Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
  • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
  • H01L21/02002—Preparing wafers
  • H01L21/02005—Preparing bulk and homogeneous wafers
  • H01L21/02008—Multistep processes
  • H01L21/0201—Specific process step
  • H01L21/02024—Mirror polishing
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
  • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
  • H01L21/04—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer
  • H01L21/18—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table or AIIIBV compounds with or without impurities, e.g. doping materials
  • H01L21/30—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26
  • H01L21/302—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26 to change their surface-physical characteristics or shape, e.g. etching, polishing, cutting
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B24—GRINDING; POLISHING
  • B24B—MACHINES, DEVICES, OR PROCESSES FOR GRINDING OR POLISHING; DRESSING OR CONDITIONING OF ABRADING SURFACES; FEEDING OF GRINDING, POLISHING, OR LAPPING AGENTS
  • B24B37/00—Lapping machines or devices; Accessories
  • B24B37/04—Lapping machines or devices; Accessories designed for working plane surfaces
  • B24B37/042—Lapping machines or devices; Accessories designed for working plane surfaces operating processes therefor
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B24—GRINDING; POLISHING
  • B24B—MACHINES, DEVICES, OR PROCESSES FOR GRINDING OR POLISHING; DRESSING OR CONDITIONING OF ABRADING SURFACES; FEEDING OF GRINDING, POLISHING, OR LAPPING AGENTS
  • B24B9/00—Machines or devices designed for grinding edges or bevels on work or for removing burrs; Accessories therefor
  • B24B9/02—Machines or devices designed for grinding edges or bevels on work or for removing burrs; Accessories therefor characterised by a special design with respect to properties of materials specific to articles to be ground
  • B24B9/06—Machines or devices designed for grinding edges or bevels on work or for removing burrs; Accessories therefor characterised by a special design with respect to properties of materials specific to articles to be ground of non-metallic inorganic material, e.g. stone, ceramics, porcelain
  • B24B9/065—Machines or devices designed for grinding edges or bevels on work or for removing burrs; Accessories therefor characterised by a special design with respect to properties of materials specific to articles to be ground of non-metallic inorganic material, e.g. stone, ceramics, porcelain of thin, brittle parts, e.g. semiconductors, wafers
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
  • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
  • H01L21/02002—Preparing wafers
  • H01L21/02005—Preparing bulk and homogeneous wafers
  • H01L21/02008—Multistep processes
  • H01L21/0201—Specific process step
  • H01L21/02021—Edge treatment, chamfering

Definitions

• the patent application relates to a method for producing a semiconductor wafer with a polished edge, which method involves using a polishing cloth containing fixed abrasive for polishing the edge.
• the polishing of the edge by means of such a polishing cloth is abbreviated to “FA” polishing hereinafter.
• the machining of the edge of a semiconductor wafer is receiving increasing attention.
• a smooth edge having a predetermined edge form is required.
• the edge form is usually produced by grinding the rough edge of a semiconductor wafer sliced for a crystal.
• cloth polishing By comparison with this edge polishing, referred to hereinafter as cloth polishing for short, FA polishing has the advantage of obviating the comparatively complicated handling of slurry and enabling higher throughputs. This advantage is opposed by the disadvantage that the polished edge is less smooth.
• U.S. Pat. No. 6,514,423 B1 proposes etching the edge after the FA polishing in order to reduce its roughness.
• a method for producing a semiconductor wafer with a polished edge comprising polishing at least one side of the semiconductor wafer; and polishing the edge of the polished semiconductor wafer, wherein the edge is polished in the presence of a polishing agent by means of a polishing cloth containing fixed abrasive.
• the invention exploits the unexpected advantage that the form of the edge of the polished semiconductor wafer can be corrected by means of an FA polishing, but not by means of a cloth polishing.
• the method is applied to a semiconductor wafer whose edge has already undergone a shaping machining step, preferably a grinding step, but whose edge has not yet been polished.
• the method begins with the polishing of at least one side of the semiconductor wafer. This involves a single-side polishing or a double-side polishing. A double-side polishing carried out simultaneously is preferred. A suitable machine for double-side polishing is described for example in DE 100 07 390 A1.
• the semiconductor wafer lies in a cutout, provided therefor, in a carrier acting as a guide cage and between an upper and a lower polishing plate.
• At least one polishing plate and the carrier are rotated, and the semiconductor wafer moves, with a polishing agent being supplied, on a path predetermined by a rolling curve, relative to the polishing plates covered with polishing cloth.
• the polishing pressure with which the polishing plates press on to the semiconductor wafer and the duration of the polishing are parameters which crucially codetermine the material removal brought about by means of the polishing.
• the polishing of at least one side of the semiconductor wafer is preferably performed as removal polishing, that is to say with the aim of removing material with a thickness of at least 5 ⁇ m from the semiconductor wafer side to be polished.
• a polishing cloth containing fixed abrasive, for example particles of silicon carbide, silicon dioxide or diamond, is used during the FA polishing.
• the FA polishing is effected in the presence of a liquid polishing agent, for example in the presence of water.
• a liquid polishing agent for example in the presence of water.
• a polishing cloth having particularly fine abrasive preferably with a mesh size of not less than 4000, that is to say with an average particle diameter of not more than 5 ⁇ m, more preferably not more than 4 ⁇ m.
• a multistage FA polishing in the course of which polishing is effected using finer and finer abrasive and which is concluded with the fine abrasive is also particularly suitable.
• Such a polishing step sequence and suitable polishing devices are described for example in US 2006/0252355 A1.
• the FA polishing is performed in the presence of a slurry containing free abrasive, for example colloidal silicon dioxide or cerium oxide.
• a slurry containing free abrasive for example colloidal silicon dioxide or cerium oxide.
• a third embodiment involves carrying out firstly an FA polishing in the presence of a liquid polishing agent and then a cloth polishing in the presence of a slurry containing free abrasive, for example colloidal silicon dioxide or cerium oxide.
• a slurry containing free abrasive for example colloidal silicon dioxide or cerium oxide.
• the average particle diameter of the fixed abrasive in the polishing cloth can be larger than when the subsequent cloth polishing is dispensed with.
• the use of a polishing cloth having fixed abrasive with a mesh of 1000 to 2000, that is to say with an average particle diameter of 7 to 25 ⁇ m, is preferred when a subsequent cloth polishing is carried out.
• the duration of the cloth polishing can be made very short, for example 15 to 30 s.
• the method according to the invention preferably also comprises a polishing of the front side of the semiconductor wafer that is carried out as a single-side polishing.
• the front side of the semiconductor wafer is deemed to be that side of the semiconductor wafer on which provision is made for constructing electronic components.
• the single-side polishing referred to hereinafter as CMP (“chemical-mechanical polishing”), is preferably performed as luster polishing with the aim of providing a smoothest possible side surface.
• the material removal of the CMP with a thickness of at most 1 ⁇ m, is significantly smaller than in the case of a removal polishing.
• the CMP of the front side is preferably carried out after the double-side polishing and before or after the FA polishing.
• the method according to the invention optionally also comprises the deposition of an epitaxial layer on the front side of the semiconductor wafer.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
• Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Power Engineering (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Ceramic Engineering (AREA)
• Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Mechanical Treatment Of Semiconductor (AREA)
• Finish Polishing, Edge Sharpening, And Grinding By Specific Grinding Devices (AREA)
• Grinding And Polishing Of Tertiary Curved Surfaces And Surfaces With Complex Shapes (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=40576892

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Cited By (6)

Families Citing this family (7)

Citations (6)

Family Cites Families (2)

• 2007
  • 2007-11-15 DE DE102007056122A patent/DE102007056122A1/de not_active Ceased
• 2008
  • 2008-09-25 CN CNA2008101658380A patent/CN101434047A/zh active Pending
  • 2008-09-26 SG SG200807234-0A patent/SG152978A1/en unknown
  • 2008-10-16 KR KR1020080101577A patent/KR20090050939A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2008-10-31 US US12/262,202 patent/US20090130960A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2008-11-13 TW TW097143873A patent/TW200921773A/zh unknown
  • 2008-11-14 JP JP2008291653A patent/JP2009124153A/ja not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (6)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events