TW202105578A - Wafer transportation mechanism and polishing device capable of preventing damages to a wafer due to polishing debris attached to the wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

The objective of the invention is to provide a wafer transportation mechanism capable of preventing damages to a wafer due to polishing debris attached to the wafer. To solve the problem, a wafer transportation mechanism is provided, which comprises a wafer holding assembly that holds a wafer, and a moving assembly that moves the wafer holding assembly. The wafer holding assembly comprises a suction-holding portion and a water supply portion. The suction-holding portion comprises a porous surface that sucks a peripheral area of the wafer. The water supply portion is arranged on an inner side of the suction-holding portion for supplying water. The suction-holding portion is formed of a plurality of segments, and the water supplied from the water supply portion flows between adjacent segments. An annular wall is provided to surround the suction-holding portion, and the annular wall suppresses water flowing outward from between adjacent segments.

Description

Wafer conveying mechanism and grinding device

The present invention relates to a wafer transport mechanism for transporting wafers and a grinding device provided with the wafer transport mechanism.

Multiple devices such as IC, LSI, memory, etc. are divided into predetermined lines and formed on the front surface of the wafer. After the back surface is ground by a grinding device to form a predetermined thickness, it is processed by a dicing device and laser. The device is divided into individual device chips and used in electrical equipment such as mobile phones and personal computers.

The grinding device is composed of at least a cassette mounting part, a wafer carrying-out module, a temporary module, a first conveying module, a grinding module, and a second conveying module, and can grind the wafer appropriately. The mounting part is for mounting a cassette containing a plurality of wafers. The aforementioned wafer loading and unloading unit is for loading and unloading wafers from the cassette placed on the cassette mounting unit. The aforementioned temporary unit is for loading and unloading wafers from the cassette placed on the cassette loading unit. The wafers transported by the wafer loading/unloading assembly are temporarily placed. The first transport assembly transports the wafers temporarily placed in the temporary assembly to the work chuck table, and the grinding assembly is for the wafers that have been held on the work chuck table. The upper surface of the wafer is ground, and the second transport unit carries out the polished wafer from the work chuck and transports it to the cleaning unit (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The first transfer unit and the second transfer unit include suction pads that suck and hold the wafers. Prior art literature Patent literature

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-158854

The problem to be solved by the invention

However, if the suction pad of the second transfer unit is used to attract and hold the back surface of the polished wafer, there will be the following problems: the grinding debris attached to the back surface of the wafer is dried and solidified, and it is caused by the solidified grinding Chips and damage the wafer in subsequent steps.

In addition, if the suction pad of the second transfer unit is used to suck and hold the thinned wafer, there will be the following problem: the wafer is damaged due to grinding debris sandwiched between the suction pad and the wafer.

The subject of the present invention, made in view of the above facts, is to provide a wafer transfer mechanism and a grinding device provided with the wafer transfer mechanism that can prevent damage to the wafer due to grinding debris attached to the wafer. Means to solve the problem

The first aspect of the present invention is to provide the following wafer transport mechanism in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. That is, the first aspect of the present invention is to provide a wafer transport mechanism for transporting wafers. The wafer transport mechanism includes a wafer holding assembly for holding wafers and a moving assembly for moving the wafer holding assembly. The wafer holding assembly includes a suction and holding part and a water supply part. The suction and holding part is provided with a porous surface for sucking and holding the outer peripheral area of the wafer. The water supply part is arranged inside the suction and holding part and supplies water.

Preferably, the suction holding portion is composed of a plurality of segments, and the water supplied from the water supply portion flows out between the adjacent segment and the segment. Preferably, an annular wall is arranged around the suction holding portion, and the aforementioned annular wall suppresses the water potential of the water flowing out from between the adjacent section and the section.

The second aspect of the present invention is to provide the following grinding device in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. That is, a grinding device is composed of at least a cassette mounting part, a wafer carrying and unloading unit, a temporary unit, a first conveying unit, a grinding unit, and a second conveying unit. The aforementioned cassette mounting unit is A cassette containing a plurality of wafers is placed. The aforementioned wafer carry-out assembly is used to carry out and carry out wafers from the cassette placed on the cassette placing portion, and the aforementioned temporary assembly is used for The wafers transported out of the wafer loading and unloading assembly are temporarily placed. The first transport assembly is to transport the wafers temporarily placed in the temporary assembly to the work chuck table, and the grinding assembly is for the wafers that have been held on the work chuck table. The upper surface of the wafer is ground, the second transport assembly is to transport the polished wafer from the work chuck and transport it to the cleaning assembly, and the grinding device is provided by the wafer transport mechanism as described above The second conveying unit is constituted.

Preferably, a drying assembly is arranged between the work clamp table and the cleaning assembly, and the drying assembly is to dry the lower surface of the wafer conveyed by the second conveying assembly. Invention effect

The wafer transport mechanism of the first level of the present invention is provided with a wafer holding assembly for holding wafers and a moving assembly for moving the wafer holding assembly, and the wafer holding assembly includes a suction holding part and a water supply part. The holding part is equipped with a porous surface that sucks and holds the outer peripheral area of the wafer. The water supply part is arranged inside the suction holding part and supplies water. Therefore, the area for sucking and holding the wafer can be set to be small, and by Water is supplied to the wafer that is sucked and held by the suction and holding portion, so that the grinding debris attached to the wafer is not dried or solidified. In addition, in the wafer transport mechanism of the first layer of the present invention, since the area of the suction and holding portion for sucking and holding the wafer is small, it is possible to reduce the pinching between the porous surface of the suction and holding portion and the upper surface of the wafer Doubts about grinding chips. Therefore, according to the wafer transport mechanism of the first layer of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the wafer from being damaged due to the grinding debris attached to the wafer.

The grinding device of the second aspect of the present invention is at least composed of a cassette mounting part, a wafer carrying and unloading unit, a temporary unit, a first conveying unit, a grinding unit, and a second conveying unit. The placement section is for placement of cassettes containing a plurality of wafers. The aforementioned wafer carrying-in unit is for transporting wafers out and in from the cassette placed on the cassette placement section, and the aforementioned temporary placement unit is for loading and unloading wafers from the cassette placed on the cassette placement section. By temporarily placing the wafers carried out by the wafer loading and unloading assembly, the first transport assembly transports the wafers temporarily placed in the temporary assembly to the work chuck, and the grinding assembly is used for the work that has been held in the work chuck. The upper surface of the wafer in the chuck table is ground. The second transport assembly is to transport the polished wafer from the work chuck table and transport it to the cleaning assembly, and the above-mentioned grinding device is made of the above-mentioned wafer The circular conveying mechanism constitutes the second conveying unit, so the area of the sucking and holding wafer can be set small, and by supplying water to the wafer that is sucked and held by the sucking and holding portion, the grinding that adheres to the wafer can be made smaller. The shavings are not dry and will not solidify. In addition, in the grinding device of the second layer of the present invention, since the area of the suction and holding portion for sucking and holding the wafer is small, it is possible to reduce the amount of grinding between the porous surface of the suction and holding portion and the upper surface of the wafer. Doubts about shavings. Therefore, according to the grinding device of the second layer of the present invention, it is possible to prevent damage to the wafer caused by the grinding debris attached to the wafer.

The form used to implement the invention

Hereinafter, the preferred embodiments of the wafer transport mechanism and the grinding device constructed according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a preferred embodiment of the wafer transport mechanism constructed in accordance with the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the wafer transport mechanism 2 includes a wafer holding assembly 4 that holds wafers, and a moving assembly 6 that moves the wafer holding assembly 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, the wafer holding assembly 4 includes a suction and holding portion 8 and a water supply portion 10. The suction and holding portion 8 is provided with a porous surface P that sucks and holds the outer peripheral area of the wafer, and the water supply portion 10 is arranged in The inside of the holding portion 8 is sucked and water is supplied.

As shown in FIG. 2, the suction and holding portion 8 of the illustrated embodiment is composed of a plurality of (six in the illustrated embodiment) segments 12, and the aforementioned segments 12 are made of porous ceramics such as porous ceramics. The member is formed as an arc-shaped section, and the plurality of sections 12 are arranged in a ring shape. The section 12 is supported by a supporting member 14, and the supporting member 14 includes a circular wall 16 and an annular wall 18 extending downward from the periphery of the circular wall 16. The plurality of segments 12 are fixed to the lower surface of the circular wall 16 at intervals in the circumferential direction, and are surrounded by the annular wall 18. The outer diameter of the circumference defined by the outer peripheral surface 12a of the plurality of segments 12 is equal to or less than the diameter of the disc-shaped wafer W (see FIG. 3) to be held. In addition, the outer circumferential surface 12a and the inner circumferential surface 12b of each segment 12 are coated with resin on each of the circumferential end surfaces 12c. On the other hand, the lower surface of each segment 12 is not coated with resin. The lower surface of the segment 12 is formed as a porous surface P. The vertical position of the porous surface P of each segment 12 is the same.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2(a), a plurality of (six in the illustrated embodiment) cylindrical suction ports 20 communicating with each section 12 are attached to the upper surface of the circular wall 16. As shown in FIG. 1, each suction port 20 is connected to a suction source 26 through a flow path 24 provided with a valve 22. In addition, the suction and holding portion 8 is formed such that by actuating the suction source 26 in a state where the valve 22 has been opened to generate an attractive force on the porous surface P, as shown in FIG. 3, the porous surface P attracts and holds the crystal The outer circumference of circle W. In this way, in the wafer holding assembly 4, since the outer peripheral area of the wafer W is attracted and held by a plurality of segments 12, even if the width in the diameter direction of each segment 12 is set to be small, the wafer can be surely attracted and held. Circle W, and the area where the wafer W is attracted and held can be set small.

As shown in FIG. 2, the water supply unit 10 of the illustrated embodiment is composed of a plurality of (three in the illustrated embodiment) cylindrical members penetrating a circular wall 16. Each water supply part 10 is arranged inward in the radial direction than each section 12 constituting the suction and holding part 8. As shown in FIG. 1, each water supply unit 10 is connected to a water supply source 32 through a flow path 30 provided with a valve 28.

In addition, in the wafer holding assembly 4, the valve 28 is opened in a state where the wafer W is held by the porous surface P of the suction holding portion 8, and the water from the water supply source 32 is removed from the water supply portion 10. It is supplied to the upper surface of the wafer W. When the water supplied to the upper surface of the wafer W flows out between the adjacent section 12 and the section 12, the water potential of the water flowing out between the adjacent section 12 and the section 12 will be surrounded. It is suppressed by the annular wall 18 arranged to attract the holding portion 8. In this way, a water layer can be formed on the upper surface of the wafer W, so that the grinding debris attached to the wafer W will not be dried and will not be solidified.

As shown in FIG. 1, the moving assembly 6 has a connecting shaft 34 fixed to the circular wall 16 of the support member 14 and extending in the vertical direction, and an arm 36 extending substantially horizontally from one end connected to the upper end of the connecting shaft 34 , A rotating shaft 38 fixed to the other end of the arm 36 and extending in the vertical direction, a motor (not shown) that rotates the rotating shaft 38 around the axis extending in the vertical direction, and an electric motor that lifts the rotating shaft 38 Lifting components such as cylinders (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 2, the connecting shaft 34 has a cylindrical main portion 34a, a circular small diameter portion 34b formed at the lower end of the main portion 34a and having a smaller diameter than the main portion 34a, and an upper end formed on the main portion 34a A circular flange portion 34c having a larger diameter than the main portion 34a. In addition, the small-diameter portion 34 b of the connecting shaft 34 is fitted into the circular opening 16 a formed in the central portion of the circular wall 16, and the connecting shaft 34 is fixed to the circular wall 16.

As shown in FIG. 3, a circular through opening 40 extending in the vertical direction is formed at one end of the arm 36. Here, the connecting shaft 34 is inserted in the through opening 40 so as to be lifted and lowered. A circular recess 42 having a larger diameter than the through opening 40 is formed on the peripheral edge of the upper end side of the through opening 40. By positioning the flange portion 34c of the connecting shaft 34 in this recess 42, it is formed so that the connecting shaft 34 will not fall off from the arm 36.

As can be understood by referring to FIG. 3, a coil spring 44 is attached between the lower surface of one end of the arm 36 and the upper surface of the circular wall 16 of the support member 14. The coil spring 44 is arranged on the radially outer side of the main portion 34 a of the connecting shaft 34. Thereby, when the porous surface P of the suction and holding portion 8 is positioned on the upper surface of the wafer W, the coil spring 44 is compressed to cause the suction and holding portion 8 to rise together with the supporting member 14 to alleviate the action from the porous surface P For the impact of wafer W.

When using the wafer transport mechanism 2 to transport the polished wafer W, firstly, the rotating shaft 38 is appropriately rotated by the motor and the elevating assembly is used to appropriately raise and lower the suction and holding portion of the wafer holding assembly 4 The porous surface P of 8 is positioned above the outer peripheral area of the wafer W that has been placed on a suitable workbench (not shown). Next, the rotating shaft 38 is lowered by the lift assembly, and the porous surface P of the suction holding portion 8 is brought into close contact with the outer peripheral area of the upper surface of the wafer W. Next, with the valve 22 of the flow path 24 opened, the suction source 26 is actuated to generate a suction force on the porous surface P, and as shown in FIG. 3, the outer periphery of the upper surface of the wafer W is sucked and held by the porous surface P area.

Next, the valve 28 of the flow path 30 is opened to supply water from the water supply unit 10 to the upper surface of the wafer W. Next, by appropriately rotating the rotating shaft 38 with a motor and appropriately lifting it with a lifting assembly, the wafer W held by the wafer holding assembly 4 is conveyed, and the lower surface of the wafer W is brought into contact with the carrier. The upper surface of a suitable worktable (not shown) where the wafer W is placed. Next, the valve 28 is closed and the supply of water from the water supply unit 10 is stopped. Then, the suction source 26 is stopped and the suction and holding of the wafer W by the porous surface P is released, and the wafer W is placed on the upper surface of the table. In this way, the wafer W is transported by the wafer transport mechanism 2.

As described above, in the wafer transport mechanism 2 of the illustrated embodiment, since the outer peripheral area of the wafer W is sucked and held by the suction and holding portion 8, the area for the suction and holding of the wafer W can be made small. In addition, by supplying water to the wafer W sucked and held by the suction and holding portion 8, the grinding debris adhering to the wafer W is not dried or solidified. In addition, in the wafer transport mechanism 2, since the area where the wafer W is sucked and held by the sucking and holding portion 8 is small, it is possible to reduce the amount of grinding between the porous surface P of the sucking and holding portion 8 and the upper surface of the wafer W. Doubts about shavings. Therefore, according to the wafer transport mechanism 2, it is possible to prevent the wafer W from being damaged due to the grinding debris attached to the wafer W.

Next, referring to FIG. 4, a preferred embodiment of the grinding device constructed in accordance with the present invention will be described. The overall grinding device denoted by the symbol 50 is composed of at least the cassette mounting portion 54, the wafer carrying and unloading unit 56, the temporary unit 58, the first conveying unit 62, the grinding unit 64, and the second conveying unit. The cassette mounting portion 54 is for mounting a cassette 52 accommodating a plurality of wafers W, and the wafer carrying-in unit 56 is for loading the wafer W from the cassette 52 mounted on the cassette mounting portion 54 For carrying out and carrying in, the aforementioned temporary assembly 58 is for temporarily storing the wafer W carried out by the wafer carrying-in assembly 56, and the aforementioned first transport assembly 62 is for transporting the wafer W temporarily placed in the temporary assembly 58 to the work The chuck table 60, the grinding assembly 64 is to grind the upper surface of the wafer W held on the work chuck table 60, and the second transport assembly is to carry the ground wafer W out of the work chuck table 60 and It is transported to the cleaning assembly 66, and the second transport assembly is constituted by the above-mentioned wafer transport mechanism 2.

The cassette placement portion 54 of the illustrated embodiment has: a first cassette placement portion 54a for placement of the first cassette 52a accommodating a plurality of wafers W before grinding; and a second cassette The cassette placement portion 54b is for placement of the second cassette 52b for accommodating a plurality of wafers W after grinding. As shown in FIG. 4, the grinding device 50 is provided with a rectangular parallelepiped base 68, and the first cassette placement portion 54a and the second cassette placement portion 54b are arranged on the upper surface of the base 68 with an interval therebetween. .

The wafer carry-in unit 56 is arranged between the first cassette placement portion 54a and the second cassette placement portion 54b. The wafer loading/unloading assembly 56 includes an articulated arm 70 supported on the base 68, an electric or air-driven actuator (not shown) for operating the articulated arm 70, and a holder attached to the tip of the articulated arm 70片72. A holding piece 72 having a plurality of suction holes (not shown) formed on one side is connected to a suction source (not shown).

In addition, in the wafer carry-out module 56, the wafer W is attracted and held by the single side of the holding sheet 72 by generating an attractive force on a single side of the holding sheet 72 by a suction source, and by actuating The multi-joint arm 70 is actuated by the multi-joint arm 70, and the wafer W before grinding, which is sucked and held by the single side of the holding sheet 72, is carried out from the first cassette 52a to the temporary assembly 58, and the single side of the holding sheet 72 The wafer W after the grinding process attracted and held by the surface is carried from the cleaning module 66 to the second cassette 52b.

The temporary assembly 58 is arranged on the upper surface of the base 68 and adjacent to the first cassette placement portion 54a. The temporary assembly 58 has a circular temporary table 74 with a diameter smaller than the diameter of the wafer W, and is arranged at intervals around the temporary table 74 so as to move freely in the radial direction of the temporary table 74 The plurality of pins 76 and the pin moving assembly (not shown) that synchronously moves the plurality of pins 76 along the radial direction of the temporary table 74. In addition, the temporary assembly 58 is formed as follows: by allowing a plurality of pins 76 to abut on the periphery of the wafer W temporarily placed on the temporary table 74, the center of the wafer W and the temporary table 74 The center of 74 is consistent.

As shown in FIG. 4, a circular turntable 78 is rotatably provided on the upper surface of the base 68. The turntable 78 is turned counterclockwise when viewed from above by a turntable motor (not shown) built into the base 68 Spin. On the peripheral side of the upper surface of the turntable 78, three work chuck tables 60 are rotatably mounted at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. The work chuck tables 60 are motors for work chucks installed on the lower surface of the turntable 78 (Not shown) and rotate around an axis extending in the up-down direction. In addition, in FIG. 4, each work chuck 60 is formed to be sequentially positioned to the loading and unloading position indicated by the symbol A, the rough grinding position indicated by the symbol B, and the symbol C indicated by the rotation of the turntable 78 The fine grinding position.

A porous circular suction chuck 80 is arranged on the upper end of each work chuck table 60. The suction chuck 80 is selectively connected to a suction source (not shown) and an air supply source (not shown).

In addition, the work chuck 60 is formed to attract and hold the wafer W placed on the upper surface of the suction chuck 80 by generating a suction force on the upper surface of the suction chuck 80 by a suction source. In addition, the work chuck 60 is formed such that by supplying air from an air supply source to the suction chuck 80, air is ejected from the upper surface of the suction chuck 80 to separate the wafer W from the suction chuck 80.

The first transport unit 62 is arranged between the temporary unit 58 and the turntable 78. The first transport unit 62 has a rotating shaft 84 that is rotatably and vertically mounted on the base 68 and extends upward from the upper surface of the base 68, an arm 86 that extends substantially horizontally from the upper end of the rotating shaft 84, A suction piece 88 attached to the lower surface of the front end of the arm 86, a rotation shaft motor (not shown) that rotates the rotation shaft 84, and an elevating unit (not shown) such as an electric cylinder that raises and lowers the rotation shaft 84. The suction sheet 88 having a plurality of suction holes (not shown) formed on the lower surface is connected to a suction source (not shown).

In addition, in the first transport unit 62, a suction source is used to generate a suction force on the lower surface of the suction sheet 88, and the lower surface of the suction sheet 88 is used to suck and hold the wafer temporarily placed in the temporary unit 58. W. In addition, by lifting and rotating the rotating shaft 84 with the lift assembly and the rotating shaft motor, the wafer W attracted and held by the lower surface of the suction sheet 88 is transported from the temporary assembly 58 to the position positioned at the loading and unloading position. A's work clamp table 60.

The grinding assembly 64 of the illustrated embodiment includes a mounting wall 90 extending upward from the end of the base 68, a first lifting plate 92 that is mounted on one side of the mounting wall 90 so as to be lifted and lowered, and The second lifting plate 94, the first lifting mechanism 96 that raises and lowers the first lifting plate 92, and the second lifting mechanism 98 that raises and lowers the second lifting plate 94.

The first lifting mechanism 96 includes a ball screw 100 extending in the vertical direction along one side of the mounting wall 90 and a motor 102 that rotates the ball screw 100. The nut portion (not shown) of the ball screw 100 is connected to the first lifting plate 92. In addition, the first lifting mechanism 96 is formed such that the rotary motion of the motor 102 is converted into a linear motion by the ball screw 100 and transmitted to the first lifting plate 92, so that the first lifting plate 92 is attached to the installation The single-sided guide rail 90a of the wall 90 moves up and down. In addition, since the second lifting mechanism 98 preferably has the same configuration as the first lifting mechanism 96, the same reference numerals are attached to the configuration of the first lifting mechanism 96, and the description is omitted.

In addition, the grinding assembly 64 includes a single-sided rough grinding unit 104 installed on the first lifting plate 92 and a single-sided fine grinding unit 106 installed on the second lifting plate 94. The rough grinding unit 104 includes a protruding wall 108 protruding from one side of the first lifting plate 92, a spindle 110 rotatably supported on the protruding wall 108 around an axis extending in the vertical direction, and a main shaft 110 mounted on the protruding wall 108 A spindle motor 112 that rotates the spindle 110 on the upper surface. A disc-shaped wheel base 114 is fixed to the lower end of the main shaft 110, and a grinding stone 116 for rough grinding is fixed to the lower surface of the wheel base 114. Furthermore, with regard to the fine grinding unit 106, in addition to fixing the grinding grindstone 118 for fine grinding, which is formed of abrasive grains smaller than those of the grinding grindstone 116 for rough grinding, to the wheel seat Except for the lower surface of 114, it is preferable to have the same configuration as that of the rough grinding unit 104, so the same reference numerals as the configuration of the rough grinding unit 104 are assigned, and the description is omitted.

The upper surface of the base 68 is provided with a washing water nozzle 120 adjacent to the attachment/detachment position A and spraying washing water. In addition, after the rough grinding and finish grinding are performed, washing water can be sprayed from the washing water nozzle 120 toward the upper surface (grinding surface) of the wafer W positioned at the loading and unloading position A, thereby washing The upper surface of the clean wafer W.

As shown in FIG. 4, the washing|cleaning unit 66 is arrange|positioned adjacent to the 2nd cassette mounting part 54b on the upper surface of the base 68. As shown in FIG. The washing assembly 66 includes a circular rotating table 122 rotatably installed on the base 68, a motor (not shown) for rotating the rotating table 122 that rotates the rotating table 122, and a pair of motors (not shown) that are held on the rotating table 122. A washing water nozzle (not shown) for spraying washing water on the wafer W, and an air nozzle (not shown) for spraying dry air on the wafer W held on the rotating table 122. The diameter of the rotating table 122 is smaller than the diameter of the wafer W. In addition, a porous circular suction chuck 124 is arranged on the upper end of the rotary table 122, and the suction chuck 124 is selectively connected to a suction source (not shown) and an air supply source (not shown) .

In addition, in the cleaning module 66, the wafer W is sucked and held by the rotating table 122 by generating a suction force on the upper surface of the suction chuck 124 with a suction source, and the wafer W is sucked and held on the side. The rotating table 122 rotates, while spraying washing water from a washing water nozzle to wash the wafer W, and spraying dry air from an air nozzle to dry the wafer W. In addition, the cleaning module 66 is formed so that after the wafer W is cleaned, air is supplied to the suction chuck 124 from an air supply source to eject air from the upper surface of the suction chuck 124, so that the wafer W Separated from the suction chuck 124.

The wafer transfer mechanism 2 constituting the second transfer assembly is arranged between the cleaning assembly 66 and the turntable 78, and the rotating shaft 38 of the moving assembly 6 of the wafer transfer mechanism 2 is rotatably and vertically mounted on the base. 68 on the upper surface. In addition, the wafer transport mechanism 2 is formed to transport the ground wafer W held by the work chuck 60 positioned at the loading and unloading position A from the work chuck 60 and transport it to the cleaning unit 66.

In addition, the grinding device 50 of the illustrated embodiment is provided with a drying assembly 126. The drying assembly 126 can be transferred between the work chuck table 60 and the cleaning assembly 66 by the second transport assembly (wafer transport mechanism 2 ) The lower surface of the wafer W being transported is dry. The drying assembly 126 of the illustrated embodiment has a plurality of injection holes 128 formed on the upper surface of the base 68, and an air supply source (not shown) connected to each injection hole 128. Each injection hole 128 is located on the wafer Below the path through which the wafer holding assembly 4 of the transport mechanism 2 passes (the transport path of the wafer W). In addition, the drying module 126 is formed to spray drying air on the lower surface of the wafer W held in the wafer holding module 4 during transportation to dry the lower surface of the wafer W.

Next, a method of grinding the wafer W using the grinding device 50 as described above will be described. In the embodiment shown in the figure, the cassette placement step is first performed. The cassette placement step is to place the first cassette 52a containing the plurality of wafers W before the grinding process on the first cassette. The cassette placement portion 54a, and the empty second cassette 52b that accommodates a plurality of wafers W after grinding is placed on the second cassette placement portion 54b.

After the cassette placement step is performed, the temporary placement step of unloading the wafer W from the first cassette 52a and temporarily placing it in the temporary placement assembly 58 is performed. In the temporary placement step, firstly, the articulated arm 70 of the wafer carry-out/in module 56 is actuated, and the single side of the holding piece 72 formed with a plurality of suction holes is closely attached to the first cassette 52a. The wafer W before the processing is ground, and the wafer W is attracted and held by the holding sheet 72. Next, the articulated arm 70 is actuated to unload the wafer W from the first cassette 52 a, and the lower surface of the wafer W is brought into contact with the upper surface of the temporary table 74 of the temporary assembly 58. Next, the suction and holding of the wafer W by the holding sheet 72 is released, and the wafer W is temporarily placed on the temporary table 74. In addition, by allowing the plurality of pins 76 to abut on the periphery of the wafer W temporarily placed on the temporary table 74, the center of the wafer W is aligned with the center of the temporary table 74.

After the temporary placement step is performed, the first transport step is performed. The aforementioned first transport step is to transport the wafer W temporarily placed in the temporary placement assembly 58 to the work chuck 60. In the first transport step, firstly, the rotation shaft 84 of the first transport assembly 62 is rotated, and the suction sheet 88 of the first transport assembly 62 is positioned above the wafer W temporarily placed in the temporary assembly 58. Next, the suction sheet 88 is lowered so that the lower surface of the suction sheet 88 is in close contact with the upper surface of the wafer W, and the wafer W is sucked and held by the lower surface of the suction sheet 88. Next, the rotating shaft 84 is raised and lowered and rotated, and the wafer W attracted and held by the suction sheet 88 is transferred from the temporary assembly 58 to the work chuck 60 positioned at the loading and unloading position A.

After the first transfer step is performed, a grinding step of grinding the upper surface of the wafer W held on the work chuck 60 is performed. In the grinding step, first, the wafer W is sucked and held by the work chuck 60. Next, the turntable 78 is rotated by 120 degrees, and the work chuck 60 holding the wafer W is positioned at the rough grinding position B. Next, the work chuck table 60 is rotated counterclockwise when viewed from above at a predetermined rotation speed, and the main shaft 110 is rotated counterclockwise when viewed from above at a predetermined rotation speed. Next, the spindle 110 is lowered by the first lifting mechanism 96, and the grinding stone 116 for rough grinding is brought into contact with the upper surface of the wafer W while supplying grinding water to the grinding area. After that, the spindle 110 is lowered at a predetermined grinding feed rate. In this way, the upper surface of the wafer W can be subjected to rough grinding processing.

Next, the turntable 78 is rotated by 120 degrees, and the work chuck 60 holding the wafer W is positioned to the finishing position C. Next, similar to the rough grinding process, the work chuck table 60 is rotated counterclockwise when viewed from above at a predetermined rotation speed, and the spindle 110 is rotated counterclockwise when viewed from above at a predetermined rotation speed. Next, the spindle 110 is lowered by the second lifting mechanism 98, and the grinding grindstone 118 for finish grinding is brought into contact with the upper surface of the wafer W while supplying grinding water to the grinding area. After that, the spindle 110 is lowered at a predetermined grinding feed rate. In this way, the upper surface of the wafer W can be subjected to finish grinding processing. After the finish grinding process is performed, the turntable 78 is rotated by 120 degrees, and the work chuck 60 holding the wafer W is positioned at the loading and unloading position A. Next, washing water is sprayed from the washing water nozzle 120 toward the upper surface (grinding surface) of the wafer W to wash the upper surface of the wafer W.

After the grinding step is performed, the second conveying step of unloading the polished wafer W from the work chuck 60 to the cleaning unit 66 is performed. In the second transport step, firstly, the rotation shaft 38 of the moving assembly 6 of the wafer transport mechanism 2 constituting the second transport assembly is rotated, and the porous surface P of the suction and holding portion 8 of the wafer holding assembly 4 is positioned to be placed Above the outer peripheral area of the wafer W of the work chuck 60 that has been positioned at the loading and unloading position A. Next, the suction and holding portion 8 is lowered so that the porous surface P of the suction and holding portion 8 is in close contact with the outer peripheral area of the upper surface of the wafer W, and the wafer W is sucked and held, and the water supply portion 10 is opposite to the wafer W. Water is supplied to the upper surface. Next, the suction and holding of the wafer W by the work chuck 60 is released.

Next, by spraying the dual fluid of air and water from the suction chuck 80, the wafer W is separated from the work chuck 60, and the wafer holding assembly 4 is raised, and the wafer held by the wafer holding assembly 4 is removed. W is transported from the work chuck table 60 to the rotating table 122 of the washing unit 66. Here, when the wafer W is transported, drying air is sprayed from each ejection hole 128 of the drying module 126 to dry the lower surface of the wafer W that is being transported. Then, after the lower surface of the wafer W is brought into contact with the upper surface of the rotary table 122, the suction and holding of the wafer W by the porous surface P of the suction holding portion 8 is released.

After the second transport step has been performed, a cleaning step of cleaning the polished wafer W is performed. In the cleaning step, first, the wafer W is sucked and held by the rotating table 122. Next, while rotating the rotary table 122, washing water is sprayed from the washing water nozzle to wash the wafer W. Thereby, the grinding debris, grinding water, etc. attached to the wafer W can be removed to clean the wafer W, and the centrifugal force formed by the rotation of the rotating table 122 can be used to remove the washing water from the wafer W. Next, while rotating the rotary table 122, dry air is sprayed from the air nozzle. Thereby, the washing water that cannot be completely removed by the centrifugal force formed by the rotation of the rotating table 122 can be removed from the wafer W and the wafer W can be dried. Then, the suction and holding of the wafer W by the rotary table 122 is released.

After the cleaning step is performed, the cassette loading step is performed. The cassette loading step is to unload the cleaned wafer W from the cleaning assembly 66 and to the second cassette 52b. In the cassette loading step, firstly, the articulated arm 70 of the wafer loading/unloading assembly 56 is actuated to make the single side of the holding sheet 72 closely contact the wafer W placed on the rotating table 122. Next, the wafer W is separated from the suction chuck 124 by blowing air from the upper surface of the suction chuck 124 of the rotary table 122, and the wafer W is sucked and held by the holding sheet 72. Next, the articulated arm 70 is actuated to carry out the cleaned wafer W from the cleaning assembly 66 and into the second cassette 52b. Then, the suction and holding of the wafer W by the holding sheet 72 is released.

As described above, in the grinding device 50 of the illustrated embodiment, since the wafer W that has been ground is transported from the work chuck 60 and transported to the second transport unit 66 is carried by the wafer The mechanism 2 is constituted by the suction and holding portion 8 to attract and hold the outer peripheral area of the wafer W. Therefore, the area for the suction and hold of the wafer W can be set to be small, and the crystals attracted and held by the suction and holding portion 8 can be aligned with each other. The circle W is supplied with water, so that the grinding debris attached to the wafer W is not dried or solidified. In addition, in the grinding device 50, since the suction and holding portion 8 has a small area for suction and holding the wafer W, it is possible to reduce the grinding between the porous surface P of the suction and holding portion 8 and the upper surface of the wafer W. Doubts of crumbs. Therefore, according to the grinding device 50, it is possible to prevent the wafer W from being damaged due to the grinding debris attached to the wafer W.

2: Wafer transport mechanism 4: Wafer holding component 6: Moving components 8: suction and holding part 10: Water Supply Department 12: section 12a: outer peripheral surface 12b: inner peripheral surface 12c: End face in the circumferential direction 14: Supporting member 16: round wall 16a: round opening 18: Annular wall 20: suction mouth 22, 28: Valve 24, 30: flow path 26: Attraction source 32: Water supply source 34: connecting shaft 34a: Main part 34b: Small diameter part 34c: Flange 36, 86: arm 38: Rotation axis 40: Through opening 42: recess 44: coil spring 50: Grinding device 52: film cassette 52a: first cassette 52b: second cassette 54: Cassette placement section 54a: The first cassette placement part 54b: Second cassette placement part 56: Wafer moving in and out of components 58: Temporary components 60: work clamp 62: The first transport unit 64: Grinding components 66: Wash the components 68: Abutment 70: Multi-joint arm 72: keep the piece 74: Temporary Workbench 76: pin 78: turntable 80: Adsorption Chuck 84: Rotation axis 88: Adsorption sheet 90: installation wall 90a: guide track 92: The first lifting plate 94: The second lifting plate 96: The first lifting mechanism 98: The second lifting mechanism 100: Ball screw 102: Motor 104: Rough grinding unit 106: Fine grinding unit 108: protruding wall 110: Spindle 112: Spindle motor 114: wheel seat 116: Grinding stone for rough grinding 118: Grinding stone for fine grinding 120: Washing water nozzle 122: Rotating table 124: Adsorption Chuck 126: Drying components 128: Jet hole A: Loading and unloading position B: Rough grinding position C: Fine grinding position P: Porous surface W: Wafer

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a wafer transport mechanism constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 (a) is an exploded perspective view of the wafer transport mechanism shown in Fig. 1, and (b) is a perspective view of the wafer holding assembly shown in (a) viewed from the lower surface side. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a wafer is held by the wafer holding assembly shown in FIG. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a grinding device constructed in accordance with the present invention.

4: Wafer holding component

6: Moving components

8: suction and holding part

10: Water Supply Department

12: section

12a: outer peripheral surface

12b: inner peripheral surface

12c: End face in the circumferential direction

14: Supporting member

16: round wall

16a: round opening

18: Annular wall

20: suction mouth

34: connecting shaft

34a: Main part

34b: Small diameter part

34c: Flange

36: arm

44: coil spring

P: Porous surface

Claims (5)

A wafer transport mechanism is a wafer transport mechanism for transporting wafers, and is provided with a wafer holding assembly for holding the wafer and a moving assembly for moving the wafer holding assembly, In addition, the wafer holding assembly includes a suction and holding part and a water supply part. The suction and holding part is provided with a porous surface for sucking and holding the outer peripheral area of the wafer. The water supply part is arranged inside the suction and holding part and supplies water. . The wafer transport mechanism of claim 1, wherein the suction and holding portion is composed of a plurality of segments, and the water supplied from the water supply portion flows out between the adjacent segment and the segment. For the wafer transport mechanism of claim 2, an annular wall is arranged around the suction and holding portion, and the annular wall suppresses the water potential of water flowing out from between the adjacent section and the section. A grinding device is composed of at least a cassette placement part, a wafer carrying-in/out assembly, a temporary placement assembly, a first conveying assembly, a grinding assembly, and a second conveying assembly. The aforementioned cassette placement part is for accommodating A cassette with a plurality of wafers is mounted, the aforementioned wafer loading and unloading unit is for loading and unloading wafers from the cassette placed on the cassette mounting portion, and the aforementioned temporary unit is used for loading the wafers out of the cassette. The wafers transported out of the input module are temporarily placed, the first transport module is to transport the wafers temporarily placed in the temporary module to the work chuck, and the grinding assembly is for the wafers that have been held on the work chuck. The upper surface is ground, and the aforementioned second transport assembly is to transport the polished wafers from the work chuck and transport them to the cleaning assembly. In addition, the aforementioned grinding device is constituted by the wafer conveying mechanism of claim 1 or 2 to constitute the second conveying assembly. For the grinding device of claim 4, a drying assembly is arranged between the work chuck and the cleaning assembly, and the drying assembly is to dry the lower surface of the wafer transported by the second transport assembly.

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