JP2023091211A - Device chip manufacturing method and plate-like object - Google Patents

Abstract

To divide a wafer to produce device chips without using tape.SOLUTION: Provided is a device chip manufacturing method for dividing a wafer having a device in each region partitioned by a plurality of intersecting scheduled divide lines. This manufacturing method involves: holding the wafer with a jig chuck table that includes grooves formed at positions corresponding to the scheduled divide lines of the wafer and includes a suction hole in each of regions partitioned by the grooves; cutting the wafer being held by the jig chuck table along the scheduled divide lines with a rotating cutting blade to divide the wafer into individual device chips; drawing in and holding the top surface of the divided wafer with a suction pad; carrying out the wafer from the jig chuck table; placing the wafer drawn in and held by the suction pad on an organic resin layer of a plate-like object, with an organic resin layer having retention ability disposed on the surface of it; and accommodating the plate-like object having the wafer placed on it in a cassette.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing device chips by cutting and dividing a wafer with a cutting blade in a cutting machine, storing the wafers in a cassette and unloading them from the cutting machine, and a plate-like object that can be used in the method for manufacturing the device chips. Regarding.

Device chips used in electronic equipment such as mobile phones and computers are formed by dividing a wafer on which a plurality of devices are arranged for each device. When dividing a wafer made of a material such as a semiconductor, for example, a cutting device having a cutting blade having an annular cutting edge (grindstone portion) on its outer periphery is used. The workpiece is held by the chuck table of the cutting device, and the cutting blade and the workpiece are moved relatively while the cutting blade rotating at high speed cuts into the workpiece. Can be cut.

A wafer carried into the cutting device and cut is integrated with a ring frame having an opening with a diameter larger than that of the wafer, and a tape attached to the ring frame so as to block the opening, and the frame unit is attached in advance. It is formed. When the wafer is supported by the ring frame through the tape, the wafer is protected from impacts and the like, and is less likely to be damaged during transportation. Moreover, since the device chips formed by cutting the wafer are supported as they are on the tape, the device chips can be easily handled. A frame unit including a plurality of device chips is accommodated in a cassette and unloaded from the cutting apparatus.

In recent years, package technologies such as BGA (Ball Grid Array) and CSP (Chip Size Package) have been developed. In these techniques, a plurality of device chips arranged vertically and horizontally are sealed with a sealing resin to form a package substrate, and the package substrate is cut to manufacture packaged device chips. Since the package substrate is easier to handle than the wafer, it is less necessary to integrate the tape and ring frame in advance to form a frame unit.

A workpiece is placed and fixed on a chuck table without tape, the workpiece is conveyed in direct contact with a device chip formed by cutting the workpiece, and the device chip is cleaned and stored in a specified case. device is known. In this cutting apparatus, the chuck table has a structure suitable for holding the package substrate (see Patent Document 1). Alternatively, a transport tray that can be used repeatedly for supporting and transporting package substrates is used (see Patent Document 2). Fabricating the device chip without using tape greatly reduces the cost of the process.

JP 2015-109325 A JP 2012-144261 A

Recently, a package technology called WLP (Wafer level package) has been developed. With this technology, wafers are processed through to the final packaging process, requiring the same careful handling as conventional wafers, making it difficult to adopt processes that do not use tape.

In particular, care must be taken in handling device chips after they have been separated into individual pieces, but an effective method for transporting device chips has not yet been established. A plurality of manufactured device chips cannot be accommodated in a cassette as they are. Therefore, the device chip had to be manufactured by the conventional method using tape using a conventional cutting machine, leading to an increase in the manufacturing cost of the device chip.

The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a device chip that does not use a tape and facilitates handling of the manufactured device chip, and a method for manufacturing the device chip. It is to provide a possible plate-like object.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device chip manufacturing method for dividing a wafer having a device in each region partitioned by a plurality of intersecting dividing lines, wherein the positions of the wafer corresponding to the dividing lines a holding step of holding the wafer by a jig chuck table having a groove formed in the groove and having suction holes in regions partitioned by the groove; and dividing the wafer held by the jig chuck table. a cutting step of cutting the wafer into individual device chips by cutting with a cutting blade that rotates along a predetermined line; a carrying-out step of carrying out the wafer from the table; A device chip manufacturing method is provided that includes a placing step and a cassette accommodating step of accommodating the plate-shaped object on which the wafer is placed in a cassette.

Preferably, the plate-shaped object has an exposed region outside the organic resin layer on the surface where the organic resin layer is not provided, and in the step of housing the plate-shaped object, the exposed region of the plate-shaped object is The plate-like object is accommodated in the cassette while being sucked or gripped.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plate-like object capable of supporting a wafer and being housed in a cassette, having a width larger than the width of the wafer and smaller than the width of the housing space of the cassette. , a plate having an organic resin layer thereon which has a holding power is provided.

Preferably, the surface has an exposed region outside the organic resin layer where the organic resin layer is not provided.

In a method for manufacturing a device chip according to an aspect of the present invention, a plate-shaped object having an organic resin layer having holding power provided on its surface is used. When a wafer cut into device chips is placed on the organic resin layer of the plate, the wafer is held by the organic resin layer. At this time, the individual device chips are stably supported by the plate-like object via the organic resin layer. The device chips can be easily transported by housing the plate-like object holding the wafers in the cassette and transporting the cassette.

In this way, the use of a plate having an organic resin layer having holding power on the surface eliminates the need to use a tape applied to the ring frame. Moreover, when the wafer (device chip) is removed from the plate-like object, the plate-like object can be reused to hold the next wafer. Therefore, unlike the case where the tape is used once and then discarded, the large cost required for the tape is not required. Furthermore, if the plate-like object can be accommodated in the conventionally used cassette, there is no need to prepare a new cassette for accommodating the plate-like object.

Therefore, according to one aspect of the present invention, there are provided a device chip manufacturing method that does not use a tape and allows easy handling of the manufactured device chip, and a plate-like object that can be used in the manufacturing method.

It is a perspective view which shows a cutting device typically. FIG. 4 is a plan view schematically showing a jig chuck table of the cutting device; FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the holding step, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the cutting step. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a carry-out step; It is a perspective view which shows a plate-shaped object typically. It is a sectional view showing a placement step typically. It is a perspective view which shows a cassette accommodation step typically. 4 is a flow chart showing the flow of each step of the device chip manufacturing method.

An embodiment according to one aspect of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the device chip manufacturing method according to the present embodiment, a wafer having a device in each region partitioned by a plurality of intersecting dividing lines is cut by a cutting machine to manufacture device chips. FIG. 7 includes a perspective view schematically showing a wafer 11 cut and divided by a cutting device as a workpiece. FIG. 3A also includes a cross-sectional view schematically showing the wafer 11 before splitting.

The wafer 11 to be cut by the cutting machine is made of materials such as Si (silicon), SiC (silicon carbide), GaN (gallium nitride), GaAs (gallium arsenide), or other semiconductors. A plurality of devices such as ICs (Integrated Circuits) and LSIs (Large Scale Integrations) are formed on the front surface 11 a of the wafer 11 .

The wafer 11 may be, for example, a package substrate in which each device is sealed with a mold resin (not shown). Packaged device chips 15 can be formed by dividing the wafer 11, which is a package substrate, into individual devices. However, the wafer 11 cut by the cutting device 2 is not limited to this.

A plurality of dividing lines 13 that intersect each other are set on the wafer 11 , and devices are formed in respective regions partitioned by the dividing lines 13 . The wafer 11 is cut into individual device chips 15 by cutting the wafer 11 along the dividing lines 13 with the cutting device 2 to form the processed grooves 13a.

Next, the cutting device 2 used in the device chip manufacturing method according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the cutting device 2. FIG. The cutting device 2 includes a base 4 that supports each component. A long opening 4a is formed in the center of the base 4 along the X-axis direction (processing feed direction).

In the opening 4a, there are provided a jig chuck table 10 capable of sucking and holding a wafer 11 as a workpiece, an X-axis movement mechanism (not shown) capable of moving the jig chuck table 10 along the X-axis direction, and an X-axis movement mechanism. A dust and drip proof cover 8 is provided to cover and protect the mechanism. The X-axis movement mechanism (processing feed unit) is composed of a ball-screw type movement mechanism similar to the Y-axis movement mechanism and Z-axis movement mechanism described later. However, the X-axis movement mechanism is not limited to this.

One end of the dustproof/dripproof cover 8 is fixed to a cover 6 that covers the area below the jig chuck table 10 , and expands and contracts when the cover 6 moves along with the movement of the jig chuck table 10 . The dustproof and splashproof cover 8 and the cover 6 have the function of preventing cutting water supplied to the wafer 11 and the like when the wafer 11 is cut and processing waste generated from the wafer 11 and the like from entering the lower region.

FIG. 1 includes a perspective view schematically showing the jig chuck table 10. As shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing the jig chuck table 10. FIG. 3A, 3B, and 4 include cross-sectional views schematically showing the jig chuck table 10. FIG. An upper surface 12 of the jig chuck table 10 serves as a holding surface on which a wafer 11, which is a workpiece, is placed.

The upper surface 12 of the jig chuck table 10 is provided with grooves 36 formed at positions corresponding to the dividing lines 13 of the wafer 11 on which the processing grooves 13a are formed. The groove 36 is a relief groove formed in a region cut by the cutting blade 46 when the wafer 11 held by the jig chuck table 10 is cut by the cutting blade 46, which will be described later.

When dividing the wafer 11 by forming the processing grooves 13a in the wafer 11 as will be described later, the lower end of the cutting blade 46 reaches a position lower than the upper surface 12 of the jig chuck table 10 in order to divide the wafer 11 reliably. Let The groove 36 is provided on the upper surface 12 of the jig chuck table 10 for the purpose of preventing the cutting blade 46 from contacting the jig chuck table 10 at this time.

The jig chuck table 10 has grooves 36 and suction holes 38 in areas defined by the grooves 36 on the upper surface 12 . As shown in FIG. 3A and the like, a suction path 40 is formed inside the jig chuck table 10 , and one end of the suction path 40 is connected to a suction source (not shown) provided outside the jig chuck table 10 . ). The terminal side of the suction path 40 is branched and connected to each suction hole 38 .

When the wafer 11 is placed on the upper surface 12 of the jig chuck table 10 and the suction source is activated, negative pressure is applied to the wafer 11 through the suction path 40 and the suction holes 38, and the wafer 11 is suction-held on the jig chuck table 10. be done. When the wafer 11 is divided along the dividing line 13 in this state, the individual device chips 15 to be manufactured continue to be sucked through the corresponding suction holes 38 .

A cutting unit 14 for cutting the wafer 11 with an annular cutting blade 46 is arranged above the jig chuck table 10 . A support structure 16 for supporting the cutting unit 14 is arranged on the upper surface of the base 4 . The support structure 16 has an arm on top that extends across the opening 4a.

A Y-axis movement mechanism (index feed unit) that moves the cutting unit 14 in the Y-axis direction (index feed direction) and a Z-axis movement mechanism (cutting unit) that moves the cutting unit 14 in the Z-axis direction (vertical direction) are provided on the upper front surface of the support structure 16. A moving unit 18 is provided which consists of a feeding unit).

The Y-axis movement mechanism includes a pair of Y-axis guide rails 20 extending along the Y-axis direction on the front surface of the support structure 16 . A Y-axis moving plate 22 is slidably mounted on the pair of Y-axis guide rails 20 . A nut portion (not shown) is provided on the back side (rear side) of the Y-axis moving plate 22, and a Y-axis ball screw 24 parallel to the Y-axis guide rail 20 is screwed into this nut portion.

A Y-axis pulse motor (not shown) is connected to one end of the Y-axis ball screw 24 . By rotating the Y-axis ball screw 24 with the Y-axis pulse motor, the Y-axis moving plate 22 moves along the Y-axis guide rail 20 in the Y-axis direction.

A Z-axis movement mechanism is provided on the surface (front surface) of the Y-axis movement plate 22 . The Z-axis movement mechanism has a pair of Z-axis guide rails 26 along the Z-axis direction on the surface of the Y-axis movement plate 22 . A Z-axis moving plate 28 is slidably attached to the pair of Z-axis guide rails 26 .

A nut portion (not shown) is provided on the back side (rear side) of the Z-axis moving plate 28, and a Z-axis ball screw provided along a direction parallel to the Z-axis guide rail 26 is attached to the nut portion. 30 are screwed together. A Z-axis pulse motor 32 is connected to one end of the Z-axis ball screw 30 . By rotating the Z-axis ball screw 30 with this Z-axis pulse motor 32 , the Z-axis moving plate 28 moves along the Z-axis guide rail 26 . to move in the Z-axis direction.

The cutting unit 14 is fixed below the Z-axis moving plate 28 . As shown in FIG. 3B, the cutting unit 14 includes a spindle 44 extending in the Y-axis direction and a spindle housing 42 that rotatably accommodates the base end side of the spindle 44 . A rotation drive source such as a motor for rotating the spindle 44 is arranged in the spindle housing 42 .

A through-hole of a cutting blade 46 having an annular cutting edge (grindstone portion) is inserted through the tip of the spindle 44 , and the cutting blade 46 is fixed to the spindle 44 . When the rotary drive source is operated to rotate the spindle 44, the cutting blade 46 is rotated.

As shown in FIG. 1, an imaging unit 34 is provided at a position adjacent to the cutting unit 14 for imaging the wafer 11 sucked and held by the jig chuck table 10 and for detecting the position of the line 13 to be divided. there is The imaging unit 34 has an imaging device such as a CCD sensor or a CMOS sensor, and can image the upper surface of the wafer 11 . The moving unit 18 controls the positions of the cutting unit 14 and the imaging unit 34 in the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction.

An opening 4b is formed at a position adjacent to the opening 4a on the upper surface of the base 4, and a cleaning unit 48 for cleaning the wafer 11 after cutting is arranged in the opening 4b. The cleaning unit 48 includes a spinner table that rotates while holding the wafer 11, and a spray nozzle that sprays cleaning water from above onto the wafer 11 held on the spinner table.

An upper surface of the front end portion 58 of the base 4 is formed with an opening 4c in which a cassette mounting table 60 is arranged. A lifting mechanism (not shown) is provided below the cassette mounting table 60 of the base 4, and the cassette mounting table 60 can be moved up and down by the lifting mechanism. A cassette 62 containing a plurality of wafers 11 after cutting is mounted on the cassette mounting table 60 . In FIG. 1, the outline of the cassette 62 is indicated by a chain double-dashed line for convenience of explanation.

7 also includes a perspective view schematically showing the cassette 62. As shown in FIG. The cassette 62 can accommodate a plurality of wafers 11 as objects to be accommodated. The cassette 62 has, for example, a box-like shape with one side open, and has an accommodation space 66 inside for accommodating an object to be accommodated. An opening 64 serving as a loading/unloading entrance for the stored object is formed on this side surface, and the stored object is loaded/unloaded into the storage space 66 through the opening 64 .

A plurality of support rails 68 are provided on both inner walls adjacent to the opening 64 inside the cassette 62 to support the stored objects. Support rails 68 are arranged at the same height on the left and right inner walls, and the object to be accommodated is placed on the pair of support rails 68 at the same height on the left and right, and the object to be accommodated is supported by the support rails 68. be.

Furthermore, the cutting device 2 includes an unloading unit 50 (see FIG. 4) for unloading the wafer 11 after cutting from the jig chuck table 10 . The unloading unit 50 has a suction pad 52 and has a function of sucking and holding the wafer 11 that has been cut and divided into individual device chips 15 from above.

The suction pad 52 has a planar shape capable of covering the upper side of the wafer 11 . A plurality of suction holes 54 are formed in the lower surface of the suction pad 52 . Each suction hole 54 is provided in the suction pad 52 in an arrangement corresponding to the arrangement of the device chips 15 formed from the wafer 11 . That is, suction holes 54 are provided in the suction pad 52 in the same arrangement as the suction holes 38 of the jig chuck table 10 .

A suction path 56 is formed inside the suction pad 52 as shown in FIG. The terminal side of the suction path 56 is branched and connected to each suction hole 54 . When the suction pad 52 is placed on the wafer 11 sucked and held by the jig chuck table 10 and the suction source is activated, a negative pressure acts on the wafer 11 through the suction path 56 and the suction holes 54 , and the wafer 11 is removed by the suction pad 52 . is held by suction.

In this state, when the suction holding of the wafer 11 by the jig chuck table 10 is released and the suction pad 52 is lifted, each device chip 15 is lifted, that is, the wafer 11 after cutting can be transported.

The cutting device 2 also includes a loading/unloading unit 70 (see FIG. 7) for loading/unloading an object to/from the cassette 62 placed on the cassette mounting table 60 . The loading/unloading unit 70 includes a main body 74 and a gripping portion 72 composed of two claw portions protruding vertically from one side surface of the main body 74 . An object to be stored is inserted between the two claw portions of the gripping portion 72, and the gripping portion 72 grips the object to be stored by bringing the two claw portions close to each other. When the main body 74 is moved in a predetermined direction in this state, the stored object can be moved.

Next, each step of the device chip manufacturing method according to this embodiment will be described. This device chip manufacturing method is mainly carried out by the cutting device 2 . FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the flow of this device chip manufacturing method.

First, the holding step S10 is performed. FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the holding step S10. In the holding step S10, the wafer 11 is held on the jig chuck table 10 which has grooves 36 formed at positions corresponding to the dividing lines 13 of the wafer 11 and suction holes 38 in the areas defined by the grooves 36. Hold.

In the holding step S10, first, the wafer 11 is placed on the jig chuck table 10 by adjusting the position and orientation so that all the planned division lines 13 of the wafer 11 and the grooves 36 corresponding to the respective planned division lines 13 overlap. Place on top surface 12 . At this time, for example, the front surface 11 a faces upward and the back surface 11 b faces the upper surface 12 of the jig chuck table 10 . In the device chip manufacturing method according to the present embodiment, the wafer 11 is brought into direct contact with the jig chuck table 10 without attaching a tape to the rear surface 11b of the wafer 11 .

After the wafer 11 is placed on the upper surface 12 of the jig chuck table 10 , the suction source of the jig chuck table 10 is operated to suck and hold the wafer 11 on the jig chuck table 10 . Thereby, the wafer 11 to be cut can be fixed to the jig chuck table 10 at a predetermined position and orientation.

Next, a cutting step S20 of cutting the wafer 11 held by the jig chuck table 10 with the rotating cutting blade 46 along the dividing lines 13 to divide the wafer 11 into individual device chips 15 is performed. FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the cutting step S20.

When cutting a workpiece with the cutting device 2, first, the jig chuck table 10 is rotated around an axis substantially perpendicular to the upper surface 12, and the direction of the planned division line 13 of the wafer 11 is set in the X-axis direction (processing feed direction).

Also, the cutting unit 14 and the jig chuck table 10 are moved relatively to arrange the cutting blade 46 above the extension line of one planned division line 13 . Then, while adjusting the height of the cutting unit 14 so that the lowest end of the cutting blade 46 reaches a position lower than the upper surface 12 of the jig chuck table 10, the cutting blade 46 is rotated at high speed.

After that, the jig chuck table 10 is moved along the X-axis direction (processing feed direction), and the cutting blade 46 is cut into the wafer 11 along the dividing lines 13 to divide the wafer 11 . At this time, since the lowest end of the cutting blade 46 enters the groove 36 of the jig chuck table 10 , the jig chuck table 10 is not cut by the cutting blade 46 .

Next, the cutting unit 14 is moved along the Y-axis direction (index feed direction) to similarly cut the wafer 11 along other dividing lines 13 . Then, after cutting the wafer 11 along all the dividing lines 13 along one direction of the wafer 11, the jig chuck table 10 is rotated, and similarly along the dividing lines 13 along the other direction. Wafer 11 is cut. When the wafer 11 is cut along all the dividing lines 13 set on the wafer 11, the cutting step S20 ends.

When the wafer 11 is cut along the dividing lines 13 and divided in the cutting step S20, individual device chips 15 are manufactured. At this time, since the individual device chips 15 are sucked from the corresponding suction holes 38 of the jig chuck table 10 , they are continuously sucked and held on the jig chuck table 10 .

After the cutting step S20 is performed, the unloading step S30 is performed to unload the wafer 11 divided in the cutting step S20 from the jig chuck table 10 . FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the unloading step S30. The carry-out step S<b>30 is performed by the carry-out unit 50 of the cutting device 2 . In the unloading step S30, the upper surface (front surface 11a) of the wafer 11 is suction-held by the suction pad 52, and the wafer 11 is unloaded from the jig chuck table .

First, the suction pad 52 is positioned above the wafer 11 . At this time, the position and orientation of the suction pad 52 are adjusted so that the suction holes 54 of the suction pad 52 match the positions of the device chips 15 . After that, the suction pad 52 is lowered to come into contact with the upper surface of the wafer 11 , and the suction source of the unloading unit 50 is operated to suck and hold each device chip 15 with the suction pad 52 . After that, the suction source of the jig chuck table 10 is stopped, and the suction and holding of the wafer 11 by the jig chuck table 10 is stopped.

When the unloading unit 50 is lifted in this state, the split wafer 11 is lifted. When the unloading unit 50 is moved, the wafer 11 is unloaded from the jig chuck table 10 .

After the unloading step S30, a mounting step S40 is performed to facilitate subsequent handling of the divided wafers 11. FIG. In the mounting step S40, the wafer 11 is mounted on the plate-like object 21 shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the placement step S40. Here, the plate-like object 21 will be described.

The plate-like object 21 is a plate-like member having a width larger than the width of the wafer 11 and smaller than the width of the housing space 66 (see FIG. 7) of the cassette 62 . The plate-like object 21 is made of a hard material such as metal such as stainless steel (SUS), glass, or ceramics.

In general, the workpiece to be cut by the cutting device 2 is carried into the cutting device 2 after being attached to a tape applied to close the opening of a ring frame that is larger than the workpiece. . That is, the workpiece, the tape, and the ring frame are integrated to form a frame unit, and the frame unit is carried into the cutting device 2 . Then, the frame unit including the cut work piece is accommodated in the cassette 62 and unloaded from the cutting device 2 .

The planar shape of the plate-like object 21 used in the device chip manufacturing method according to the present embodiment is preferably the same as the planar shape of a conventionally used ring frame. In particular, if the shape of the outer periphery of the plate-like object 21 is the same as the shape of the outer periphery of the ring frame, the plate-like object 21 can be accommodated in the cassette 62 that has conventionally been used to accommodate frame units. 62 can be used. However, unlike the ring frame, the plate-like object 21 is not formed with an opening penetrating from the front to the back.

The plate-like object 21 has a sheet-like organic resin layer 23 having holding power on the surface 21a. The organic resin layer 23 is composed of a member that exerts a holding force on the wafer 11 due to tack force, adhesive force, or the like. As the organic resin layer 23 having tack strength, a member obtained by cross-linking an acrylic polymer with a cross-linking agent can be used. can. However, the organic resin layer 23 is not limited to this.

Note that the organic resin layer 23 does not need to be provided on the entire surface 21a of the plate-like object 21, and the plate-like object 21 has an exposed area 25 outside the organic resin layer 23 where the organic resin layer 23 is not provided. It may be provided on the outer peripheral portion of the surface 21a. Also, the organic resin layer 23 is not provided on the back surface 21 b side of the plate-like object 21 .

There is no particular limitation on the position where the plate-like object 21 on which the wafer 11 is to be placed in the placing step S40 is placed in advance. There may be an area in the cutting device 2 only for providing the plate-like object 21, or the plate-like object 21 may be placed in a component of the cutting device 2 having a specific function. For example, the plate-like object 21 may be prepared on the spinner table of the cleaning unit 48 (see FIG. 1).

In the mounting step S40, as shown in FIG. 6, the wafer 11 sucked and held by the suction pad 52 is conveyed onto the plate-shaped object 21 placed at a predetermined position, and the organic resin layer 23 having holding power is placed on the surface 21a. The wafer 11 is placed on the organic resin layer 23 of the plate-like object 21 arranged in the . Then, the suction source of the unloading unit 50 is stopped, and the suction holding of the wafer 11 by the suction pad 52 is stopped. Then, the suction pad 52 is moved from above the plate-like object 21 . Then, the holding force of the organic resin layer 23 acts to hold the wafer 11 on the plate-like object 21 .

Next, a cassette accommodation step S50 of accommodating the plate-like object 21 with the wafers 11 placed thereon in a cassette is performed. FIG. 7 is a perspective view schematically showing the cassette accommodating step S50. In the cassette accommodating step S<b>50 , the loading/unloading unit 70 grips the plate-like object 21 and carries the plate-like object 21 into the accommodating space 66 of the cassette 62 .

First, the plate-like object 21 is gripped by the gripping portion 72 of the loading/unloading unit 70 . Then, the main body 74 of the loading/unloading unit 70 is moved toward the cassette 62 , and the plate-shaped object 21 is inserted into the storage space 66 through the opening 64 of the cassette 62 . At this time, the cassette mounting table 60 is moved up and down in advance, and the height of the support rail 68 of the plurality of support rails 68 of the cassette 62 to which the plate-like object 21 is scheduled to be carried is adjusted to the height of the plate-like object 21 gripped by the gripping portion 72 . match the height of the Then, the plate-like object 21 holding the wafer 11 can be accommodated in the predetermined support rails 68 .

Here, if the organic resin layer 23 contacts the gripping portion 72 when the gripping portion 72 grips the plate-like object 21 , the organic resin layer 23 exerts a holding force on the gripping portion 72 , so that the gripping portion 72 does not hold the plate-like object 21 . Even after the grasping of the object 21 is released, the grasping part 72 becomes difficult to separate from the plate-like object 21 . Therefore, transportation of the plate-like object 21 is hindered. Further, if the gripping portion 72 grips the plate-like object 21 in the region where the organic resin layer 23 is formed, the organic resin layer 23 will be damaged.

On the other hand, if the surface 11 a of the plate-like object 21 is provided with the exposed area 25 where the organic resin layer 23 is not formed, the gripping section 72 of the loading/unloading unit 70 can grip the exposed area 25 . Therefore, the organic resin layer 23 is less likely to come into contact with the grip portion 72 . Further, when the plate-like object 21 is provided with the exposed area 25, the conventional transport mechanism that acts on the ring frame of the frame unit to transport the frame unit can be used for the plate-like object 21 as it is.

Note that the wafers 11 held by the plate-like object 21 may be cleaned by the cleaning unit 48 before being housed in the cassette 62 . At this time, the wafer 11 divided into individual device chips 15 is held on the organic resin layer 23 of the plate-like object 21 .

Further, the wafer 11 accommodated in the cassette 62 and unloaded from the cutting device 2 is pulled out from the cassette 62 in a predetermined area. Then, individual device chips 15 formed by dividing the wafer 11 are picked up, and the device chips 15 are mounted on predetermined mounting targets. The plate 21 from which the wafer 11 has been removed can be used repeatedly. That is, the plate-like object 21 can be used to hold another wafer 11 that has been cut and divided by the cutting device 2 .

In the device chip manufacturing method according to the present embodiment described above, the device chips 15 divided by using the jig chuck table 10, the carry-out unit 50, and the plate-like object 21 are collectively formed into wafers 11. I can handle it as is. At this time, since the wafer 11 and the manufactured device chips 15 can be handled without using the tape, the cost required for the tape can be saved.

Also, the plate-like object 21 used to hold the divided wafer 11 can be reused after the device chips 15 are picked up. Therefore, the device chip manufacturing method according to the present embodiment is more economical than the conventional device chip manufacturing method using a tape that is discarded after one use, and the manufacturing cost of the device chip 15 can be kept low.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the description of the above embodiments, and can be implemented with various modifications. For example, in the above embodiment, the cutting blade 46 cuts the area from the front surface 11a to the back surface 11b of the wafer 11 in the cutting step S20, and the processing groove 13a penetrating from the front surface 11a to the back surface 11b is formed in the wafer 11. explained. However, the method for manufacturing a device chip according to one aspect of the present invention is not limited to this.

That is, the cutting blade 46 may cut into the wafer 11 to a position slightly higher than the back surface 11b of the wafer 11, and the device chips 15 may be manufactured by forming the processing grooves 13a that do not penetrate the wafer 11 in the wafer 11. In this case, after that, the wafer 11 is completely divided starting from the processing grooves 13a to separate the individual device chips 15 from each other.

In addition, the structures, methods, and the like according to the above embodiments and modifications can be modified as appropriate without departing from the scope of the present invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 11 Wafer 11a, 21a Front surface 11b, 21b Back surface 13 Division line 13a Processing groove 15 Device chip 21 Plate-like object 23 Organic resin layer 25 Exposed area 2 Cutting device 4 Base 4a, 4b, 4c Opening 6 Cover 8 Dust and drip proof cover REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 jig chuck table 12 upper surface 14 cutting unit 16 support structure 18 movement unit 20, 26 guide rail 22, 28 Y-axis movement plate 24, 30 Y-axis ball screw 32 pulse motor 34 imaging unit 36 groove 38, 54 suction hole 40, 56 Suction path 42 Spindle housing 44 Spindle 46 Cutting blade 48 Cleaning unit 50 Unloading unit 52. Suction pad 58 Front end 60 Cassette mounting table 62 Cassette 64 Opening 66 Storage space 68 Support rail 70 Carrying in/out unit 72 Grip 74 Main body

Claims (4)

A device chip manufacturing method for dividing a wafer having a device in each region partitioned by a plurality of intersecting dividing lines, comprising:
a holding step of holding the wafer on a jig chuck table having grooves formed at positions corresponding to the lines to divide the wafer and suction holes in regions defined by the grooves;
a cutting step of cutting the wafer held by the jig chuck table with a cutting blade that rotates along the dividing line to divide the wafer into individual device chips;
an unloading step of sucking and holding the upper surface of the wafer divided in the cutting step with a suction pad and unloading the wafer from the jig chuck table;
a placing step of placing the wafer sucked and held by the suction pad on the organic resin layer of a plate-like object having an organic resin layer having a holding force disposed on the surface thereof;
A method of manufacturing a device chip, comprising: a cassette housing step of housing the plate-shaped object on which the wafer is placed in a cassette. the plate-shaped object has an exposed region outside the organic resin layer on the surface where the organic resin layer is not provided;
2. The method of manufacturing a device chip according to claim 1, wherein in said cassette accommodation step, said plate-like object is accommodated in said cassette while said exposed region of said plate-like object is sucked or gripped. A plate-shaped object that can support a wafer and can be accommodated in a cassette,
having a width larger than the width of the wafer and smaller than the width of the housing space of the cassette;
A plate-shaped object characterized by having on its surface an organic resin layer having holding power. 4. The plate-shaped object according to claim 3, wherein the surface has an exposed region outside the organic resin layer and not provided with the organic resin layer.

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