JPH0613173B2 - Wafer manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wafer manufacturing apparatus for cutting a semiconductor material into flaky wafers in a semiconductor manufacturing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to cut a material such as silicon (referred to as a semiconductor ingot) into a wafer, a semiconductor ingot is mainly pressed against an inner peripheral blade that rotates at a high speed. It was difficult to improve the flatness of the cut surface, and hence the surface accuracy of the cut wafer, due to imbalance in cutting performance, coolant, non-uniform wind pressure, and the like. Especially in recent years, the diameter of the semiconductor ingot is increased to improve the production efficiency.
There is a strong technical demand for increasing the diameter, but as the diameter increases, the warp (flatness error) on both sides of the wafer increases, which is becoming a problem. Also, if the wafer warpage is large and the surface accuracy is poor, grinding in the post process,
A large number of man-hours and costs are required for the correction and finishing in the lapping process, and a satisfactory surface accuracy cannot always be obtained.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method and apparatus for dramatically improving the flatness of at least one side of a wafer. The present invention grinds the end face of a semiconductor ingot in a state where the cutting function of a slicing machine for cutting a wafer from a semiconductor ingot by an inner peripheral blade attached to a spindle precedes the cutting position of the semiconductor ingot by the inner peripheral blade. It is possible to add a grindstone inside the spindle, that is, perform cutting work and end face grinding work of a semiconductor ingot with one machine to finish the flatness of one side of the cut wafer with high accuracy. . Further, since the surface grinding of the semiconductor ingot proceeds at the same time as the cutting, the processing time can be reduced to about 1/2 as compared with the case where the cutting process and the grinding process are independent.

[0004]

【Example】

An embodiment of a wafer manufacturing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment applied to a horizontal slicing machine in which a blade of an inner peripheral blade is attached to a hollow spindle. In the figure, a semiconductor ingot 1 is attached to a hollow spindle 3 and moved in the direction of arrow A by a holding mechanism and a feed mechanism (not shown) with respect to a blade 2 of an inner peripheral blade that rotates at high speed and cut into a thin wafer. It In the figure, in a horizontal slicing machine, a blade 2 of an inner peripheral blade is stretched around a hollow spindle 3 which rotates at high speed and is rotated at high speed. The semiconductor ingot 1 is moved in the direction of arrow A by a holding mechanism and a feeding mechanism (not shown) to be cut into a thin wafer. On the other hand, a grindstone shaft 5A is arranged coaxially with the hollow spindle 3 in the hollow spindle 3 on the same machine of the horizontal slicing machine, and the grindstone 5A is attached to the tip of the grindstone shaft 5A.
Is provided. At the time of wafer cutting, a rotating grindstone 5 for surface grinding is applied to the end surface 4 of the semiconductor ingot 1 and the semiconductor ingot 1 is moved in the direction of arrow A. First, the end surface 4 is ground by the grindstone 5, and then the blade 2 Cut into a semiconductor ingot 1 and cut into wafers.

At this time, the blade 2 and the grindstone 5 are arranged so that the cutting tip of the blade 2 does not reach the portion ground by the grindstone 5 so that the wafer to be cut is not chipped, cracked or cracked. To do. That is, the grinding position of the end face of the semiconductor ingot by the grindstone 5 precedes the cutting position of the semiconductor ingot by the blade 2, and the cutting position of the semiconductor ingot by the blade 2 is always delayed from the grinding position of the semiconductor ingot end face. When the end surface grinding is completed, the grindstone 5 retracts (moves to the right in the figure), the semiconductor ingot 1 also returns to the original position, and the next processing cycle starts. In this method, the end face grinding and cutting of the semiconductor ingot 1 can be performed in parallel and almost at the same time, so that there is no loss time and it is extremely efficient.

The apparatus of the present invention can be applied not only to this embodiment but also to a vertical type slicing machine.

[0007]

As described in detail above, by adopting the present invention, except for the addition of the end face grinding mechanism on the same machine, the mechanism of the slicing machine is used for mounting the semiconductor ingot, etc. Since it is possible to grind the end face of the semiconductor ingot with high precision at the same time as the cutting process without the need for setup change, it is about 1 / th compared to the case where the cutting process and the grinding process are independent. The processing time can be shortened to 2. Further, it is not necessary to manage the flatness of the end face of the semiconductor ingot, and the quality of the cut wafer, that is, the flatness of one face can be dramatically improved. Furthermore,
The man-hours and costs of the subsequent steps can be remarkably reduced, and the productivity can be improved, which is a great effect. Further, since the grinding position of the grindstone precedes the cutting position of the inner peripheral blade, the wafer being cut is not cracked or chipped.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a mechanism of an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Semiconductor ingot 2 ... Blade 4 ... End surface 5 ... End grinding wheel

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A wafer cutting apparatus for attaching an inner peripheral blade to a rotating spindle to cut a semiconductor material into thin pieces, wherein the spindle is formed hollow and is coaxial with the spindle inside the spindle. Place the wheel axis,
A wafer manufacturing apparatus, wherein a grindstone for grinding an end surface of a semiconductor material is attached to a tip of the grindstone shaft in a state of being advanced from a cutting position of the semiconductor material by the inner peripheral blade.