US20150200119A1 - Laser scribing and plasma etch for high die break strength and clean sidewall - Google Patents
Laser scribing and plasma etch for high die break strength and clean sidewall Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20150200119A1 US20150200119A1 US14/671,379 US201514671379A US2015200119A1 US 20150200119 A1 US20150200119 A1 US 20150200119A1 US 201514671379 A US201514671379 A US 201514671379A US 2015200119 A1 US2015200119 A1 US 2015200119A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- etch
- module
- isotropic
- substrate
- laser
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 84
- 230000008569 process Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 64
- 239000000758 substrate Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 55
- 230000008021 deposition Effects 0.000 claims description 13
- 229920000642 polymer Polymers 0.000 claims description 8
- 230000000379 polymerizing effect Effects 0.000 claims description 7
- 239000000126 substance Substances 0.000 claims description 7
- 229910052731 fluorine Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 6
- 239000011737 fluorine Substances 0.000 claims description 6
- 238000012546 transfer Methods 0.000 claims description 6
- ZAMOUSCENKQFHK-UHFFFAOYSA-N Chlorine atom Chemical compound [Cl] ZAMOUSCENKQFHK-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 5
- 229910052801 chlorine Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 5
- 239000000460 chlorine Substances 0.000 claims description 5
- 125000004122 cyclic group Chemical group 0.000 claims description 4
- KZBUYRJDOAKODT-UHFFFAOYSA-N Chlorine Chemical compound ClCl KZBUYRJDOAKODT-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 3
- 229910004014 SiF4 Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- GVGCUCJTUSOZKP-UHFFFAOYSA-N nitrogen trifluoride Chemical compound FN(F)F GVGCUCJTUSOZKP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 3
- ABTOQLMXBSRXSM-UHFFFAOYSA-N silicon tetrafluoride Chemical compound F[Si](F)(F)F ABTOQLMXBSRXSM-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 3
- SFZCNBIFKDRMGX-UHFFFAOYSA-N sulfur hexafluoride Chemical compound FS(F)(F)(F)(F)F SFZCNBIFKDRMGX-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000007800 oxidant agent Substances 0.000 claims description 2
- PXGOKWXKJXAPGV-UHFFFAOYSA-N Fluorine Chemical compound FF PXGOKWXKJXAPGV-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims 4
- 235000012431 wafers Nutrition 0.000 abstract description 69
- 238000001020 plasma etching Methods 0.000 abstract description 6
- 238000013459 approach Methods 0.000 abstract description 3
- 239000006227 byproduct Substances 0.000 abstract description 2
- 230000036961 partial effect Effects 0.000 abstract description 2
- 239000010410 layer Substances 0.000 description 57
- 210000002381 plasma Anatomy 0.000 description 44
- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 description 38
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 28
- 229910052710 silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 description 24
- 239000010703 silicon Substances 0.000 description 24
- XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silicon Chemical compound [Si] XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 22
- VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silicium dioxide Chemical compound O=[Si]=O VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 18
- 238000005530 etching Methods 0.000 description 12
- 238000000151 deposition Methods 0.000 description 10
- 230000015654 memory Effects 0.000 description 10
- 238000003860 storage Methods 0.000 description 9
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 description 8
- 239000000377 silicon dioxide Substances 0.000 description 8
- 235000012239 silicon dioxide Nutrition 0.000 description 8
- 238000002679 ablation Methods 0.000 description 6
- 238000009623 Bosch process Methods 0.000 description 5
- 239000003989 dielectric material Substances 0.000 description 5
- 239000010408 film Substances 0.000 description 5
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 description 5
- 229910052751 metal Inorganic materials 0.000 description 5
- 238000000059 patterning Methods 0.000 description 5
- RYGMFSIKBFXOCR-UHFFFAOYSA-N Copper Chemical compound [Cu] RYGMFSIKBFXOCR-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 4
- 230000008901 benefit Effects 0.000 description 4
- 229910052802 copper Inorganic materials 0.000 description 4
- 239000010949 copper Substances 0.000 description 4
- 238000005336 cracking Methods 0.000 description 4
- 239000007789 gas Substances 0.000 description 4
- 150000002500 ions Chemical class 0.000 description 4
- 238000000608 laser ablation Methods 0.000 description 4
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 4
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 description 4
- 238000002161 passivation Methods 0.000 description 4
- 229910021419 crystalline silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 description 3
- 230000032798 delamination Effects 0.000 description 3
- 229910003460 diamond Inorganic materials 0.000 description 3
- 239000010432 diamond Substances 0.000 description 3
- 230000006870 function Effects 0.000 description 3
- 150000002739 metals Chemical class 0.000 description 3
- OKTJSMMVPCPJKN-UHFFFAOYSA-N Carbon Chemical compound [C] OKTJSMMVPCPJKN-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- YCKRFDGAMUMZLT-UHFFFAOYSA-N Fluorine atom Chemical compound [F] YCKRFDGAMUMZLT-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- XPDWGBQVDMORPB-UHFFFAOYSA-N Fluoroform Chemical compound FC(F)F XPDWGBQVDMORPB-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 241000237509 Patinopecten sp. Species 0.000 description 2
- 239000004642 Polyimide Substances 0.000 description 2
- 229910052581 Si3N4 Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 230000015572 biosynthetic process Effects 0.000 description 2
- 229910052799 carbon Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 230000008878 coupling Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000010168 coupling process Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000005859 coupling reaction Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000001459 lithography Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000005291 magnetic effect Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000001465 metallisation Methods 0.000 description 2
- 229920001721 polyimide Polymers 0.000 description 2
- 235000020637 scallop Nutrition 0.000 description 2
- HQVNEWCFYHHQES-UHFFFAOYSA-N silicon nitride Chemical compound N12[Si]34N5[Si]62N3[Si]51N64 HQVNEWCFYHHQES-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 238000001228 spectrum Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000003068 static effect Effects 0.000 description 2
- 239000010409 thin film Substances 0.000 description 2
- KXGFMDJXCMQABM-UHFFFAOYSA-N 2-methoxy-6-methylphenol Chemical compound [CH]OC1=CC=CC([CH])=C1O KXGFMDJXCMQABM-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- -1 CHF3 Chemical class 0.000 description 1
- 238000010521 absorption reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004913 activation Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000002313 adhesive film Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000002411 adverse Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000004075 alteration Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000004888 barrier function Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000000969 carrier Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000004140 cleaning Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000004020 conductor Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000000356 contaminant Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000013078 crystal Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000005520 cutting process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000013500 data storage Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000001419 dependent effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- URQUNWYOBNUYJQ-UHFFFAOYSA-N diazonaphthoquinone Chemical compound C1=CC=C2C(=O)C(=[N]=[N])C=CC2=C1 URQUNWYOBNUYJQ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 230000009977 dual effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 1
- WGXGKXTZIQFQFO-CMDGGOBGSA-N ethenyl (e)-3-phenylprop-2-enoate Chemical compound C=COC(=O)\C=C\C1=CC=CC=C1 WGXGKXTZIQFQFO-CMDGGOBGSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 230000007274 generation of a signal involved in cell-cell signaling Effects 0.000 description 1
- 229930195733 hydrocarbon Natural products 0.000 description 1
- 150000002430 hydrocarbons Chemical class 0.000 description 1
- 230000006872 improvement Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000001939 inductive effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000000977 initiatory effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000012212 insulator Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000003993 interaction Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000002346 layers by function Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000004973 liquid crystal related substance Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000000873 masking effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000011159 matrix material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000007246 mechanism Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000011368 organic material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000004806 packaging method and process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000012858 packaging process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000002245 particle Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000005011 phenolic resin Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229920001568 phenolic resin Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 230000000135 prohibitive effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000000376 reactant Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000002829 reductive effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000004044 response Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000000926 separation method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 229910052814 silicon oxide Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 230000001360 synchronised effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000012360 testing method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000012876 topography Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000011144 upstream manufacturing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000001429 visible spectrum Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000002699 waste material Substances 0.000 description 1
- IGELFKKMDLGCJO-UHFFFAOYSA-N xenon difluoride Chemical compound F[Xe]F IGELFKKMDLGCJO-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
Images
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
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
- H01L21/67155—Apparatus for manufacturing or treating in a plurality of work-stations
- H01L21/67161—Apparatus for manufacturing or treating in a plurality of work-stations characterized by the layout of the process chambers
-
- 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
- H01L21/70—Manufacture or treatment of devices consisting of a plurality of solid state components formed in or on a common substrate or of parts thereof; Manufacture of integrated circuit devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/77—Manufacture or treatment of devices consisting of a plurality of solid state components or integrated circuits formed in, or on, a common substrate
- H01L21/78—Manufacture or treatment of devices consisting of a plurality of solid state components or integrated circuits formed in, or on, a common substrate with subsequent division of the substrate into plural individual devices
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B23—MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- B23K—SOLDERING OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; CLADDING OR PLATING BY SOLDERING OR WELDING; CUTTING BY APPLYING HEAT LOCALLY, e.g. FLAME CUTTING; WORKING BY LASER BEAM
- B23K26/00—Working by laser beam, e.g. welding, cutting or boring
- B23K26/36—Removing material
- B23K26/362—Laser etching
- B23K26/364—Laser etching for making a groove or trench, e.g. for scribing a break initiation groove
-
- B23K26/367—
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B23—MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- B23K—SOLDERING OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; CLADDING OR PLATING BY SOLDERING OR WELDING; CUTTING BY APPLYING HEAT LOCALLY, e.g. FLAME CUTTING; WORKING BY LASER BEAM
- B23K26/00—Working by laser beam, e.g. welding, cutting or boring
- B23K26/36—Removing material
- B23K26/40—Removing material taking account of the properties of the material involved
-
- B23K26/4075—
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
- H01J37/00—Discharge tubes with provision for introducing objects or material to be exposed to the discharge, e.g. for the purpose of examination or processing thereof
- H01J37/32—Gas-filled discharge tubes
- H01J37/32431—Constructional details of the reactor
- H01J37/32623—Mechanical discharge control means
- H01J37/32651—Shields, e.g. dark space shields, Faraday shields
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
- H01J37/00—Discharge tubes with provision for introducing objects or material to be exposed to the discharge, e.g. for the purpose of examination or processing thereof
- H01J37/32—Gas-filled discharge tubes
- H01J37/32431—Constructional details of the reactor
- H01J37/32733—Means for moving the material to be treated
- H01J37/32788—Means for moving the material to be treated for extracting the material from the process chamber
-
- 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
- H01L21/306—Chemical or electrical treatment, e.g. electrolytic etching
- H01L21/3065—Plasma etching; Reactive-ion etching
-
- 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
- H01L21/306—Chemical or electrical treatment, e.g. electrolytic etching
- H01L21/3065—Plasma etching; Reactive-ion etching
- H01L21/30655—Plasma etching; Reactive-ion etching comprising alternated and repeated etching and passivation steps, e.g. Bosch process
-
- 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
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
- H01L21/67017—Apparatus for fluid treatment
- H01L21/67063—Apparatus for fluid treatment for etching
- H01L21/67069—Apparatus for fluid treatment for etching for drying etching
-
- 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
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
- H01L21/67098—Apparatus for thermal treatment
- H01L21/67115—Apparatus for thermal treatment mainly by radiation
-
- 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
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
- H01L21/67739—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations into and out of processing chamber
- H01L21/67742—Mechanical parts of transfer devices
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B23—MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- B23K—SOLDERING OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; CLADDING OR PLATING BY SOLDERING OR WELDING; CUTTING BY APPLYING HEAT LOCALLY, e.g. FLAME CUTTING; WORKING BY LASER BEAM
- B23K2103/00—Materials to be soldered, welded or cut
- B23K2103/50—Inorganic material, e.g. metals, not provided for in B23K2103/02 – B23K2103/26
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
- H01J2237/00—Discharge tubes exposing object to beam, e.g. for analysis treatment, etching, imaging
- H01J2237/32—Processing objects by plasma generation
- H01J2237/33—Processing objects by plasma generation characterised by the type of processing
- H01J2237/334—Etching
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
- Y10T29/00—Metal working
- Y10T29/51—Plural diverse manufacturing apparatus including means for metal shaping or assembling
- Y10T29/5124—Plural diverse manufacturing apparatus including means for metal shaping or assembling with means to feed work intermittently from one tool station to another
Definitions
- Embodiments of the present invention pertain to the field of semiconductor processing and, in particular, to methods of dicing semiconductor wafers, each wafer having a plurality of integrated circuits thereon.
- integrated circuits are formed on a wafer (also referred to as a substrate) composed of silicon or other semiconductor material.
- a wafer also referred to as a substrate
- layers of various materials which are either semiconducting, conducting or insulating are utilized to form the integrated circuits. These materials are doped, deposited and etched using various well-known processes to form integrated circuits.
- Each wafer is processed to form a large number of individual regions containing integrated circuits known as dice or dies.
- the wafer is “diced” to separate the individual die from one another for packaging or for use in an unpackaged form within larger circuits.
- the two main techniques that are used for wafer dicing are scribing and sawing.
- a diamond tipped scribe is moved across the wafer surface along pre-formed scribe lines. These scribe lines extend along the spaces between the dies. These spaces are commonly referred to as “streets.”
- the diamond scribe forms shallow scratches in the wafer surface along the streets.
- Scribing can be used for wafers that are about 10 mils (thousandths of an inch) or less in thickness. For thicker wafers, sawing is presently the preferred method for dicing.
- a diamond tipped saw rotating at high revolutions per minute contacts the wafer surface and saws the wafer along the streets.
- the wafer is mounted on a supporting member such as an adhesive film stretched across a film frame and the saw is repeatedly applied to both the vertical and horizontal streets.
- a supporting member such as an adhesive film stretched across a film frame and the saw is repeatedly applied to both the vertical and horizontal streets.
- chips and gouges can form along the severed edges of the dice.
- cracks can form and propagate from the edges of the dies into the substrate and render the integrated circuit inoperative. Chipping and cracking are particularly a problem with scribing because only one side of a square or rectangular die can be scribed in the direction of the crystalline structure. Consequently, cleaving of the other side of the die results in a jagged separation line.
- Plasma dicing has also been used, but may have limitations as well.
- one limitation hampering implementation of plasma dicing may be cost.
- a standard lithography operation for patterning resist may render implementation cost prohibitive.
- Another limitation possibly hampering implementation of plasma dicing is that plasma processing of commonly encountered metals (e.g., copper) in dicing along streets can create production issues or throughput limits.
- One or more embodiments of the invention are directed to methods of dicing a semiconductor wafer including a plurality of integrated circuits (ICs).
- ICs integrated circuits
- a method of dicing a semiconductor wafer including a plurality of integrated circuits involves forming a mask above the semiconductor wafer.
- the mask covers and protects the integrated circuits.
- the method also involves patterning the mask with a laser scribing process to provide a patterned mask with gaps, exposing regions of the semiconductor wafer between the integrated circuits.
- the method also involves anisotropically etching the semiconductor wafer through the gaps in the patterned mask to advance an etched trench completely through the substrate to singulate the integrated circuits.
- the method also involves isotropically etching the anisotropically etched trench.
- One or more embodiments are directed to a system for dicing a substrate comprising a plurality of ICs.
- the system includes a laser scribe module to pattern a multi-layered mask and expose regions of a substrate between the ICs.
- the system also includes an anisotropic plasma etch module physically coupled to the laser scribe module to anisotropically etch through a thickness of the substrate remaining after laser scribing.
- the system also includes an isotropic plasma etch module physically coupled to the laser scribe module to isotropically etch the anisotropically etched trench.
- the system also includes a robotic transfer chamber to transfer the laser scribed substrate from the laser scribe module to the anisotropic plasma etch module.
- FIG. 1 is a flowchart representing operations in a method of dicing a semiconductor wafer including a plurality of integrated circuits, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention
- FIGS. 2A , 2 B, 2 C, and 2 D illustrate cross-sectional views of a semiconductor wafer including a plurality of integrated circuits during performance of a method of dicing the semiconductor wafer, corresponding to operations of FIG. 1 , in accordance with embodiments of the present invention
- FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a stack of materials that may be present in a street region of a semiconductor wafer or substrate, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention
- FIG. 4 illustrates a plan view schematic of an integrated dicing system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer system which controls automated performance of one or more operation in the masking, laser scribing, plasma dicing methods described herein, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
- a hybrid wafer or substrate dicing process involving an initial laser scribe and subsequent plasma etch is implemented for die singulation.
- the laser scribe process may be used to cleanly remove a mask layer, organic and inorganic dielectric layers, and device layers.
- the laser etch process may then be terminated upon exposure of, or partial etch of, the wafer or substrate.
- the plasma etch portion of the dicing process may then be employed to etch through the bulk of the wafer or substrate, such as through bulk single crystalline silicon, to yield die or chip singulation or dicing.
- a multi-plasma etching approach is employed to dice the wafers in which an isotropic etch is employed to improve the die sidewall following an anisotropic singulation etch.
- the laser scribing removes difficult-to-etch passivation layers, dielectric and metal layers until the underlying silicon substrate is exposed.
- Anisotropic plasma etching is then used to generate trenches of depth to the target die thickness.
- the isotropic etch removes anisotropic etch byproducts, roughness, and/or scalloping from the anisotropically etched die sidewalls after die singulation.
- the resulting singulated dies have higher die break strengths (relative to singulated dies not exposed to a final isotropic etch) to ensure reliable die pick and place and subsequent assembly processes.
- die sidewalls are cleaned of carbon (C) or flourine (F) elements, which can otherwise adversely impact adhesion properties of dies in subsequent packaging process causing low reliability. Rough sidewalls (e.g., untreated sidewalls) can also reduce die break strength (e.g., via lower crack activation energies).
- FIG. 1 illustrates operations in a method of dicing a semiconductor wafer including a plurality of integrated circuits, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
- FIGS. 2A-2D illustrate cross-sectional views of a semiconductor wafer including a plurality of integrated circuits during performance of the methods.
- a front side mask 202 is formed above a semiconductor wafer or substrate 204 .
- the semiconductor wafer or substrate 204 has a diameter of at least 300 mm and has a thickness of 300 ⁇ m to 800 ⁇ m.
- the semiconductor substrate 204 has a thickness of 10 ⁇ m to 800 ⁇ m.
- the mask is a conformal mask. Conformal mask embodiments advantageously ensure sufficient thickness of the mask over an underlying topography (e.g., 20 ⁇ m bumps, not shown) to survive the duration of a plasma etch dicing operation.
- the mask is a non-conformal, planarized mask (e.g., thickness of the mask over a bump is less than thickness of the mask in a valley). Formation of a conformal mask may be by CVD, for example, or by any other process known in the art.
- the mask 202 covers and protects integrated circuits (ICs) formed on the surface of semiconductor wafer and also protects bump projecting or protruding up 10-20 ⁇ m from the surface of the semiconductor wafer. The mask 202 also covers intervening streets formed between adjacent ones of the integrated circuits.
- forming the mask 202 includes forming a layer such as, but not limited to, a water-soluble layer (PVA, etc.), and/or a photo-resist layer, and/or an I-line patterning layer.
- a polymer layer such as a photo-resist layer may be composed of a material otherwise suitable for use in a lithographic process.
- a water-soluble base coat may be disposed below a non-water-soluble overcoat. The basecoat then provides a means of stripping the overcoat while the overcoat provides plasma etch resistance and/or for good mask ablation by the laser scribing process.
- a water-soluble base coat, of PVA for example, as the first mask material layer, may function as a means of undercutting a plasma-resistant/laser energy absorbing overcoat layer of the mask so that the entire mask may be removed/lifted off from the underlying integrated circuit (IC) thin film layer.
- the water-soluble base coat may further serve as a barrier protecting the IC thin film layer from the process used to strip the energy absorbing mask layer.
- the laser energy absorbing mask layer is UV-curable and/or UV absorbing, and/or green-band (500-540 nm) absorbing.
- the photo-resist layer is composed of a positive photo-resist material such as, but not limited to, a 248 nanometer (nm) resist, a 193 nm resist, a 157 nm resist, an extreme ultra-violet (EUV) resist, or a phenolic resin matrix with a diazonaphthoquinone sensitizer.
- the photo-resist layer is composed of a negative photo-resist material such as, but not limited to, poly-cis-isoprene and poly-vinyl-cinnamate.
- the semiconductor wafer or substrate 204 has disposed thereon or therein, as a portion of the integrated circuits 206 , an array of semiconductor devices.
- semiconductor devices include, but are not limited to, memory devices or complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) transistors fabricated in a silicon substrate and encased in a dielectric layer.
- CMOS complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor
- a plurality of metal interconnects may be formed above the devices or transistors, and in surrounding dielectric layers, and may be used to electrically couple the devices or transistors to form the integrated circuits.
- Conductive bumps and passivation layers 208 may be formed above the interconnect layers.
- Materials making up the streets may be similar to or the same as those materials used to form the integrated circuits.
- streets may be composed of layers of dielectric materials, semiconductor materials, and metallization.
- one or more of the streets includes test devices similar to the actual devices of the integrated circuits.
- the method 100 proceeds with bulk target layer material removal at operation 104 .
- a femtosecond laser is preferred.
- an ultraviolet (UV), picosecond, or nanosecond laser source can also be applied.
- the laser has a pulse repetition frequency in the range of 80 kHz to 1 MHz, ideally in the range of 100 kHz to 500 kHz.
- patterning the mask 202 with the laser scribing process includes forming trenches 210 partially into the regions of the semiconductor wafer between the integrated circuits.
- patterning the mask with the laser scribing process includes direct writing a pattern using a laser having a pulse width in the femtosecond range.
- a laser with a wavelength in the visible spectrum or the ultra-violet (UV) or infra-red (IR) ranges may be used to provide a femtosecond-based laser, i.e., a laser with a pulse width on the order of the femtosecond (10 ⁇ 15 seconds).
- ablation is not, or is essentially not, wavelength dependent and is thus suitable for complex films such as films of the mask, the streets and, possibly, a portion of the semiconductor wafer or substrate.
- Laser parameters selection may be critical to developing a successful laser scribing and dicing process that minimizes chipping, microcracks, and delamination in order to achieve clean laser scribe cuts.
- many functional layers of different material types e.g., conductors, insulators, semiconductors
- thicknesses are typically disposed thereon.
- Such materials may include, but are not limited to, organic materials such as polymers, metals, or inorganic dielectrics such as silicon dioxide and silicon nitride.
- FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a stack of materials that may be used in a street region of a semiconductor wafer or substrate, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
- a street region 300 includes the top portion 302 of a silicon substrate, a first silicon dioxide layer 304 , a first etch stop layer 306 , a first low K dielectric layer 308 (e.g., having a dielectric constant of less than the dielectric constant of 4.0 for silicon dioxide), a second etch stop layer 310 , a second low K dielectric layer 312 , a third etch stop layer 314 , an undoped silica glass (USG) layer 316 , a second silicon dioxide layer 318 , and a layer of photo-resist 320 or some other mask.
- Copper metallization 322 is disposed between the first and third etch stop layers 306 and 314 and through the second etch stop layer 310 .
- the first, second and third etch stop layers 306 , 310 and 314 are composed of silicon nitride
- low K dielectric layers 308 and 312 are composed of a carbon-doped silicon oxide material.
- the materials of street 300 may behave quite differently in terms of optical absorption and ablation mechanisms.
- dielectrics layers such as silicon dioxide, is essentially transparent to all commercially available laser wavelengths under normal conditions.
- metals, organics (e.g., low K materials) and silicon can couple photons very easily, particularly in response to nanosecond-based or picosecond-based laser irradiation.
- a femtosecond-based laser process is used to pattern a layer of silicon dioxide, a layer of low K material, and a layer of copper by ablating the layer of silicon dioxide prior to ablating the layer of low K material and the layer of copper.
- pulses of approximately less than or equal to 400 femtoseconds are used in a femtosecond-based laser irradiation process to remove a mask, a street, and a portion of a silicon substrate.
- pulses of approximately less than or equal to 500 femtoseconds are used.
- suitable femtosecond-based laser processes are characterized by a high peak intensity (irradiance) that usually leads to nonlinear interactions in various materials.
- the femtosecond laser sources have a pulse width approximately in the range of 10 femtoseconds to 500 femtoseconds, although preferably in the range of 100 femtoseconds to 400 femtoseconds.
- the femtosecond laser sources have a wavelength approximately in the range of 1570 nanometers to 200 nanometers, although preferably in the range of 540 nanometers to 250 nanometers.
- the laser and corresponding optical system provide a focal spot at the work surface approximately in the range of 3 microns to 15 microns, though preferably approximately in the range of 5 microns to 10 microns.
- the spacial beam profile at the work surface may be a single mode (Gaussian) or have a shaped top-hat profile.
- the laser source has a pulse repetition rate approximately in the range of 200 kHz to 10 MHz, although preferably approximately in the range of 500 kHz to 5 MHz.
- the laser source delivers pulse energy at the work surface approximately in the range of 0.5 ⁇ J to 100 ⁇ J, although preferably approximately in the range of 1 ⁇ J to 5 ⁇ J.
- the laser scribing process runs along a work piece surface at a speed approximately in the range of 500 mm/sec to 5 m/sec, although preferably approximately in the range of 600 mm/sec to 2 m/sec.
- the scribing process may be run in single pass only, or in multiple passes, but, in an embodiment, preferably 1-2 passes.
- the scribing depth in the work piece is approximately in the range of 5 microns to 50 microns deep, preferably approximately in the range of 10 microns to 20 microns deep.
- the laser may be applied either in a train of single pulses at a given pulse repetition rate or a train of pulse bursts.
- the kerf width of the laser beam generated is approximately in the range of 2 microns to 15 microns, although in silicon wafer scribing/dicing preferably approximately in the range of 6 microns to 10 microns, measured at the device/silicon interface.
- Laser parameters may be selected with benefits and advantages such as providing sufficiently high laser intensity to achieve ionization of inorganic dielectrics (e.g., silicon dioxide) and to minimize delamination and chipping caused by underlayer damage prior to direct ablation of inorganic dielectrics. Also, parameters may be selected to provide meaningful process throughput for industrial applications with precisely controlled ablation width (e.g., kerf width) and depth. As described above, a femtosecond-based laser is far more suitable to providing such advantages, as compared with picosecond-based and nanosecond-based laser ablation processes. However, even in the spectrum of femtosecond-based laser ablation, certain wavelengths may provide better performance than others.
- inorganic dielectrics e.g., silicon dioxide
- parameters may be selected to provide meaningful process throughput for industrial applications with precisely controlled ablation width (e.g., kerf width) and depth.
- ablation width e.g., kerf width
- a femtosecond-based laser is far more
- a femtosecond-based laser process having a wavelength close to or in the UV range provides a cleaner ablation process than a femtosecond-based laser process having a wavelength close to or in the IR range.
- a femtosecond-based laser process suitable for semiconductor wafer or substrate scribing is based on a laser having a wavelength of approximately less than or equal to 540 nanometers.
- pulses of approximately less than or equal to 400 femtoseconds of the laser having the wavelength of approximately less than or equal to 540 nanometers are used.
- dual laser wavelengths e.g., a combination of an IR laser and a UV laser
- etching the semiconductor wafer includes anisotropically etching the trenches 210 formed with the laser scribing process.
- the anisotropic etching exposes a back side tape 209 on the semiconductor wafer or substrate 204 .
- the plasma etching operation employs a through-silicon via type etch process.
- a conventional Bosch-type dep/etch/dep process may be used to etch through the substrate.
- a Bosch-type process consists of three sub-steps: deposition (e.g., polymer deposition), a directional bombardment etch, and an isotropic chemical etch which is run through many iterations (cycles) until silicon is etched through.
- anisotropically etching the semiconductor wafer comprises performing iterations of such a cyclic process until a back side tape is exposed at the bottom of the etched trench.
- the sidewall 212 surfaces takes a scallop structure which is rough, as illustrated in FIG. 2C .
- Such a rough die edge leads to lower than expected die break strength.
- the deposition sub-step in a Bosch process generates a Flourine-rich Teflon-type organic film to protect the already etched sidewall which is not removed from the sidewall as the etch front proceeds (generally, such polymer is only removed periodically from the bottom of the anisotropically etched trench).
- the etch rate of the material of the silicon of the semiconductor wafer 204 is greater than 25 microns per minute.
- An ultra-high-density plasma source may be used for the plasma etching portion of the die singulation process.
- An example of a process chamber suitable to perform such a plasma etch process is the Applied Centura® SilviaTM Etch system available from Applied Materials of Sunnyvale, Calif., USA. The Applied Centura® SilviaTM Etch system combines the capacitive and inductive RF coupling, which gives more independent control of the ion density and ion energy than is possible with capacitive coupling only, even with the improvements provided by magnetic enhancement.
- any plasma etch chamber capable of etching silicon may be used.
- a deep silicon etch is used to etch a single crystalline silicon substrate or wafer at an etch rate greater than approximately 40% of conventional silicon etch rates (e.g., 40 ⁇ m, or more) while maintaining essentially precise profile control and virtually scallop-free sidewalls.
- a through-silicon via type etch process is used.
- the etch process is based on a plasma generated from a reactive gas, which generally is a fluorine-based gas such as SF 6 , C 4 F 6 , C 4 F 8 , CHF 3 , XeF 2 , or any other reactant gas capable of etching silicon at a relatively fast etch rate.
- a reactive gas which generally is a fluorine-based gas such as SF 6 , C 4 F 6 , C 4 F 8 , CHF 3 , XeF 2 , or any other reactant gas capable of etching silicon at a relatively fast etch rate.
- the die singulation process includes first laser scribing to remove mask layer, passivation layer, and device layers as to cleanly expose silicon substrate, followed by plasma etching to dice through silicon substrate.
- a Bosch process may be used which is based on three sub-steps, i.e. deposition, directional bombardment etch, and isotropic chemical etch and is run many iterations (cycles) until silicon is etched through.
- the sidewall surface takes a scallop structure which is rough, as illustrated in FIG. 2C .
- the sidewall roughness can be much higher than compared with other silicon etching processes. This leads to lower than expected die break strength.
- the deposition sub-step in a Bosch process may generate a Flourine-rich Teflon-type organic film to protect the already etched sidewall.
- an isotropic chemical wet or plasma etch is applied to smoothen the sidewall 212 by gently etching a thin layer of substrate (e.g., silicon) off the sidewall at operation 108 .
- An exemplary isotropic plasma etch employs a fluorine or chlorine-based chemistry, which is preferably non-polymerizing.
- Exemplary non-polymerizing plasma etch chemistries consist essentially of NF 3 or SF 6 , Cl 2 or SiF 4 and are substantially free of hydrocarbons such as CHF 3 , or fluorocarbons such as C 4 F 8 .
- Such plasma etch chemistries may optionally further include an oxidizer such as O 2 to further enhance the etch rate of the substrate 204 .
- a plasma isotropic etch is generally to be within 1 to 90 sec, with other suitable etch process parameters, such as temperature and pressure depending on the die thickness, to minimize undercut at the device layer/Si interface.
- the isotropic etch is performed in the same chamber as the anisotropic etch, for example immediately following termination of the anisotropic etch operation.
- the isotropic etch is performed in a separate chamber, such as any chamber with a downstream plasma source known in the art.
- the wafer temperature may be relatively high (e.g., 80-100° C.) upon initiation of the isotropic etch because the high plasma powers employed in the high-rate and relatively long (e.g., 1-3 minutes) anisotropic etch have heated the wafer. This elevated wafer temperature has been found to enhance the isotropic character, as well as the etch rate of the isotropic etch performed immediately following the anisotropic etch.
- the isotropic etch step removes the Flourine or Carbon-rich polymer layer that was deposited on the die side wall by the anisotropic etch.
- a process tool 400 includes a factory interface 402 (FI) having a plurality of load locks 404 coupled therewith.
- a cluster tool 406 is coupled with the factory interface 402 .
- the cluster tool 406 includes one or more plasma etch chambers, such as anisotropic plasma etch chamber 408 and isotropic plasma etch chamber 414 .
- a laser scribe apparatus 410 is also coupled to the factory interface 402 .
- the overall footprint of the process tool 400 may be, in one embodiment, approximately 3500 millimeters (3.5 meters) by approximately 3800 millimeters (3.8 meters), as depicted in FIG. 4 .
- the laser scribe apparatus 410 houses a femtosecond-based laser.
- the femtosecond-based laser is suitable for performing a laser ablation portion of a hybrid laser and etch singulation process, such as the laser ablation processes described above.
- a moveable stage is also included in laser scribe apparatus 400 , the moveable stage configured for moving a wafer or substrate (or a carrier thereof) relative to the femtosecond-based laser.
- the femtosecond-based laser is also moveable.
- the overall footprint of the laser scribe apparatus 410 may be, in one embodiment, approximately 2240 millimeters by approximately 1270 millimeters, as depicted in FIG. 4 .
- the one or more plasma etch chambers 408 is configured for etching a wafer or substrate through the gaps in a patterned mask to singulate a plurality of integrated circuits.
- the one or more plasma etch chambers 408 is configured to perform a deep silicon etch process.
- the one or more plasma etch chambers 408 is an Applied Centura® SilviaTM Etch system, available from Applied Materials of Sunnyvale, Calif., USA.
- the etch chamber may be specifically designed for a deep silicon etch used to create singulate integrated circuits housed on or in single crystalline silicon substrates or wafers.
- a high-density plasma source is included in the plasma etch chamber 408 to facilitate high silicon etch rates.
- more than one etch chamber is included in the cluster tool 406 portion of process tool 400 to enable high manufacturing throughput of the singulation or dicing process.
- the factory interface 402 may be a suitable atmospheric port to interface between an outside manufacturing facility with laser scribe apparatus 410 and cluster tool 406 .
- the factory interface 402 may include robots with arms or blades for transferring wafers (or carriers thereof) from storage units (such as front opening unified pods) into either cluster tool 406 or laser scribe apparatus 410 , or both.
- Cluster tool 406 may include other chambers suitable for performing functions in a method of singulation.
- a deposition chamber 412 in place of an additional etch chamber, is included.
- the deposition chamber 412 may be configured for mask deposition on or above a device layer of a wafer or substrate prior to laser scribing of the wafer or substrate, e.g., by a uniform spin-on process.
- the deposition chamber 412 is suitable for depositing a uniform layer with a conformality factor within approximately 10%.
- the isotropic plasma etch chamber 414 is employs a downstream plasma source, such as a high frequency magnetron or inductively coupled source disposed a distance upstream of a process chamber where a substrate is housed during isotropic etch processing described elsewhere herein.
- a downstream plasma source such as a high frequency magnetron or inductively coupled source disposed a distance upstream of a process chamber where a substrate is housed during isotropic etch processing described elsewhere herein.
- the isotropic plasma etch chamber 414 is plumbed to use exemplary non-polymerizing plasma etch source gases, such as one or more of NF 3 or SF 6 , Cl 2 or SiF 4 , and one or more oxidizers, such as O 2 .
- FIG. 5 illustrates a computer system 500 within which a set of instructions, for causing the machine to execute one or more of the scribing methods discussed herein may be executed.
- the exemplary computer system 500 includes a processor 502 , a main memory 504 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) or Rambus DRAM (RDRAM), etc.), a static memory 506 (e.g., flash memory, static random access memory (SRAM), etc.), and a secondary memory 518 (e.g., a data storage device), which communicate with each other via a bus 530 .
- main memory 504 e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) or Rambus DRAM (RDRAM), etc.
- static memory 506 e.g., flash memory, static random access memory (SRAM), etc.
- SRAM static random access memory
- Processor 502 represents one or more general-purpose processing devices such as a microprocessor, central processing unit, or the like. More particularly, the processor 502 may be a complex instruction set computing (CISC) microprocessor, reduced instruction set computing (RISC) microprocessor, very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor, etc. Processor 502 may also be one or more special-purpose processing devices such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), network processor, or the like. Processor 502 is configured to execute the processing logic 526 for performing the operations and steps discussed herein.
- CISC complex instruction set computing
- RISC reduced instruction set computing
- VLIW very long instruction word
- Processor 502 may also be one or more special-purpose processing devices such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), network processor, or the like.
- ASIC application specific integrated circuit
- FPGA field programm
- the computer system 500 may further include a network interface device 508 .
- the computer system 500 also may include a video display unit 510 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), an alphanumeric input device 512 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 514 (e.g., a mouse), and a signal generation device 516 (e.g., a speaker).
- a video display unit 510 e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)
- an alphanumeric input device 512 e.g., a keyboard
- a cursor control device 514 e.g., a mouse
- a signal generation device 516 e.g., a speaker
- the secondary memory 518 may include a machine-accessible storage medium (or more specifically a computer-readable storage medium) 531 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 522 ) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein.
- the software 522 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 504 and/or within the processor 502 during execution thereof by the computer system 500 , the main memory 504 and the processor 502 also constituting machine-readable storage media.
- the software 522 may further be transmitted or received over a network 520 via the network interface device 508 .
- machine-accessible storage medium 531 is shown in an exemplary embodiment to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable storage medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions.
- the term “machine-readable storage medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing or encoding a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention.
- the term “machine-readable storage medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, optical and magnetic media, and other non-transitory machine-readable storage medium.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Power Engineering (AREA)
- Plasma & Fusion (AREA)
- Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
- Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
- Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
- Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Optics & Photonics (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Toxicology (AREA)
- Robotics (AREA)
- Laser Beam Processing (AREA)
- Dicing (AREA)
- Drying Of Semiconductors (AREA)
- High Energy & Nuclear Physics (AREA)
- Electromagnetism (AREA)
Abstract
In embodiments, a hybrid wafer or substrate dicing process involving an initial laser scribe and subsequent plasma etch is implemented for die singulation. The laser scribe process may be used to cleanly remove a mask layer, organic and inorganic dielectric layers, and device layers. The laser etch process may then be terminated upon exposure of, or partial etch of, the wafer or substrate. In embodiments, a multi-plasma etching approach is employed to dice the wafers where an isotropic etch is employed to improve the die sidewall following an anisotropic etch. The isotropic etch removes anisotropic etch byproducts, roughness, and/or scalloping from the anisotropically etched die sidewalls after die singulation.
Description
- This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/938,570, filed on Jul. 10, 2013, titled “LASER SCRIBING AND PLASMA ETCH FOR HIGH DIE BREAK STRENGTH AND CLEAN SIDEWALL” which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/791,048 filed on Mar. 15, 2013, titled “LASER SCRIBING AND PLASMA ETCH FOR HIGH DIE BREAK STRENGTH AND CLEAN SIDEWALL,” and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/671,637 filed on Jul. 13, 2012, titled “LASER SCRIBING AND PLASMA ETCH FOR HIGH DIE BREAK STRENGTH AND CLEAN SIDEWALL,” the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes.
- 1) Field
- Embodiments of the present invention pertain to the field of semiconductor processing and, in particular, to methods of dicing semiconductor wafers, each wafer having a plurality of integrated circuits thereon.
- 2) Description of Related Art
- In semiconductor wafer processing, integrated circuits are formed on a wafer (also referred to as a substrate) composed of silicon or other semiconductor material. In general, layers of various materials which are either semiconducting, conducting or insulating are utilized to form the integrated circuits. These materials are doped, deposited and etched using various well-known processes to form integrated circuits. Each wafer is processed to form a large number of individual regions containing integrated circuits known as dice or dies.
- Following the integrated circuit formation process, the wafer is “diced” to separate the individual die from one another for packaging or for use in an unpackaged form within larger circuits. The two main techniques that are used for wafer dicing are scribing and sawing. With scribing, a diamond tipped scribe is moved across the wafer surface along pre-formed scribe lines. These scribe lines extend along the spaces between the dies. These spaces are commonly referred to as “streets.” The diamond scribe forms shallow scratches in the wafer surface along the streets. Upon the application of pressure, such as with a roller, the wafer separates along the scribe lines. The breaks in the wafer follow the crystal lattice structure of the wafer substrate. Scribing can be used for wafers that are about 10 mils (thousandths of an inch) or less in thickness. For thicker wafers, sawing is presently the preferred method for dicing.
- With sawing, a diamond tipped saw rotating at high revolutions per minute contacts the wafer surface and saws the wafer along the streets. The wafer is mounted on a supporting member such as an adhesive film stretched across a film frame and the saw is repeatedly applied to both the vertical and horizontal streets. One problem with either scribing or sawing is that chips and gouges can form along the severed edges of the dice. In addition, cracks can form and propagate from the edges of the dies into the substrate and render the integrated circuit inoperative. Chipping and cracking are particularly a problem with scribing because only one side of a square or rectangular die can be scribed in the direction of the crystalline structure. Consequently, cleaving of the other side of the die results in a jagged separation line. Because of chipping and cracking, additional spacing is required between the dies on the wafer to prevent damage to the integrated circuits, e.g., the chips and cracks are maintained at a distance from the actual integrated circuits. As a result of the spacing requirements, not as many dies can be formed on a standard sized wafer and wafer real estate that could otherwise be used for circuitry is wasted. The use of a saw exacerbates the waste of real estate on a semiconductor wafer. The blade of the saw is approximate 15 microns thick. As such, to insure that cracking and other damage surrounding the cut made by the saw does not harm the integrated circuits, three to five hundred microns often must separate the circuitry of each of the dies. Furthermore, after cutting, each die requires substantial cleaning to remove particles and other contaminants that result from the sawing process.
- Plasma dicing has also been used, but may have limitations as well. For example, one limitation hampering implementation of plasma dicing may be cost. A standard lithography operation for patterning resist may render implementation cost prohibitive. Another limitation possibly hampering implementation of plasma dicing is that plasma processing of commonly encountered metals (e.g., copper) in dicing along streets can create production issues or throughput limits.
- One or more embodiments of the invention are directed to methods of dicing a semiconductor wafer including a plurality of integrated circuits (ICs).
- In one embodiment, a method of dicing a semiconductor wafer including a plurality of integrated circuits involves forming a mask above the semiconductor wafer. The mask covers and protects the integrated circuits. The method also involves patterning the mask with a laser scribing process to provide a patterned mask with gaps, exposing regions of the semiconductor wafer between the integrated circuits. The method also involves anisotropically etching the semiconductor wafer through the gaps in the patterned mask to advance an etched trench completely through the substrate to singulate the integrated circuits. The method also involves isotropically etching the anisotropically etched trench.
- One or more embodiments are directed to a system for dicing a substrate comprising a plurality of ICs. In one embodiment, the system includes a laser scribe module to pattern a multi-layered mask and expose regions of a substrate between the ICs. The system also includes an anisotropic plasma etch module physically coupled to the laser scribe module to anisotropically etch through a thickness of the substrate remaining after laser scribing. The system also includes an isotropic plasma etch module physically coupled to the laser scribe module to isotropically etch the anisotropically etched trench. The system also includes a robotic transfer chamber to transfer the laser scribed substrate from the laser scribe module to the anisotropic plasma etch module.
- Embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, and can be more fully understood with reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the figures in which:
-
FIG. 1 is a flowchart representing operations in a method of dicing a semiconductor wafer including a plurality of integrated circuits, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; -
FIGS. 2A , 2B, 2C, and 2D illustrate cross-sectional views of a semiconductor wafer including a plurality of integrated circuits during performance of a method of dicing the semiconductor wafer, corresponding to operations ofFIG. 1 , in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; -
FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a stack of materials that may be present in a street region of a semiconductor wafer or substrate, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; -
FIG. 4 illustrates a plan view schematic of an integrated dicing system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and -
FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer system which controls automated performance of one or more operation in the masking, laser scribing, plasma dicing methods described herein, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. - Methods of dicing semiconductor wafers, each wafer having a plurality of integrated circuits thereon, are described. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth, such as laser and plasma etch wafer dicing approaches in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known aspects, such as integrated circuit fabrication, are not described in detail in order to not unnecessarily obscure embodiments of the present invention. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the various embodiments shown in the Figures are illustrative representations and are not necessarily drawn to scale.
- In embodiments, a hybrid wafer or substrate dicing process involving an initial laser scribe and subsequent plasma etch is implemented for die singulation. The laser scribe process may be used to cleanly remove a mask layer, organic and inorganic dielectric layers, and device layers. The laser etch process may then be terminated upon exposure of, or partial etch of, the wafer or substrate. The plasma etch portion of the dicing process may then be employed to etch through the bulk of the wafer or substrate, such as through bulk single crystalline silicon, to yield die or chip singulation or dicing.
- In embodiments, a multi-plasma etching approach is employed to dice the wafers in which an isotropic etch is employed to improve the die sidewall following an anisotropic singulation etch. The laser scribing removes difficult-to-etch passivation layers, dielectric and metal layers until the underlying silicon substrate is exposed. Anisotropic plasma etching is then used to generate trenches of depth to the target die thickness. Finally, the isotropic etch removes anisotropic etch byproducts, roughness, and/or scalloping from the anisotropically etched die sidewalls after die singulation. In one embodiment, the resulting singulated dies have higher die break strengths (relative to singulated dies not exposed to a final isotropic etch) to ensure reliable die pick and place and subsequent assembly processes. In an embodiment, die sidewalls are cleaned of carbon (C) or flourine (F) elements, which can otherwise adversely impact adhesion properties of dies in subsequent packaging process causing low reliability. Rough sidewalls (e.g., untreated sidewalls) can also reduce die break strength (e.g., via lower crack activation energies).
-
FIG. 1 illustrates operations in a method of dicing a semiconductor wafer including a plurality of integrated circuits, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.FIGS. 2A-2D illustrate cross-sectional views of a semiconductor wafer including a plurality of integrated circuits during performance of the methods. - During the
first operation 102 of themethod 100 inFIG. 1 , and corresponding toFIG. 2A , afront side mask 202 is formed above a semiconductor wafer orsubstrate 204. According to one embodiment, the semiconductor wafer orsubstrate 204 has a diameter of at least 300 mm and has a thickness of 300 μm to 800 μm. In one embodiment, thesemiconductor substrate 204 has a thickness of 10 μm to 800 μm. As illustrated, in an embodiment, the mask is a conformal mask. Conformal mask embodiments advantageously ensure sufficient thickness of the mask over an underlying topography (e.g., 20 μm bumps, not shown) to survive the duration of a plasma etch dicing operation. In alternative embodiments, however, the mask is a non-conformal, planarized mask (e.g., thickness of the mask over a bump is less than thickness of the mask in a valley). Formation of a conformal mask may be by CVD, for example, or by any other process known in the art. In one embodiment, themask 202 covers and protects integrated circuits (ICs) formed on the surface of semiconductor wafer and also protects bump projecting or protruding up 10-20 μm from the surface of the semiconductor wafer. Themask 202 also covers intervening streets formed between adjacent ones of the integrated circuits. - In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, forming the
mask 202 includes forming a layer such as, but not limited to, a water-soluble layer (PVA, etc.), and/or a photo-resist layer, and/or an I-line patterning layer. For example, a polymer layer such as a photo-resist layer may be composed of a material otherwise suitable for use in a lithographic process. In embodiments with multiple mask layers, a water-soluble base coat may be disposed below a non-water-soluble overcoat. The basecoat then provides a means of stripping the overcoat while the overcoat provides plasma etch resistance and/or for good mask ablation by the laser scribing process. It has been found for example, that mask materials transparent to the laser wavelength employed in the scribing process contribute to low die edge strength. Hence, a water-soluble base coat, of PVA, for example, as the first mask material layer, may function as a means of undercutting a plasma-resistant/laser energy absorbing overcoat layer of the mask so that the entire mask may be removed/lifted off from the underlying integrated circuit (IC) thin film layer. The water-soluble base coat may further serve as a barrier protecting the IC thin film layer from the process used to strip the energy absorbing mask layer. In embodiments, the laser energy absorbing mask layer is UV-curable and/or UV absorbing, and/or green-band (500-540 nm) absorbing. Exemplary materials include many photo-resists and polyimide (PI) materials conventionally employed for passivation layers of IC chips. In one embodiment, the photo-resist layer is composed of a positive photo-resist material such as, but not limited to, a 248 nanometer (nm) resist, a 193 nm resist, a 157 nm resist, an extreme ultra-violet (EUV) resist, or a phenolic resin matrix with a diazonaphthoquinone sensitizer. In another embodiment, the photo-resist layer is composed of a negative photo-resist material such as, but not limited to, poly-cis-isoprene and poly-vinyl-cinnamate. - Referring again to
FIG. 2A , the semiconductor wafer orsubstrate 204 has disposed thereon or therein, as a portion of theintegrated circuits 206, an array of semiconductor devices. Examples of such semiconductor devices include, but are not limited to, memory devices or complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) transistors fabricated in a silicon substrate and encased in a dielectric layer. A plurality of metal interconnects may be formed above the devices or transistors, and in surrounding dielectric layers, and may be used to electrically couple the devices or transistors to form the integrated circuits. Conductive bumps andpassivation layers 208 may be formed above the interconnect layers. Materials making up the streets may be similar to or the same as those materials used to form the integrated circuits. For example, streets may be composed of layers of dielectric materials, semiconductor materials, and metallization. In one embodiment, one or more of the streets includes test devices similar to the actual devices of the integrated circuits. - Returning to
FIG. 1 , and turning to correspondingFIG. 2B , themethod 100 proceeds with bulk target layer material removal atoperation 104. To minimize dielectric delamination and cracking, a femtosecond laser is preferred. However, depending on the device structure, an ultraviolet (UV), picosecond, or nanosecond laser source can also be applied. The laser has a pulse repetition frequency in the range of 80 kHz to 1 MHz, ideally in the range of 100 kHz to 500 kHz. - Referring again to
FIG. 2B , the laser scribing process is performed generally to remove the material of the streets present between theintegrated circuits 206. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, patterning themask 202 with the laser scribing process includes formingtrenches 210 partially into the regions of the semiconductor wafer between the integrated circuits. In an embodiment, patterning the mask with the laser scribing process includes direct writing a pattern using a laser having a pulse width in the femtosecond range. - Specifically, a laser with a wavelength in the visible spectrum or the ultra-violet (UV) or infra-red (IR) ranges (the three totaling a broadband optical spectrum) may be used to provide a femtosecond-based laser, i.e., a laser with a pulse width on the order of the femtosecond (10−15 seconds). In one embodiment, ablation is not, or is essentially not, wavelength dependent and is thus suitable for complex films such as films of the mask, the streets and, possibly, a portion of the semiconductor wafer or substrate.
- Laser parameters selection, such as pulse width, may be critical to developing a successful laser scribing and dicing process that minimizes chipping, microcracks, and delamination in order to achieve clean laser scribe cuts. The cleaner the laser scribe cut, the smoother an etch process that may be performed for ultimate die singulation. In semiconductor device wafers, many functional layers of different material types (e.g., conductors, insulators, semiconductors) and thicknesses are typically disposed thereon. Such materials may include, but are not limited to, organic materials such as polymers, metals, or inorganic dielectrics such as silicon dioxide and silicon nitride.
- A street between individual integrated circuits disposed on a wafer or substrate may include the similar or same layers as the integrated circuits themselves. For example,
FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a stack of materials that may be used in a street region of a semiconductor wafer or substrate, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Referring toFIG. 3 , astreet region 300 includes thetop portion 302 of a silicon substrate, a firstsilicon dioxide layer 304, a firstetch stop layer 306, a first low K dielectric layer 308 (e.g., having a dielectric constant of less than the dielectric constant of 4.0 for silicon dioxide), a secondetch stop layer 310, a second low Kdielectric layer 312, a thirdetch stop layer 314, an undoped silica glass (USG)layer 316, a secondsilicon dioxide layer 318, and a layer of photo-resist 320 or some other mask.Copper metallization 322 is disposed between the first and third etch stop layers 306 and 314 and through the secondetch stop layer 310. In a specific embodiment, the first, second and third etch stop layers 306, 310 and 314 are composed of silicon nitride, while low Kdielectric layers - Under conventional laser irradiation (such as nanosecond-based or picosecond-based laser irradiation), the materials of
street 300 may behave quite differently in terms of optical absorption and ablation mechanisms. For example, dielectrics layers such as silicon dioxide, is essentially transparent to all commercially available laser wavelengths under normal conditions. By contrast, metals, organics (e.g., low K materials) and silicon can couple photons very easily, particularly in response to nanosecond-based or picosecond-based laser irradiation. In an embodiment, however, a femtosecond-based laser process is used to pattern a layer of silicon dioxide, a layer of low K material, and a layer of copper by ablating the layer of silicon dioxide prior to ablating the layer of low K material and the layer of copper. In a specific embodiment, pulses of approximately less than or equal to 400 femtoseconds are used in a femtosecond-based laser irradiation process to remove a mask, a street, and a portion of a silicon substrate. In one embodiment, pulses of approximately less than or equal to 500 femtoseconds are used. - In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, suitable femtosecond-based laser processes are characterized by a high peak intensity (irradiance) that usually leads to nonlinear interactions in various materials. In one such embodiment, the femtosecond laser sources have a pulse width approximately in the range of 10 femtoseconds to 500 femtoseconds, although preferably in the range of 100 femtoseconds to 400 femtoseconds. In one embodiment, the femtosecond laser sources have a wavelength approximately in the range of 1570 nanometers to 200 nanometers, although preferably in the range of 540 nanometers to 250 nanometers. In one embodiment, the laser and corresponding optical system provide a focal spot at the work surface approximately in the range of 3 microns to 15 microns, though preferably approximately in the range of 5 microns to 10 microns.
- The spacial beam profile at the work surface may be a single mode (Gaussian) or have a shaped top-hat profile. In an embodiment, the laser source has a pulse repetition rate approximately in the range of 200 kHz to 10 MHz, although preferably approximately in the range of 500 kHz to 5 MHz. In an embodiment, the laser source delivers pulse energy at the work surface approximately in the range of 0.5 μJ to 100 μJ, although preferably approximately in the range of 1 μJ to 5 μJ. In an embodiment, the laser scribing process runs along a work piece surface at a speed approximately in the range of 500 mm/sec to 5 m/sec, although preferably approximately in the range of 600 mm/sec to 2 m/sec.
- The scribing process may be run in single pass only, or in multiple passes, but, in an embodiment, preferably 1-2 passes. In one embodiment, the scribing depth in the work piece is approximately in the range of 5 microns to 50 microns deep, preferably approximately in the range of 10 microns to 20 microns deep. The laser may be applied either in a train of single pulses at a given pulse repetition rate or a train of pulse bursts. In an embodiment, the kerf width of the laser beam generated is approximately in the range of 2 microns to 15 microns, although in silicon wafer scribing/dicing preferably approximately in the range of 6 microns to 10 microns, measured at the device/silicon interface.
- Laser parameters may be selected with benefits and advantages such as providing sufficiently high laser intensity to achieve ionization of inorganic dielectrics (e.g., silicon dioxide) and to minimize delamination and chipping caused by underlayer damage prior to direct ablation of inorganic dielectrics. Also, parameters may be selected to provide meaningful process throughput for industrial applications with precisely controlled ablation width (e.g., kerf width) and depth. As described above, a femtosecond-based laser is far more suitable to providing such advantages, as compared with picosecond-based and nanosecond-based laser ablation processes. However, even in the spectrum of femtosecond-based laser ablation, certain wavelengths may provide better performance than others. For example, in one embodiment, a femtosecond-based laser process having a wavelength close to or in the UV range provides a cleaner ablation process than a femtosecond-based laser process having a wavelength close to or in the IR range. In a specific such embodiment, a femtosecond-based laser process suitable for semiconductor wafer or substrate scribing is based on a laser having a wavelength of approximately less than or equal to 540 nanometers. In a particular such embodiment, pulses of approximately less than or equal to 400 femtoseconds of the laser having the wavelength of approximately less than or equal to 540 nanometers are used. However, in an alternative embodiment, dual laser wavelengths (e.g., a combination of an IR laser and a UV laser) are used.
- Returning to
FIG. 1 , and turning to correspondingFIG. 2C , the semiconductor wafer is next plasma etched atoperation 106. As illustrated inFIG. 2C , the plasma etch front proceeds through the gaps in the patternedmask 202. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, etching the semiconductor wafer includes anisotropically etching thetrenches 210 formed with the laser scribing process. In one embodiment, the anisotropic etching exposes aback side tape 209 on the semiconductor wafer orsubstrate 204. In one embodiment, the plasma etching operation employs a through-silicon via type etch process. In one embodiment, a conventional Bosch-type dep/etch/dep process may be used to etch through the substrate. Generally, a Bosch-type process consists of three sub-steps: deposition (e.g., polymer deposition), a directional bombardment etch, and an isotropic chemical etch which is run through many iterations (cycles) until silicon is etched through. In one embodiment, anisotropically etching the semiconductor wafer comprises performing iterations of such a cyclic process until a back side tape is exposed at the bottom of the etched trench. - As a result of the Bosch process, the
sidewall 212 surfaces takes a scallop structure which is rough, as illustrated inFIG. 2C . This is particularly the effect where the laser scribing process generates an open trench much rougher than that which a lithographically defined etch process achieves. Such a rough die edge leads to lower than expected die break strength. In addition, the deposition sub-step in a Bosch process generates a Flourine-rich Teflon-type organic film to protect the already etched sidewall which is not removed from the sidewall as the etch front proceeds (generally, such polymer is only removed periodically from the bottom of the anisotropically etched trench). - In a specific embodiment, during the etch process the etch rate of the material of the silicon of the
semiconductor wafer 204 is greater than 25 microns per minute. An ultra-high-density plasma source may be used for the plasma etching portion of the die singulation process. An example of a process chamber suitable to perform such a plasma etch process is the Applied Centura® Silvia™ Etch system available from Applied Materials of Sunnyvale, Calif., USA. The Applied Centura® Silvia™ Etch system combines the capacitive and inductive RF coupling, which gives more independent control of the ion density and ion energy than is possible with capacitive coupling only, even with the improvements provided by magnetic enhancement. This combination enables effective decoupling of the ion density from ion energy, so as to achieve relatively high density plasmas without the high, potentially damaging, DC bias levels, even at very low pressures. Multi-RF source configurations also results in an exceptionally wide process window. However, any plasma etch chamber capable of etching silicon may be used. In an exemplary embodiment, a deep silicon etch is used to etch a single crystalline silicon substrate or wafer at an etch rate greater than approximately 40% of conventional silicon etch rates (e.g., 40 μm, or more) while maintaining essentially precise profile control and virtually scallop-free sidewalls. In a specific embodiment, a through-silicon via type etch process is used. The etch process is based on a plasma generated from a reactive gas, which generally is a fluorine-based gas such as SF6, C4F6, C4F8, CHF3, XeF2, or any other reactant gas capable of etching silicon at a relatively fast etch rate. - To summarize
FIGS. 2A-2C , the die singulation process includes first laser scribing to remove mask layer, passivation layer, and device layers as to cleanly expose silicon substrate, followed by plasma etching to dice through silicon substrate. For the etching, a Bosch process may be used which is based on three sub-steps, i.e. deposition, directional bombardment etch, and isotropic chemical etch and is run many iterations (cycles) until silicon is etched through. As a result of the Bosch process, however, the sidewall surface takes a scallop structure which is rough, as illustrated inFIG. 2C . Particularly since the laser scribing process typically generates an open trench much rougher than that lithography process achieves, the sidewall roughness can be much higher than compared with other silicon etching processes. This leads to lower than expected die break strength. In addition, the deposition sub-step in a Bosch process may generate a Flourine-rich Teflon-type organic film to protect the already etched sidewall. - Returning to
FIG. 1 , and turning to correspondingFIG. 2D , following the anisotropicplasma etch operation 106, the integrated circuits are in singulated form. Subsequently, an isotropic chemical wet or plasma etch is applied to smoothen thesidewall 212 by gently etching a thin layer of substrate (e.g., silicon) off the sidewall atoperation 108. An exemplary isotropic plasma etch employs a fluorine or chlorine-based chemistry, which is preferably non-polymerizing. Exemplary non-polymerizing plasma etch chemistries consist essentially of NF3 or SF6, Cl2 or SiF4 and are substantially free of hydrocarbons such as CHF3, or fluorocarbons such as C4F8. Such plasma etch chemistries may optionally further include an oxidizer such as O2 to further enhance the etch rate of thesubstrate 204. A plasma isotropic etch is generally to be within 1 to 90 sec, with other suitable etch process parameters, such as temperature and pressure depending on the die thickness, to minimize undercut at the device layer/Si interface. In embodiments, the isotropic etch is performed in the same chamber as the anisotropic etch, for example immediately following termination of the anisotropic etch operation. In other embodiments, the isotropic etch is performed in a separate chamber, such as any chamber with a downstream plasma source known in the art. In embodiments, the wafer temperature may be relatively high (e.g., 80-100° C.) upon initiation of the isotropic etch because the high plasma powers employed in the high-rate and relatively long (e.g., 1-3 minutes) anisotropic etch have heated the wafer. This elevated wafer temperature has been found to enhance the isotropic character, as well as the etch rate of the isotropic etch performed immediately following the anisotropic etch. The isotropic etch step removes the Flourine or Carbon-rich polymer layer that was deposited on the die side wall by the anisotropic etch. - Referring to
FIG. 4 , aprocess tool 400 includes a factory interface 402 (FI) having a plurality ofload locks 404 coupled therewith. Acluster tool 406 is coupled with thefactory interface 402. Thecluster tool 406 includes one or more plasma etch chambers, such as anisotropicplasma etch chamber 408 and isotropicplasma etch chamber 414. Alaser scribe apparatus 410 is also coupled to thefactory interface 402. The overall footprint of theprocess tool 400 may be, in one embodiment, approximately 3500 millimeters (3.5 meters) by approximately 3800 millimeters (3.8 meters), as depicted inFIG. 4 . - In an embodiment, the
laser scribe apparatus 410 houses a femtosecond-based laser. The femtosecond-based laser is suitable for performing a laser ablation portion of a hybrid laser and etch singulation process, such as the laser ablation processes described above. In one embodiment, a moveable stage is also included inlaser scribe apparatus 400, the moveable stage configured for moving a wafer or substrate (or a carrier thereof) relative to the femtosecond-based laser. In a specific embodiment, the femtosecond-based laser is also moveable. The overall footprint of thelaser scribe apparatus 410 may be, in one embodiment, approximately 2240 millimeters by approximately 1270 millimeters, as depicted inFIG. 4 . - In an embodiment, the one or more
plasma etch chambers 408 is configured for etching a wafer or substrate through the gaps in a patterned mask to singulate a plurality of integrated circuits. In one such embodiment, the one or moreplasma etch chambers 408 is configured to perform a deep silicon etch process. In a specific embodiment, the one or moreplasma etch chambers 408 is an Applied Centura® Silvia™ Etch system, available from Applied Materials of Sunnyvale, Calif., USA. The etch chamber may be specifically designed for a deep silicon etch used to create singulate integrated circuits housed on or in single crystalline silicon substrates or wafers. In an embodiment, a high-density plasma source is included in theplasma etch chamber 408 to facilitate high silicon etch rates. In an embodiment, more than one etch chamber is included in thecluster tool 406 portion ofprocess tool 400 to enable high manufacturing throughput of the singulation or dicing process. - The
factory interface 402 may be a suitable atmospheric port to interface between an outside manufacturing facility withlaser scribe apparatus 410 andcluster tool 406. Thefactory interface 402 may include robots with arms or blades for transferring wafers (or carriers thereof) from storage units (such as front opening unified pods) into eithercluster tool 406 orlaser scribe apparatus 410, or both. -
Cluster tool 406 may include other chambers suitable for performing functions in a method of singulation. For example, in one embodiment, in place of an additional etch chamber, a deposition chamber 412 is included. The deposition chamber 412 may be configured for mask deposition on or above a device layer of a wafer or substrate prior to laser scribing of the wafer or substrate, e.g., by a uniform spin-on process. In one such embodiment, the deposition chamber 412 is suitable for depositing a uniform layer with a conformality factor within approximately 10%. - In embodiments, the isotropic
plasma etch chamber 414 is employs a downstream plasma source, such as a high frequency magnetron or inductively coupled source disposed a distance upstream of a process chamber where a substrate is housed during isotropic etch processing described elsewhere herein. In embodiments the isotropicplasma etch chamber 414 is plumbed to use exemplary non-polymerizing plasma etch source gases, such as one or more of NF3 or SF6, Cl2 or SiF4, and one or more oxidizers, such as O2. -
FIG. 5 illustrates acomputer system 500 within which a set of instructions, for causing the machine to execute one or more of the scribing methods discussed herein may be executed. Theexemplary computer system 500 includes aprocessor 502, a main memory 504 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) or Rambus DRAM (RDRAM), etc.), a static memory 506 (e.g., flash memory, static random access memory (SRAM), etc.), and a secondary memory 518 (e.g., a data storage device), which communicate with each other via abus 530. -
Processor 502 represents one or more general-purpose processing devices such as a microprocessor, central processing unit, or the like. More particularly, theprocessor 502 may be a complex instruction set computing (CISC) microprocessor, reduced instruction set computing (RISC) microprocessor, very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor, etc.Processor 502 may also be one or more special-purpose processing devices such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), network processor, or the like.Processor 502 is configured to execute theprocessing logic 526 for performing the operations and steps discussed herein. - The
computer system 500 may further include anetwork interface device 508. Thecomputer system 500 also may include a video display unit 510 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), an alphanumeric input device 512 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 514 (e.g., a mouse), and a signal generation device 516 (e.g., a speaker). - The
secondary memory 518 may include a machine-accessible storage medium (or more specifically a computer-readable storage medium) 531 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 522) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. Thesoftware 522 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within themain memory 504 and/or within theprocessor 502 during execution thereof by thecomputer system 500, themain memory 504 and theprocessor 502 also constituting machine-readable storage media. Thesoftware 522 may further be transmitted or received over anetwork 520 via thenetwork interface device 508. - While the machine-
accessible storage medium 531 is shown in an exemplary embodiment to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable storage medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readable storage medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing or encoding a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention. The term “machine-readable storage medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, optical and magnetic media, and other non-transitory machine-readable storage medium. - It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. For example, while flow diagrams in the figures show a particular order of operations performed by certain embodiments of the invention, it should be understood that such order is not required (e.g., alternative embodiments may perform the operations in a different order, combine certain operations, overlap certain operations, etc.). Furthermore, many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reading and understanding the above description. Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments, it will be recognized that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described, but can be practiced with modification and alteration within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
Claims (20)
1. A system for dicing a substrate comprising a plurality of integrated circuits (ICs), the system comprising:
a laser scribe module to pattern a mask to form a trench exposing regions of the substrate between the ICs;
an anisotropic plasma etch module physically coupled to the laser scribe module to anisotropically etch through a thickness of the substrate remaining after laser scribing;
an isotropic plasma etch module to isotropically etch sidewalls of a trench following anisotropic singulation; and
a robotic transfer chamber to transfer the laser scribed substrate from the laser scribe module to the anisotropic plasma etch module.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the laser scribe module comprises a femtosecond laser having a wavelength less than or equal to 540 nanometers and a pulse width of less than or equal to 400 femtoseconds.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the isotropic plasma etch module and the anisotropic plasma etch module are a same, single chamber.
4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the anisotropic etch etches completely through the substrate, and wherein the chamber is to initiate an isotropic etch immediately following termination of an anisotropic etch.
5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the chamber is to initiate the isotropic etch while the substrate is heated to a temperature of 80-100° C.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the anisotropic plasma etch module is to perform iterations of a cyclic process including polymer deposition, directional bombardment etch, and isotropic chemical etch, until a back side tape is exposed at the bottom of an etched trench; and
wherein the isotropic plasma etch module is configured to employ a non-polymerizing fluorine or chlorine-based chemistry source.
7. The system of claim 4 , wherein the non-polymerizing fluorine or chlorine-based chemistry consists essentially of NF3 or SF6, Cl2 or SiF4.
8. The system of claim 4 , wherein the non-polymerizing fluorine or chlorine-based chemistry further includes an oxidizer.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the isotropic plasma etch module is configured to perform the isotropic etch for less than 90 seconds.
10. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a deposition module to form the mask above the substrate, the mask covering and protecting the integrated circuits.
11. A system for dicing a substrate comprising a plurality of integrated circuits (ICs), the system comprising:
a laser scribe module to pattern a mask to form a trench exposing regions of the substrate between the ICs;
an anisotropic plasma etch module physically coupled to the laser scribe module to anisotropically etch completely through the substrate to singulate the integrated circuits;
an isotropic etch module to perform an isotropic etch of a trench following singulation; and
a robotic transfer chamber to transfer the laser scribed substrate from the laser scribe module to the anisotropic plasma etch module.
12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the laser scribe module comprises a femtosecond laser having a wavelength less than or equal to 540 nanometers and a pulse width of less than or equal to 400 femtoseconds.
13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the isotropic plasma etch module and the anisotropic plasma etch module are a same, single chamber.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the anisotropic etch etches completely through the substrate, and wherein the chamber is to initiate an isotropic etch immediately following termination of an anisotropic etch.
15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the chamber is to initiate the isotropic etch while the substrate is heated to a temperature of 80-100° C.
16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the anisotropic plasma etch module is to perform iterations of a cyclic process including polymer deposition, directional bombardment etch, and isotropic chemical etch, until a back side tape is exposed at the bottom of the etched trench; and
wherein the isotropic etch module is configured to employ a non-polymerizing fluorine or chlorine-based chemistry source.
17. The system of claim 11 , wherein the anisotropic plasma etch module is to perform iterations of a cyclic process including polymer deposition, directional bombardment etch, and isotropic chemical etch, until a back side tape is exposed at the bottom of the etched trench; and
wherein the isotropic etch module comprises a wet chemical etch module.
18. The system of claim 1 , wherein the isotropic plasma etch module is configured to perform the isotropic etch for less than 90 seconds.
19. A system for dicing a substrate comprising a plurality of integrated circuits (ICs), the system comprising:
a laser scribe module to pattern a mask to form a trench exposing regions of the substrate between the ICs, wherein the laser scribe module comprises a femtosecond laser having a wavelength in a range of 250 to 540 nanometers and a pulse width in a second range of 100 to 400 femtoseconds;
an anisotropic plasma etch module physically coupled to the laser scribe module to anisotropically etch completely through the substrate to singulate the integrated circuits; and
an isotropic etch module to perform an isotropic etch of a trench following singulation.
20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the isotropic etch module and the anisotropic plasma etch module are a same, single chamber.
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US14/671,379 US20150200119A1 (en) | 2012-07-13 | 2015-03-27 | Laser scribing and plasma etch for high die break strength and clean sidewall |
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US201261671637P | 2012-07-13 | 2012-07-13 | |
US201361791048P | 2013-03-15 | 2013-03-15 | |
US13/938,570 US8993414B2 (en) | 2012-07-13 | 2013-07-10 | Laser scribing and plasma etch for high die break strength and clean sidewall |
US14/671,379 US20150200119A1 (en) | 2012-07-13 | 2015-03-27 | Laser scribing and plasma etch for high die break strength and clean sidewall |
Related Parent Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US13/938,570 Division US8993414B2 (en) | 2012-07-13 | 2013-07-10 | Laser scribing and plasma etch for high die break strength and clean sidewall |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20150200119A1 true US20150200119A1 (en) | 2015-07-16 |
Family
ID=49914327
Family Applications (2)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US13/938,570 Active US8993414B2 (en) | 2012-07-13 | 2013-07-10 | Laser scribing and plasma etch for high die break strength and clean sidewall |
US14/671,379 Abandoned US20150200119A1 (en) | 2012-07-13 | 2015-03-27 | Laser scribing and plasma etch for high die break strength and clean sidewall |
Family Applications Before (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US13/938,570 Active US8993414B2 (en) | 2012-07-13 | 2013-07-10 | Laser scribing and plasma etch for high die break strength and clean sidewall |
Country Status (6)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (2) | US8993414B2 (en) |
JP (1) | JP2015524613A (en) |
KR (1) | KR102365042B1 (en) |
CN (1) | CN104412377A (en) |
TW (1) | TW201405646A (en) |
WO (1) | WO2014011913A1 (en) |
Cited By (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US10957596B2 (en) * | 2018-08-23 | 2021-03-23 | International Business Machines Corporation | Caterpillar trenches for efficient wafer dicing |
WO2022005654A1 (en) * | 2020-07-01 | 2022-01-06 | Sandisk Technologies Llc | Semiconductor structure containing pre-polymerized protective layer and method of making thereof |
US11538777B2 (en) | 2020-07-01 | 2022-12-27 | Sandisk Technologies Llc | Semiconductor structure containing pre-polymerized protective layer and method of making thereof |
US11776922B2 (en) | 2020-07-01 | 2023-10-03 | Sandisk Technologies Llc | Semiconductor structure containing pre-polymerized protective layer and method of making thereof |
Families Citing this family (27)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20150011073A1 (en) * | 2013-07-02 | 2015-01-08 | Wei-Sheng Lei | Laser scribing and plasma etch for high die break strength and smooth sidewall |
JP6101227B2 (en) * | 2014-03-17 | 2017-03-22 | 株式会社東芝 | Plasma dicing method and plasma dicing apparatus |
US9076860B1 (en) * | 2014-04-04 | 2015-07-07 | Applied Materials, Inc. | Residue removal from singulated die sidewall |
US20150287638A1 (en) * | 2014-04-04 | 2015-10-08 | Jungrae Park | Hybrid wafer dicing approach using collimated laser scribing process and plasma etch |
US9966312B2 (en) * | 2015-08-25 | 2018-05-08 | Tokyo Electron Limited | Method for etching a silicon-containing substrate |
JP6587911B2 (en) * | 2015-11-16 | 2019-10-09 | 株式会社ディスコ | Wafer division method |
WO2017091327A1 (en) * | 2015-11-25 | 2017-06-01 | Applied Materials, Inc. | Method for modifying epitaxial growth shape |
JP2017162931A (en) * | 2016-03-08 | 2017-09-14 | 株式会社ディスコ | Manufacturing method for device chip |
JP2017163070A (en) * | 2016-03-11 | 2017-09-14 | パナソニックIpマネジメント株式会社 | Device chip and method of manufacturing the same |
JP2018056502A (en) * | 2016-09-30 | 2018-04-05 | 株式会社ディスコ | Method of machining device wafer |
JP6512454B2 (en) * | 2016-12-06 | 2019-05-15 | パナソニックIpマネジメント株式会社 | Method of manufacturing element chip |
JP2018110156A (en) | 2016-12-28 | 2018-07-12 | キヤノン株式会社 | Semiconductor device, manufacturing method thereof, and camera |
JP2018182138A (en) * | 2017-04-17 | 2018-11-15 | 浜松ホトニクス株式会社 | Workpiece cutting method |
JP2018190857A (en) * | 2017-05-09 | 2018-11-29 | 株式会社ディスコ | Wafer processing method |
JP6899252B2 (en) * | 2017-05-10 | 2021-07-07 | 株式会社ディスコ | Processing method |
GB201708927D0 (en) * | 2017-06-05 | 2017-07-19 | Spts Technologies Ltd | Methods of plasma etching and plasma dicing |
JP6925900B2 (en) * | 2017-07-20 | 2021-08-25 | 岩谷産業株式会社 | Cutting method |
FR3075773B1 (en) * | 2017-12-22 | 2020-01-24 | Commissariat A L'energie Atomique Et Aux Energies Alternatives | PROCESS FOR PRODUCING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES AND CUTTING PATHS |
JP7109862B2 (en) * | 2018-07-10 | 2022-08-01 | 株式会社ディスコ | Semiconductor wafer processing method |
US11355394B2 (en) * | 2018-09-13 | 2022-06-07 | Applied Materials, Inc. | Wafer dicing using hybrid laser scribing and plasma etch approach with intermediate breakthrough treatment |
CN111785686B (en) * | 2019-04-03 | 2023-08-15 | 华邦电子股份有限公司 | Method for cutting wafer and crystal grain |
US20210035767A1 (en) * | 2019-07-29 | 2021-02-04 | Applied Materials, Inc. | Methods for repairing a recess of a chamber component |
JP7281741B2 (en) * | 2019-08-23 | 2023-05-26 | パナソニックIpマネジメント株式会社 | Element chip smoothing method and element chip manufacturing method |
US11804416B2 (en) * | 2020-09-08 | 2023-10-31 | UTAC Headquarters Pte. Ltd. | Semiconductor device and method of forming protective layer around cavity of semiconductor die |
US20220157657A1 (en) * | 2020-11-13 | 2022-05-19 | International Business Machines Corporation | Singulating individual chips from wafers having small chips and small separation channels |
DE102021110948B4 (en) * | 2021-04-28 | 2023-09-28 | Carl Zeiss Microscopy Gmbh | Method for processing an object with a material processing device, computer program product and material processing device for carrying out the method |
CN117438299B (en) * | 2023-12-21 | 2024-03-29 | 浙江集迈科微电子有限公司 | Etching method of III-V compound semiconductor material |
Family Cites Families (75)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4049944A (en) | 1973-02-28 | 1977-09-20 | Hughes Aircraft Company | Process for fabricating small geometry semiconductive devices including integrated components |
US5244538A (en) | 1991-07-26 | 1993-09-14 | Microelectronics And Computer Technology Corporation | Method of patterning metal on a substrate using direct-write deposition of a mask |
JP3165304B2 (en) * | 1992-12-04 | 2001-05-14 | 株式会社半導体エネルギー研究所 | Semiconductor device manufacturing method and semiconductor processing apparatus |
US5593606A (en) | 1994-07-18 | 1997-01-14 | Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. | Ultraviolet laser system and method for forming vias in multi-layered targets |
JPH09216085A (en) | 1996-02-07 | 1997-08-19 | Canon Inc | Method and equipment for cutting substrate |
US6426484B1 (en) | 1996-09-10 | 2002-07-30 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Circuit and method for heating an adhesive to package or rework a semiconductor die |
US5920973A (en) | 1997-03-09 | 1999-07-13 | Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. | Hole forming system with multiple spindles per station |
JP3230572B2 (en) | 1997-05-19 | 2001-11-19 | 日亜化学工業株式会社 | Method for manufacturing nitride compound semiconductor device and semiconductor light emitting device |
US6057180A (en) | 1998-06-05 | 2000-05-02 | Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. | Method of severing electrically conductive links with ultraviolet laser output |
US6562698B2 (en) | 1999-06-08 | 2003-05-13 | Kulicke & Soffa Investments, Inc. | Dual laser cutting of wafers |
US6194284B1 (en) | 1999-08-30 | 2001-02-27 | Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company | Method for forming residue free etched silicon layer |
JP4318353B2 (en) * | 1999-10-01 | 2009-08-19 | パナソニック株式会社 | Substrate manufacturing method |
JP2001110811A (en) | 1999-10-08 | 2001-04-20 | Oki Electric Ind Co Ltd | Manufacturing method of semiconductor device |
JP4387007B2 (en) | 1999-10-26 | 2009-12-16 | 株式会社ディスコ | Method for dividing semiconductor wafer |
JP2001144126A (en) | 1999-11-12 | 2001-05-25 | Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd | Semiconductor device and manufacturing method |
JP2001148358A (en) | 1999-11-19 | 2001-05-29 | Disco Abrasive Syst Ltd | Semiconductor wafer and deviding method thereof |
US6485988B2 (en) * | 1999-12-22 | 2002-11-26 | Texas Instruments Incorporated | Hydrogen-free contact etch for ferroelectric capacitor formation |
US6887804B2 (en) | 2000-01-10 | 2005-05-03 | Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. | Passivation processing over a memory link |
WO2001051243A2 (en) | 2000-01-10 | 2001-07-19 | Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. | Laser system and method for processing a memory link with a burst of laser pulses having ultrashort pulsewidths |
TW504425B (en) | 2000-03-30 | 2002-10-01 | Electro Scient Ind Inc | Laser system and method for single pass micromachining of multilayer workpieces |
CN1219319C (en) | 2000-07-12 | 2005-09-14 | 电子科学工业公司 | UV laser system and method for single pulse servering of IC fuses |
US6676878B2 (en) | 2001-01-31 | 2004-01-13 | Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. | Laser segmented cutting |
US6852241B2 (en) * | 2001-08-14 | 2005-02-08 | Lexmark International, Inc. | Method for making ink jet printheads |
US6759275B1 (en) | 2001-09-04 | 2004-07-06 | Megic Corporation | Method for making high-performance RF integrated circuits |
US6642127B2 (en) | 2001-10-19 | 2003-11-04 | Applied Materials, Inc. | Method for dicing a semiconductor wafer |
JP3910843B2 (en) | 2001-12-13 | 2007-04-25 | 東京エレクトロン株式会社 | Semiconductor element separation method and semiconductor element separation apparatus |
US6706998B2 (en) | 2002-01-11 | 2004-03-16 | Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. | Simulated laser spot enlargement |
CN1515025A (en) | 2002-02-25 | 2004-07-21 | ������������ʽ���� | Method for dividing semiconductor wafer |
KR100451950B1 (en) | 2002-02-25 | 2004-10-08 | 삼성전자주식회사 | Sawing method for image sensor device wafer |
JP2003257896A (en) | 2002-02-28 | 2003-09-12 | Disco Abrasive Syst Ltd | Method for dicing semiconductor wafer |
JP2005523583A (en) | 2002-04-19 | 2005-08-04 | エグシル テクノロジー リミテッド | Programmed dicing of substrates using pulsed laser |
JP2004031526A (en) | 2002-06-24 | 2004-01-29 | Toyoda Gosei Co Ltd | Manufacturing method of group iii nitride compound semiconductor element |
US6582983B1 (en) | 2002-07-12 | 2003-06-24 | Keteca Singapore Singapore | Method and wafer for maintaining ultra clean bonding pads on a wafer |
JP4286497B2 (en) | 2002-07-17 | 2009-07-01 | 新光電気工業株式会社 | Manufacturing method of semiconductor device |
JP3908148B2 (en) | 2002-10-28 | 2007-04-25 | シャープ株式会社 | Multilayer semiconductor device |
JP2004273895A (en) | 2003-03-11 | 2004-09-30 | Disco Abrasive Syst Ltd | Dividing method of semiconductor wafer |
JP2004322168A (en) | 2003-04-25 | 2004-11-18 | Disco Abrasive Syst Ltd | Laser machining apparatus |
JP4231349B2 (en) | 2003-07-02 | 2009-02-25 | 株式会社ディスコ | Laser processing method and laser processing apparatus |
JP4408361B2 (en) | 2003-09-26 | 2010-02-03 | 株式会社ディスコ | Wafer division method |
US7128806B2 (en) | 2003-10-21 | 2006-10-31 | Applied Materials, Inc. | Mask etch processing apparatus |
JP4471632B2 (en) | 2003-11-18 | 2010-06-02 | 株式会社ディスコ | Wafer processing method |
JP2005203541A (en) | 2004-01-15 | 2005-07-28 | Disco Abrasive Syst Ltd | Laser-processing method for wafer |
US7459377B2 (en) | 2004-06-08 | 2008-12-02 | Panasonic Corporation | Method for dividing substrate |
US7687740B2 (en) | 2004-06-18 | 2010-03-30 | Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. | Semiconductor structure processing using multiple laterally spaced laser beam spots delivering multiple blows |
JP2006040914A (en) * | 2004-07-22 | 2006-02-09 | Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd | Method and device for dicing semiconductor wafer |
JP4018088B2 (en) | 2004-08-02 | 2007-12-05 | 松下電器産業株式会社 | Semiconductor wafer dividing method and semiconductor element manufacturing method |
US7199050B2 (en) | 2004-08-24 | 2007-04-03 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Pass through via technology for use during the manufacture of a semiconductor device |
JP4018096B2 (en) | 2004-10-05 | 2007-12-05 | 松下電器産業株式会社 | Semiconductor wafer dividing method and semiconductor element manufacturing method |
JP4288229B2 (en) | 2004-12-24 | 2009-07-01 | パナソニック株式会社 | Manufacturing method of semiconductor chip |
US7875898B2 (en) | 2005-01-24 | 2011-01-25 | Panasonic Corporation | Semiconductor device |
JP2006253402A (en) | 2005-03-10 | 2006-09-21 | Nec Electronics Corp | Manufacturing method of semiconductor device |
JP4478053B2 (en) | 2005-03-29 | 2010-06-09 | 株式会社ディスコ | Semiconductor wafer processing method |
JP4285455B2 (en) | 2005-07-11 | 2009-06-24 | パナソニック株式会社 | Manufacturing method of semiconductor chip |
JP4599243B2 (en) | 2005-07-12 | 2010-12-15 | 株式会社ディスコ | Laser processing equipment |
JP4460501B2 (en) * | 2005-07-29 | 2010-05-12 | アオイ電子株式会社 | Micro sample table |
JP4769560B2 (en) | 2005-12-06 | 2011-09-07 | 株式会社ディスコ | Wafer division method |
JP4372115B2 (en) | 2006-05-12 | 2009-11-25 | パナソニック株式会社 | Semiconductor device manufacturing method and semiconductor module manufacturing method |
JP4480728B2 (en) | 2006-06-09 | 2010-06-16 | パナソニック株式会社 | Method for manufacturing MEMS microphone |
JP4544231B2 (en) | 2006-10-06 | 2010-09-15 | パナソニック株式会社 | Manufacturing method of semiconductor chip |
JP4840174B2 (en) * | 2007-02-08 | 2011-12-21 | パナソニック株式会社 | Manufacturing method of semiconductor chip |
JP4840200B2 (en) | 2007-03-09 | 2011-12-21 | パナソニック株式会社 | Manufacturing method of semiconductor chip |
US7989319B2 (en) | 2007-08-07 | 2011-08-02 | Semiconductor Components Industries, Llc | Semiconductor die singulation method |
US8012857B2 (en) * | 2007-08-07 | 2011-09-06 | Semiconductor Components Industries, Llc | Semiconductor die singulation method |
TW200935506A (en) | 2007-11-16 | 2009-08-16 | Panasonic Corp | Plasma dicing apparatus and semiconductor chip manufacturing method |
US8551578B2 (en) * | 2008-02-12 | 2013-10-08 | Applied Materials, Inc. | Patterning of magnetic thin film using energized ions and thermal excitation |
US7859084B2 (en) | 2008-02-28 | 2010-12-28 | Panasonic Corporation | Semiconductor substrate |
CN101990480A (en) | 2008-04-10 | 2011-03-23 | 应用材料股份有限公司 | Laser-scribing platform and hybrid writing strategy |
JP2010165963A (en) * | 2009-01-19 | 2010-07-29 | Furukawa Electric Co Ltd:The | Method of treating semiconductor wafer |
JP2010231146A (en) | 2009-03-30 | 2010-10-14 | Panasonic Corp | Chemically amplified resist material and pattern forming method by use of it |
WO2011074457A1 (en) * | 2009-12-15 | 2011-06-23 | ソニー株式会社 | Photoelectric conversion element and method for manufacturing photoelectric conversion element |
US9165833B2 (en) * | 2010-01-18 | 2015-10-20 | Semiconductor Components Industries, Llc | Method of forming a semiconductor die |
US8642448B2 (en) * | 2010-06-22 | 2014-02-04 | Applied Materials, Inc. | Wafer dicing using femtosecond-based laser and plasma etch |
GB2484506A (en) * | 2010-10-13 | 2012-04-18 | Univ Warwick | Heterogrowth |
US8598016B2 (en) | 2011-06-15 | 2013-12-03 | Applied Materials, Inc. | In-situ deposited mask layer for device singulation by laser scribing and plasma etch |
US8951819B2 (en) * | 2011-07-11 | 2015-02-10 | Applied Materials, Inc. | Wafer dicing using hybrid split-beam laser scribing process with plasma etch |
-
2013
- 2013-07-10 US US13/938,570 patent/US8993414B2/en active Active
- 2013-07-11 KR KR1020157004051A patent/KR102365042B1/en active IP Right Grant
- 2013-07-11 WO PCT/US2013/050122 patent/WO2014011913A1/en active Application Filing
- 2013-07-11 JP JP2015521818A patent/JP2015524613A/en active Pending
- 2013-07-11 CN CN201380035357.7A patent/CN104412377A/en active Pending
- 2013-07-12 TW TW102125092A patent/TW201405646A/en unknown
-
2015
- 2015-03-27 US US14/671,379 patent/US20150200119A1/en not_active Abandoned
Cited By (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US10957596B2 (en) * | 2018-08-23 | 2021-03-23 | International Business Machines Corporation | Caterpillar trenches for efficient wafer dicing |
WO2022005654A1 (en) * | 2020-07-01 | 2022-01-06 | Sandisk Technologies Llc | Semiconductor structure containing pre-polymerized protective layer and method of making thereof |
US11538777B2 (en) | 2020-07-01 | 2022-12-27 | Sandisk Technologies Llc | Semiconductor structure containing pre-polymerized protective layer and method of making thereof |
US11776922B2 (en) | 2020-07-01 | 2023-10-03 | Sandisk Technologies Llc | Semiconductor structure containing pre-polymerized protective layer and method of making thereof |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US8993414B2 (en) | 2015-03-31 |
KR102365042B1 (en) | 2022-02-17 |
KR20150032583A (en) | 2015-03-26 |
JP2015524613A (en) | 2015-08-24 |
WO2014011913A1 (en) | 2014-01-16 |
TW201405646A (en) | 2014-02-01 |
US20140017881A1 (en) | 2014-01-16 |
CN104412377A (en) | 2015-03-11 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US8993414B2 (en) | Laser scribing and plasma etch for high die break strength and clean sidewall | |
US20150011073A1 (en) | Laser scribing and plasma etch for high die break strength and smooth sidewall | |
US8845854B2 (en) | Laser, plasma etch, and backside grind process for wafer dicing | |
JP6516470B2 (en) | Laser / plasma etching wafer dicing using water soluble die attach film | |
US9076860B1 (en) | Residue removal from singulated die sidewall | |
US9126285B2 (en) | Laser and plasma etch wafer dicing using physically-removable mask | |
US9018079B1 (en) | Wafer dicing using hybrid laser scribing and plasma etch approach with intermediate reactive post mask-opening clean | |
KR102476266B1 (en) | A hybrid wafer dicing approach using a multi-pass laser scribing process and a plasma etching process | |
US9721839B2 (en) | Etch-resistant water soluble mask for hybrid wafer dicing using laser scribing and plasma etch | |
US9852997B2 (en) | Hybrid wafer dicing approach using a rotating beam laser scribing process and plasma etch process | |
US9012305B1 (en) | Wafer dicing using hybrid laser scribing and plasma etch approach with intermediate non-reactive post mask-opening clean | |
US11355394B2 (en) | Wafer dicing using hybrid laser scribing and plasma etch approach with intermediate breakthrough treatment | |
KR20230027244A (en) | Laser scribing trench aperture control in wafer dicing using hybrid laser scribing and plasma etching methods |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
STCB | Information on status: application discontinuation |
Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION |