JPS5853506B2 - dicer device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a dicing apparatus for dicing semiconductor wafers.

Conventional dicer devices include those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and those shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The former includes a dicing blade 9 that dices the streets 6 of the wafer 1 placed on the wafer table 2, and a detection microscope 3 that detects the dicing lines 8 of the dicing blade 9 and the streets 6 of the wafer 1.
, a fine adjustment screw 10 that performs fine adjustment of the detection microscope 3 via a fine adjustment table (not shown), and a wafer table 2.
It is equipped with a transfer mechanism (not shown) that reciprocates between the detection position 11 and the dicing position 7,
First, move the wafer table 2 to align the street 6 to be diced with the alignment line 5 in the detection field of view 4 of the detection microscope 3, and then transfer the wafer 1 from the detection position 11 to the dicing position 7 via the wafer table 2. The wafer 1 is diced at the dicing position 7 and returned to the detection position 11, and the above-described operations are repeated to perform dicing of the wafer 1.

Here, the alignment line 5 within the detection field of view 4 is aligned with the dicing line 8 in advance.

This alignment work is performed when replacing a worn dicing blade 9 with a new one.
A test cut is made, and while the test cut dicing line 8 is detected by the detection microscope 3, the alignment line 5 in the detection field of view 4 is aligned with the new dicing line using the fine adjustment screw 10.

Moreover, the latter is the former (the dicing blade 9 and the detection microscope 3 are arranged so that the dicing line 8 and the alignment line 5 are in a straight line).

), the basic configuration is almost the same, except that the dicing blade 9 and the detection microscope 3 are arranged so that the dicing line 8 and the alignment line 5 are parallel to each other. The distance F (offset) between the wafer table 2 and the wafer table 2 is kept constant, and the distance F (
It is configured to be transferred back and forth by an amount (offset).
First, street 6 is diced at detection position 11.
, then feed wafer 1 by offset F,
The street 6 is diced at the dicing position 7, and then the wafer 1 is moved back by the offset F, and the above-described operations are repeated to perform dicing of the wafer 1.

Here, when the dicing blade 9 is worn out and replaced with a new one, the detection microscope 3 is finely adjusted by the fine adjustment screw, the alignment line 5 is test cut, and the alignment line 5 is realigned with the dicing line 8 fed by the offset F. .

In the conventional dicing and dicing apparatus described above, even if the detection of the streets 6 is automatic, the alignment of the alignment line 5 with the new dicing blade 9 is performed manually.

As mentioned above, in the conventional dicer device, the joining line 5
Since the work of aligning the dicing line 8 with the dicing line 8 is done manually, a visual detection system for humans, such as a high-precision TV image, is required even if it is unnecessary when street detection is automatic, and a detection microscope 3 is required. A fine adjustment table is required for fine adjustment, and this fine adjustment table is required to have high precision and high rigidity, and therefore has the disadvantage that the entire device is large and expensive.

In view of the above-mentioned points, the present invention aims to provide a dicer device that is simple in structure, small in size, and inexpensive.

The present invention combines a street detection system and a dicing line detection system, detects a dicing line of a test cut of a newly replaced dicing blade, and uses this dicing line to calculate an offset value between the detection system and the dicing blade. The present invention is characterized in that the new offset value is replaced with the old offset value and stored, and the wafer is reciprocated between the detection system and the dicing blade based on the new offset value.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the dicer device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 9.

The dicing apparatus of the present invention in this embodiment includes a detection means for detecting the position of the streets of the wafer 1 and a position of the dicing line of the test cut, a dicing blade 9 for dicing the streets of the wafer 1, and an offset value OF. , and means for positioning the wafer 1, transporting the wafer 1, and controlling them.

The detection means includes a lamp 17 arranged obliquely above the detection direction (transfer direction of the wafer 1) 16, an objective lens 20 arranged above the detection position, a fixed slit 21, and a photoful 22 for condensing light transmitted through the slit. Consisting of

The control means includes a linear encoder 18 that detects the position of the wafer table 2, a drive motor 19 that transfers the wafer table 2, and an electric circuit 23 that receives signals from the photofull 22 and the linear encoder 18 and controls the drive motor 19. It consists of

This electric circuit 23 is as shown in FIG.
a main circuit 23A for starting and stopping the operation and switching between dicing line mode and street mode, a dicing line detection sequence circuit 23B, a dicing line detection circuit 23C, and an offset value calculation circuit 23.
D, an offset value storage circuit 23E, a street detection sequence circuit 23F, and a street detection circuit 23G.
and a drive motor control circuit 23H.

Next, the operation and operation of the dicer device of the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the dicing blade 9 is worn out and needs to be replaced with a new one, first manually replace the dicing blade 9 with a new one, and then use this new dicing blade 9 to dice a flat wafer without a pattern such as the back side of the wafer. Make a test cut.

Next, the main circuit 23A is operated to start automatic operation.

Then, the dicing line detection sequence circuit 23B
The test cut wafer is placed at dicing position 7.
Then, the dicing line detection circuit 23C is activated to detect the position of the dicing line test-cut by the new dicing blade 9.

That is, the light 30 incident from the lamp 17 from diagonally above
is diffusely reflected at the edge part 31 of the dicing line,
Although the scattered light 32 appears shining from above, the flat portion 33 and the dicing portion 34 appear dark.

Therefore, the wafer table 2 moves in the detection direction 16, and the sixth
As shown in the figure, the slit 21 scans in the direction 36 in the figure relative to the dicing part 34, and the transmitted light is focused by the photoful 22.
A signal shown in FIG. By calculating the center 40, the center of the dicing line can be found.

Note that the above is based on oblique illumination, but in the case of epi-illumination, as shown in Figure 7, the light 30
When the light is incident, there is little reflected light from the dicing section 34 and it appears dark.

Therefore, the slit 2 is scanned by scanning the wafer table 2.
1, if the wafer 1 is moved and the light transmitted through the slit 21 is focused by the photoful 22, a signal as shown in FIG. Therefore, this low peak is binarized to obtain a signal 42 as shown in FIG. 7d, and the signal 4 is
By calculating the center 43 of the peak of 2, the center of the dicing line can be found.

When the position of the dicing line is determined in the dicing line detection circuit 23C as described above, the offset value calculation circuit 23D is activated to determine whether the center of the detection means and the newly replaced dicing blade 9 are aligned with the new dicing line. An offset value OF between is determined.

Next, the offset value storage circuit 23E operates and stores the newly obtained offset value OF as the old offset.

Then, when the new offset value OF is stored, the main circuit 23A is activated to switch from the dicing line mode to the street mode.

That is, the sequence circuit 23 for dicing line detection
On the other hand, the street detection sequence circuit 23F is started, and the street detection sequence circuit 23F activates the street detection circuit 23G.

That is, while detecting the street of the wafer 1 by receiving signals from the photofull 22 and the linear encoder 18, a signal is sent to the drive motor control circuit 23H, and the drive motor 19 is driven by the drive motor control circuit 23H to detect the street of the wafer 1. Decide on position.

When the position of the wafer 1 is determined, the drive motor 19 moves the wafer table 2 from the detection position 11 to the dicing position 7 by the new offset value OF, and at the dicing position 7, the street of the wafer 1 is diced by the dicing blade 9. be done.

When dicing is performed, the wafer table 2 is returned from the dicing position 7 to the detection position 11 by a new offset value OF;
Thereafter, street position detection, wafer 1 positioning, and street dicing of wafer 1 are repeated.

When the dicing blade 9 becomes worn, it is replaced with a new one and the operation described at the beginning is repeated.

The dicing device of the present invention in the above embodiments has both a street detection system and a dicing line detection system, and also eliminates the fine movement table of the detection system, so it has a simple structure, is compact, and can be provided at low cost. be able to.

In addition to the above-mentioned detection means, there are laser scanning methods, TV camera input, line scanner input, etc., and the position of the dicing line can be detected by a signal in the form of a signal shown in FIG. 6 or FIG. 1. can be easily obtained by finding its center.

In addition, if the detection means is a self-scanning type such as a line scanner or TV, the position of the dicing line is determined by the linear encoder 1.
It is calculated from the value of 8 and the detector value or only from the detector value.

Furthermore, the position of the wafer table 2 may be detected by a potentiometer, a laser measuring device, or the like in addition to the linear encoder 18.

As is clear from the above embodiments, the dicing device of the present invention detects a new dicing line test-cut by a newly replaced dicing blade, and uses this new dicing line to connect the detection system and the new dicing blade. The offset value is calculated and stored, and the wafer is reciprocated between the detection system and the dicing blade based on this new offset value, so the fine adjustment table for the detection system can be eliminated. , and moreover, it can be used as both a dicing line detection system and a street detection system, so the structure is simple, compact, and inexpensive.

Note that, as a matter of course, the dicer device of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first example of a conventional dicer device;
FIG. 2 is also an explanatory diagram of the detection field of view. FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view showing a second example of a conventional dicer apparatus, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a wafer transfer state. 5 to 9 show an embodiment of the dicing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 5 is a principle diagram, FIG. 6a is a sectional view showing the relationship between oblique illumination and dicing lines, and FIG. is a diagram observed from above, Figure 6e is a signal diagram from the photoful, Figure 7a
is a cross-sectional view showing the relationship between epi-illumination and dicing lines,
Fig. 7 is a diagram observed from above, Fig. 7 C is a signal diagram from the photoful, Fig. 7 d is a binary signal diagram, Fig. 8 is an electric circuit diagram of the control means, and Fig. 9 is an operation 2 diagram. It is a flowchart showing the operating state. 1...Wafer, 2...Wafer table, 7...Dicing position, 9...Dicing blade, 11...Detection position, 17・・・
... Lamp, 18 ... Linear encoder,
19... Drive motor, 20... Objective lens, 21... Fixed slit, 22...
・Hotful, 23...Electric circuit of control means, 2
3A... Main circuit, 23B... Dicing line detection sequence circuit, 23C...
- Dicing line detection circuit, 23D... Offset value calculation circuit, 23E... Offset value storage circuit, 23F... Street detection sequence circuit, 23G... Street detection circuit, 23
H... Drive motor control circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Detection means for detecting the position of the street of the wafer and the position of the dicing line of the test cut;
a dicing blade for dicing streets of the wafer, and means for calculating and storing an offset value between the detecting means and the new dicing blade based on the dicing line of the test cut of the new dicing blade detected by the detecting means; means for positioning the wafer based on the street detected by the detection means;
It is characterized by comprising means for reciprocating the positioned wafer by the offset value between the detection means and the dicing blade, and means for controlling the offset value calculation storage means, the wafer positioning means, and the wafer transfer means. dicer device.