variations in elements and circuit characteristics of each semiconductor wafer 11 in the manufacturing line.

The MOS transistor 14 is surrounded by Si.
A gate electrode 17 formed in a semiconductor region surrounded by an insulating film 15 such as O ₂ and formed on a semiconductor via a gate insulating film 16 and two sources formed on both sides thereof by introducing impurities. / Drain (S / D) layer 18, 1
It is composed of 9. The gate electrode 17 is connected to the monitor pads 20 provided at the four corners of the first semiconductor integrated circuit device 13a through aluminum wiring electrodes 21 having a width of about 1 μm, and on the S / D layers 18 and 19. The connected aluminum wiring electrodes 22 and 23 are individually connected to two monitor pads 24 and 25 provided at the corners of the adjacent semiconductor integrated circuit device 13b.

The resistance element 26 is formed on the insulating film 15 in another region of the scribe line 12, is made of, for example, polycrystalline silicon containing impurities, and has aluminum wiring electrodes connected to both ends thereof. 27 and 28 are connected to monitor pads 29 and 30 at the corners of the third semiconductor integrated circuit device 13c.

The monitor pads 20, 24, 25,
The size of the planes 29 and 30 is 80 μm × 80 μm or larger, and the distance between them is 40 μm or more.

The semiconductor wafer 11 is covered with a passivation film (not shown) on the entire upper surface thereof, and the monitor pads 20, 2 are passed through a plurality of windows provided therein.
4 and the other pads 31 are exposed to the outside.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. In the above-described embodiment, before the semiconductor wafer 11 is divided along the scribe line 12, a probe (not shown) of a wafer testing device is applied to the pads 20, 24 ... Connected to the monitor elements 14, 26, and The characteristics of the device are detected to inspect the variations in the characteristics of each semiconductor wafer 11.

If the variation among the semiconductor wafers 11 is within the allowable range, the element characteristics of each semiconductor integrated circuit 13 are investigated to check for defective circuits, and then the semiconductor wafer 11 is moved along the scribe line 12. It is diced and divided into a plurality of chips.

In this case, the monitor MOS transistor 14, the resistance element 26 and the like formed on the scribe line 12 are destroyed, but the metal on the scribe line 12 is a thin aluminum wiring electrode 2 having a width of about 1 μm.
1 to 23, 27 and 28 only, and the wiring electrodes 21 to
Even if 23, 27, and 28 become metal pieces when the chips are divided and scatter, the pads 31 on the semiconductor integrated circuit 13 that are separated by about 40 μm are not short-circuited, and the malfunction of the semiconductor device does not occur.

Although the monitoring elements 14 and 26 are connected to the dedicated monitoring pads 20, 24, ... In the above embodiment, the pads 20 may be pads 31 connected to the semiconductor integrated circuit 13. According to this, even when the pad space dedicated to the monitor cannot be provided, it is possible to prevent a short circuit between the pads. However, in this case, it is necessary to select the pad 31 of the circuit that is not affected by the monitor voltage.

(B) Description of another embodiment of the present invention In the above-mentioned embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), electrode wiring for connecting the monitoring elements 14 and 16 and the pads 24 and 30 distant therefrom. Part of 22 and 28 scribe line 1
2 It is arranged through the cutter passage area S at the center. Therefore, the electrode wirings 24 and 30 are crushed into small pieces by the cutter passing through the area S and do not remain at the edge of the semiconductor chip.

However, as shown in FIG. 2A, when the electrode wiring 22 is displaced from the cutter passing area S of the scribe line 12, the divided semiconductor integrated circuit device 1
The wiring electrode 22 having a long pad interval may remain on the edge of 3b.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2B, when the monitoring elements 14 and 26 and the pad 24 far from the monitoring elements 14 and 26 are connected by the wiring electrodes 22a and 28a, the portion in the scribe direction is the semiconductor integrated circuit device. The portion formed in the scribe line 12 while being formed in the scribe line 13b is arranged in the direction orthogonal to the scribe line.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, the monitor pad is provided in the semiconductor integrated circuit region surrounded by the scribe line, and the monitor pad is connected to the monitor element on the scribe line. Therefore, when the semiconductor wafer is cut along the scribe line, metal pieces having a size of a pad do not scatter, which can prevent a short circuit of the pad on the semiconductor chip.

Further, according to the second aspect of the invention, since the monitor pad is connected to the internal circuit and used as a bonding pad after the wafer is divided, it is also applicable to a semiconductor wafer that cannot afford a monitor-dedicated pad. It will be possible.

Further, according to the third aspect of the invention, since the metal wiring electrodes are wired in the direction orthogonal to the scribe line, the metal pieces scattered at the time of wafer division can be made small and the occurrence of an accident such as a short circuit can be ensured. Can be avoided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view and a partially enlarged sectional view of an apparatus showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged sectional view of an apparatus showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view and a partially enlarged sectional view showing an example of a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 semiconductor wafer 12 scribe line 13 semiconductor integrated circuit device 14 MOS transistor 15 insulating film 16 gate insulating film 17 gate electrode 18, 19 S / D layer 20, 24, 25, 29, 30 monitor pad 26 resistive element 21, 22, 23, 27, 28 wiring electrode 22a, 28a wiring electrode

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A monitor element (14) formed on a scribe line (12) and a monitor pad (20, 24, 25) formed in a semiconductor circuit region surrounded by the scribe line (12). And a metal wiring electrode (21, 22, 23) formed to have a width narrower than a distance between pads provided in the semiconductor circuit region and connecting the monitoring element (14) and the pad (20, 24, 25). ) And a semiconductor wafer (11)
A semiconductor device comprising a semiconductor chip divided from. 2. The monitor pad (20, 24, 25),
The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor device is connected to a semiconductor circuit formed in the semiconductor circuit region. 3. The metal wiring electrode (21, 22, 23) wired in the scribe line (12) is formed in a direction orthogonal to the scrape direction. Semiconductor device.