JPH061771B2 - Wafer protection film cutting method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention cuts a protective film made of an adhesive film adhered to a wafer such as a semiconductor wafer which is a substrate for forming an integrated circuit along the periphery of the wafer. It is about how to do it.

[Conventional technology]

In the past, a protective film of this type has been pasted by manually adhering a protective film that has been cut to a certain size in advance to a wafer with a rubber roller or the like, and then manually applying a cutter knife to the outer periphery of the wafer. The method of cutting out was done.

In addition, a floating suction table, a power-driven sticking roller that sticks a protective film made of an adhesive film on the upper surface of the wafer sucked on this table, and a manual guide along the circular guide rail after sticking the protective film. There is also a semi-automatic device that cuts the protective film with a cutter provided on the moving table.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the conventional method as described above, the method of performing all manually is to press the cutter knife against the wafer with an excessive force to damage the wafer, or the dimensional accuracy of the outer shape of the wafer and the cut-out protective film deteriorates. However, the workability was extremely poor.

Further, the workability of the semi-automatic device is considerably improved, but the cutting of the protective film is performed by manually moving the cutter along the guide rails, which is another step in terms of workability.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention allows a wafer to be sucked and fixed on the upper surface, and a vacuum suction type suction table for adhering a protective film to the wafer can be rotated and moved up and down. Adsorb the wafer onto the table and attach a tape-shaped protective film to this wafer, then separate the protective film attached to this wafer from the tape-shaped film that follows it, and then raise the adsorption table. After separating the protective film attached to the wafer from the non-rotatable part by the method, while rotating the suction table, the cutter is guided so that it is located near the peripheral edge of the wafer, and the protective film is cut along the peripheral edge of the wafer. Is provided.

〔Example〕

In FIG. 1, 1 is a substrate, 2 is a supporting plate supported by a plurality of columns (not shown) on the substrate, and the fixed table 3 is mounted on the supporting plate 2 via brackets (not shown). It is provided.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a circular opening provided in the fixed table 3, and a disk-shaped suction table 6 is provided in this opening.

A groove 7 for vacuum suction as shown in FIG. 2 is provided on the upper surface of the suction table 6, and a spline shaft 8 is fixed to the center of the lower portion of the table 6 concentrically. A communication hole 10 communicating with the rotary elbow 1 is provided at the lower end of the shaft 8.
1 is attached and a hose 12 leading to a vacuum suction device (not shown) is connected to the elbow 11.

Reference numeral 15 is a bearing fixed to the support plate 2, and a rotary cylinder 16 is mounted in the bearing 15 through a needle bearing so as to be rotatable and cannot be moved up and down, and the spline shaft 8 can be moved up and down through a ball spline 17 therein. Then, it is inserted so as to rotate together with the rotary cylinder 16.

A gear 18 is integrally provided on the outer side of the intermediate portion of the rotary cylinder 16, and a flange on the outer periphery of the lower portion of a cylindrical body 20 rotatably fitted on the outer side of the rotary cylinder 16 via a needle bearing at the upper part of the gear 18 and the table 6. A pressing spring 22 is attached between the cams 21 which are detachably fixed to the lower portion to make the table 6 in a floating state.

Reference numeral 25 in FIG. 1 denotes an air, hydraulic or electric cylinder fixed on the substrate 1. A lifter 26 vertically driven by the cylinder 25 has a round bar portion 27 formed at the lower end of the spline shaft 8 as a bearing. The round bar 27 is mounted movably up and down, and a stopper 28 and a lock screw 29 are screwed into the male screw on the outside of the round bar 27 to position the suction table 6.

Reference numeral 31 is a shaft fixed on the support plate 2, and a gear 32 rotatably attached to the shaft 31 is meshed with the gear 18.

Reference numeral 33 denotes a lateral drive shaft rotatably attached to a bearing (not shown) fixed on the support plate 2. A handle 34 is fixed to an outer end of the shaft 33, and a bevel gear 35 is fixed to an inner end thereof. The gear 35 is meshed with the bevel gear 36 fixed on the gear 32. Further, the drive shaft 33 may be driven by a motor or the like.

2 and 3, 38 is a shaft fixed on the support plate 2 on the side of the suction table 6, 39 is an arm which rotates around this shaft 38, 40 is a cam follower attached to the outer end of the arm, Reference numeral 41 is a tension spring stretched between the arm 39 and the support plate 2 to press the cam follower 40 onto the outer circumference of the cam 21.

Reference numeral 45 is a bracket fixed on the arm 39, on which the cutter mounting base 4 is attached by an arc-shaped long hole and bolts.
6 is fixed so that the vertical position and the mounting angle are adjustable.

A holder 47 is attached on the cutter mount 46 by a linear guide.
Attached so that it moves forward and backward in the direction of the arrow in FIG.
A cutter 48 is fixed to the tip of 7, and springs 49 for pushing the holder 47 toward the suction table 6 are provided on both sides of the holder 47.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. First, the wafer 50 is placed on the suction table 6 in the lowered position, the wafer 50 is accurately positioned by an instruction line or the like provided on the table, and then vacuum suction is performed. Is fixed on the table 6.

Then, a protective film sticking device (not shown) is operated to stretch the tape-like protective film 51 on the wafer 50 with its adhesive surface facing down, and then a sticking roller 52 made of rubber or the like is placed on the film 51. The film 51 is affixed onto the wafer 50 by rolling while pressing it.

In the pasting, when the roller 52 is placed on the suction table 6, the reaction force of the spring 22 makes the pressing force between the roller 52 and the table 6 constant.

In this way, the protective film 51 is attached to the wafer 50, and after the roller 52 is removed from the table 6, the protective film 51 is separated from the tape-shaped film before and after the suction table 6 by a cutter (not shown).

Next, the cylinder 25 is actuated to raise the spline shaft 8 to separate the film 51 on the suction table 6 from the fixed table 3 or the like so that the film can be rotated together with the table 3.

After that, the arm 39 is attached to the operating position as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the cam follower 40 is pressed against the cam 21 by the spring 41.

Further, the cutter mounting base 46 and the holder 47 are adjusted so that the cutter 48 is cut into the film 51 around the wafer 50.

Next, when the drive shaft 33 is rotated by the handle 34, the spline shaft 8 rotates together with the cam 21 and the table 6 via the bevel gears 35 and 36, the gears 32 and 18, the rotary cylinder 16, and the ball spline 17, so the cutter 48 that does not rotate.
Cuts the film 51 along the periphery of the wafer 50.

In the above, when the cutter 48 cuts the circular edge of the wafer 50, the cam follower 40 is also in contact with the circular edge of the cam 21, and the cutter 48 does not move at a fixed position, so that the film 51 is cut into the circular shape. However, since the orientation flat 53 of the wafer 50 comes to the portion of the cutter 48 and the flat portion of the cam 21 also comes to the portion of the cam follower 40, the cutter 48 moves slightly together with the cam follower 40 in this portion, and the film 51 moves along the flat 53. Then cut out in a straight line.

The size and shape of the wafer 50 and the cam 21 are approximated to each other.
As shown in the figure, if the vertical position of the cutting edge of the cutter 48 and the contact point of the cam 21 and the cam follower 40 is on the vertical line, the cutting edge of the cutter 48 moves following the cam 21.
The film 51 is cut out according to the shape of the wafer 50,
The cam 21 is made smaller than the wafer 50, and the wafer 50
The same result can be obtained as a similar form.

Although the above embodiment is a method of making the cutter 48 follow the cam 21, a cutting method without using the cam will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7. Hardness is given to the surface as shown in FIG. The edge of the cutter 48 is placed on the suction table 6 and the wafer 5
0 as a guide, and as shown in FIG. 5, the outer diameter of the wafer 50 and the approximate groove 54 are formed on the suction table 6 as shown in FIG.
Is processed, and the cutting edge of the cutter 48 is applied to the groove to cut. Further, the protrusion amount of the cut surface of the protective film 51 from the outer shape of the wafer 50 can be adjusted by the inclination of the cutter 48.

When it is desired to cut the wafer 50 into almost the same size as the outer shape of the wafer 50, the protective film 51 can be moved to the upper surface of the suction table 6 as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7, a projection 55 having a shape similar to that of the wafer 50 is provided on the suction table 6, the wafer 50 is sucked onto the projection 55, and the film 51 is pressed by a ring 56 fitted on the outer periphery of the projection 55 to form the film 51. Keep the tension applied to the cutter 4
The film 51 may be cut by fusing by applying heat to the film 8. If the base material of the protective film 51 is easily shrunk, or the like that is inconvenient for fusing, the heat applied to the cutter 48 may be controlled and the fusing of the protective film 51 may be performed while the fusing of the heat and the cutting edge of the cutter 48 are used together. .

After cutting, the unnecessary film on the outer periphery is peeled off, the suction of the suction table 6 is released, the wafer to which the protective film 51 is attached is removed, and then the table 6 is lowered to its original position.

〔effect〕

According to the present invention, the wafer is sucked and fixed on the upper surface as described above, and the vacuum suction type suction table for adhering the protective film to the wafer can be rotated and moved up and down, and the wafer is sucked onto the suction table. After attaching the tape-shaped protective film to this wafer, separate the protective film attached to the wafer from the tape-shaped film that follows it, and then raise the suction table to move the protective film to the non-rotating part. After separation, the method is to rotate the suction table and guide the cutter so that it is positioned near the edge of the wafer, and cut the protective film along the edge of the wafer, so the movement of the cutter is extremely small. The support means and the up-and-down means of are also simple. Further, unlike the conventional method, there is an effect that skill level by manual work is not required and there is no possibility of damaging by strongly pressing the peripheral edge of the wafer with the cutter.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially longitudinal front view of an apparatus for carrying out the method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main portion of the same, FIG. 3 is a front view of a cutter mounting portion, and FIGS. 4 to 7 are cutting methods. It is a partial longitudinal front view showing each example of. 6 ... Suction table, 48 ... Cutter, 50 ... Wafer, 51 ... Protective film.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vacuum suction type suction table for adsorbing and fixing a wafer on the upper surface and adhering a protective film to the wafer is rotatable and can be raised and lowered, and the wafer is sucked onto the suction table. After attaching a tape-shaped protective film to this wafer, the protective film attached to this wafer was separated from the tape-shaped film that follows it, and then attached to the wafer by raising the suction table. After separating the protective film from the non-rotating portion, while rotating the suction table, the cutter is guided to be positioned near the peripheral edge of the wafer and the protective film is cut along the peripheral edge of the wafer. Cutting method. 2. The wafer protecting method according to claim 1, wherein the cutter guiding method applies the tip of the cutter to a boundary position of the suction table and guides the cutter by the peripheral edge of the wafer. How to cut the film. 3. The cutter guiding method according to claim 1, wherein an external cam having a shape similar to that of the wafer is provided, and the cutter is guided by rotating the cam synchronously with the suction table. Method for cutting wafer protective film.