JP3402345B2 - Semiconductor wafer single-wafer processing method, semiconductor wafer separation device, and semiconductor wafer surface deposit removal device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a single-wafer processing method and single-wafer processing of semiconductor wafers cut by a wire saw .
The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer separating apparatus used for processing , and further to a semiconductor wafer surface deposit removing apparatus for removing deposits from the separated semiconductor wafer surface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A method using a wire saw has been known for cutting a block-cut semiconductor ingot into semiconductor wafers. In this case, the cut semiconductor wafer was partially connected to the bed material. Therefore, this semiconductor wafer is peeled from the bed material and sent to the following steps (for example, chamfering and lapping). Conventionally, the semiconductor wafer single-wafer processing including the wire saw cutting is
It was done as follows. That is, a part of the semiconductor wafer after cutting with the wire saw is connected to the bed material, but it is difficult to peel the semiconductor wafers one by one from the bed material. It was soaking. After that, the worker was peeling one by one.

[0003]

However, such a conventional method has the following problems. First,
Since it is put into the cleaning liquid tank in a block state after cutting the wire saw, workability is poor. Secondly, the cleaning liquid cannot be recycled because the slurry containing the oil component is collected in the cleaning liquid tank. That is, the amount of waste liquid is large. Thirdly, it takes a long time to remove the slurry. Fourth, as a result of the above, it is unsuitable for automation as a whole.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a single-wafer treatment with improved productivity. Moreover, the purpose is to reduce the amount of waste liquid. The purpose is to remove the slurry in a short time. Furthermore, the purpose is to automate the single-wafer processing apparatus.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a bed material is bonded to a semiconductor block and cut with a wire saw so that a part of a plurality of semiconductor wafers is connected to the bed material. Wire saw process to process,
Of the semiconductor wafer comprising a step of separating each semiconductor wafer from the bed material, a step of removing slurry deposits from the front and back surfaces of these semiconductor wafers with a scraper, and a step of cleaning the front and back surfaces of each semiconductor wafer with a detergent This is a single-wafer processing method.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor wafer separating apparatus for separating each semiconductor wafer from a bed material in a semiconductor block in which a part of a plurality of semiconductor wafers is fixed to the bed material. A holding device for holding the semiconductor wafer in the fixed state, and a wedge-shaped member driven into a connecting portion between the semiconductor wafer and the bed material of the semiconductor wafer held by the holding device, and a semiconductor wafer separating device. .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor wafer surface deposit removing device for physically removing deposits on the surface of a semiconductor wafer cut by a wire saw, the device being in contact with the surface of the semiconductor wafer. A device for removing deposits on the surface of a semiconductor wafer, which is provided with a blade for removing deposits by means of a blade.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the invention , the bed material is adhered to the semiconductor block and cut with a wire saw. As a result,
This semiconductor block is processed in a state where a part of a plurality of semiconductor wafers is connected to a bed material. Then, these semiconductor wafers are separated from the bed material. next,
For example, a scraper is used to physically remove slurry deposits from the front and back surfaces of these semiconductor wafers. Then, the front and back surfaces of each separated semiconductor wafer are washed with a detergent. Then, each semiconductor wafer is subjected to a process such as chamfering.

According to the second aspect of the present invention , the semiconductor block is cut by, for example, a wire saw so that a part of the plurality of semiconductor wafers is fixed to the bed material. In the semiconductor block in this state, the semiconductor wafer in the fixed state is sucked and held by, for example, a suction pad. Then, the semiconductor wafer is separated from the bed material by driving a wedge member into the connection portion of the held semiconductor wafer with the bed material.

According to the third aspect of the present invention , the blade is brought into contact with the surface of the semiconductor wafer cut by the wire saw to physically remove the slurry or the like which is an adhering substance.
In this case, each semiconductor wafer shall be separated from the bed material.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 7 show an embodiment of a semiconductor wafer single-wafer processing apparatus according to the present invention. First, as shown in FIG. 1, this single-wafer processing apparatus is, for example, a semiconductor wafer block obtained by cutting a silicon ingot pulled up by a CZ method with a wire saw (a carbon wafer is formed by cutting an ingot into an orientation flat OF). Preliminary cleaning stage 11 of the bed adhered and cut with a wire saw), its single-wafer stripping stage 12, carbon stripping stage 13, scraper stages 14, 15, brush stages 16, 17, scraper stage 18, detergent washing stage 19, hot pure water washing It consists of stage 20.

The preliminary cleaning stage 11 preliminarily cleans the semiconductor wafer block 21 after the wire saw cutting. For example, a detergent is sprayed with compressed air and sprayed onto the semiconductor wafer block 21. Further, in the single-wafer peeling stage 12, a spatula (wedge-shaped member) shown in FIG.
22 from the carbon bed 23 to the semiconductor wafer 2
4 is peeled off one by one. Further, in the carbon peeling stage 13, carbon fragments attached to a part of the semiconductor wafer 24 peeled by the spatula 22 are removed from the semiconductor wafer 24. A heater and an exhaust device are used in this stage.

The scraper stages 14 and 15 scrape off the slurry or the like deposited on the front and back surfaces of the semiconductor wafer 24 fed one by one, and are composed of a pair of rubber blades 26 and 27 as shown in FIG. ing. Further, the brush stages 16 and 17 are for brushing the front and back surfaces of the semiconductor wafer 24, and thereafter, the adhering substances are completely scraped off by the scraper stage 18. In the detergent cleaning stage 19, the semiconductor wafer 24 is put into a cleaning liquid tank filled with a detergent, and ultrasonic waves are further applied to clean both front and back surfaces of the semiconductor wafer 24. Further, in the warm pure water cleaning stage 20, the semiconductor wafer 24 after cleaning with the detergent is used.
Is washed with warm pure water under the application of ultrasonic waves. The cleaning liquid used in the detergent cleaning stage 19 and the warm pure water cleaning stage 20 is circulated through a filter or the like and used.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic structure of this device. In FIG. 2, 31 is a carbon notch mechanism, and 32 is a carbon notch mechanism.
Is a vacuum chuck portion, 33 is a semiconductor wafer mounting portion, 34
Is a carbon peeling mechanism, 35 is a wafer insertion part, 36 is a scraper, 37 is an oil spray, 38 is a roller chemical liquid spray, 50 is a drive unit, 51 is a wafer transfer robot, 52 is a conveyor part, and 53 is a wafer cassette. The carbon notch mechanism 31 includes a spatula 22 for separating the semiconductor wafers 24 from the carbon bed 23 one by one, and constitutes the single-wafer peeling stage 12. The vacuum chuck part 32 is a part for vacuum-sucking the semiconductor wafer 24 when it is peeled from the carbon bed 23. The carbon peeling mechanism 34 (which constitutes the carbon peeling stage 13) peels and removes carbon fragments attached to a part of the semiconductor wafers 24 separated one by one. The scraper 36 constitutes the scraper stages 14 and 15. In the oil spray 37, new oil is sprayed in order to easily scrape off the slurry and the like deposited on the surface of the semiconductor wafer 24. The roller chemical liquid spray 38 is a cleaning liquid spray.

3 and 4 show a semiconductor block 55 which has been subjected to block cutting, block outer diameter grinding, orientation flat processing, and the like, and further has the carbon bed 23 bonded thereto. When this semiconductor block is cut with a wire saw, each semiconductor wafer 24 is connected to the carbon bed 23 on the base end side and the semiconductor wafer 24 on the front end side, as shown in FIG.
The two are in a state of being bonded to each other by grinding oil or the like.

Further, FIG. 6 shows a carbon notch mechanism 31.
Shows the details of. In this mechanism, the bed side of the semiconductor wafer 24 is sucked and held by the vacuum suction pad 56 (holding means) in the semiconductor wafer block 21 after the wire saw cutting. Then, by applying the spatula 22 to the connecting portion of the carbon bed 23 as shown in the figure and applying a predetermined external force,
The semiconductor wafers 24 are separated from the bed 23 one by one.

In the semiconductor wafer single-wafer processing apparatus having the above structure, the semiconductor wafer block 21 cut by the wire saw is first transferred to the pre-cleaning stage 11 in the block state, and a predetermined grinding oil is used in this pre-cleaning. Etc. are removed. Next, the semiconductor wafer 24 is separated into individual wafers in the single wafer separation stage 12, and carbon fragments are also removed from the semiconductor wafer 24 in the carbon separation stage 13. The semiconductor wafers 24 thus separated are sent one by one to the scraper stages 14 and 15, and the pair of blades 26 and 27 removes the slurry and the like deposited on the front and back surfaces thereof. The blades 26 and 27 scrub the front and back surfaces of the wafer 24 to physically remove the adhered substances such as abrasive grains and oil. Further, other adhering substances (organic substances, etc.) are removed from the front and back surfaces by brushing sprayed with a detergent, and thereafter cleaning is performed in cleaning steps 19 and 20. Detergent cleaning and warm pure water cleaning. After washing, it is dried, housed in a cassette, and subjected to subsequent steps such as chamfering.

The cleaning liquid used in the preliminary cleaning process is circulated through a tank and a pump. Further, in the scraper process, oil is sprayed on the wafer, but the slurry containing the oil and recovered is subjected to a predetermined treatment as a waste liquid. This slurry waste liquid is not mixed with the recovered liquid of other processes. Further, the collected liquid in the subsequent brush process and scraper process is collected and filtered in the filter tank and reused together with the collected liquid in the next detergent cleaning process. The warm pure water used in the warm pure water washing step is also circulated and reused.

As described above, the front and back surfaces of the semiconductor wafer 24 are mechanically scratched (the front surface is roughened) by the blades 26 and 27, so that the deposition and deposition on the wafer surface layer.
It is possible to completely remove the adhered matters including the adhered slurry and organic matter. Therefore, the cleaning time in the subsequent cleaning process can be shortened.

[0020]

According to the present invention, the productivity of the single-wafer treatment is improved. The amount of waste liquid is reduced. Slurry etc. can be removed in a short time. The single-wafer processing apparatus can be automated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a process schematic diagram showing a single-wafer processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a single-wafer processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a semiconductor block cut by a wire saw according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a semiconductor block cut by a wire saw according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a contact state of a semiconductor wafer in a semiconductor wafer block cut by a wire saw according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view for explaining a wafer peeling step according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining a scraper process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

12 single-wafer peeling stage, 14, 15 scraper stage, 19 detergent cleaning stage, 21 semiconductor wafer block, 22 spatula (wedge-shaped member, separating means), 2
3 carbon beds, 24 semiconductor wafers, 26, 2
7 blades (removing means), 56 suction pads (holding means).

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/304 B28D 5/04

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A wire saw process in which a bed material is bonded to a semiconductor block and cut with a wire saw to process a state in which a part of a plurality of semiconductor wafers is connected to the bed material, and each semiconductor wafer is cut from the bed material. A semiconductor wafer single-wafer processing method comprising a step of separating, a step of removing slurry deposits from the front and back surfaces of these semiconductor wafers with a scraper, and a step of cleaning the front and back surfaces of each semiconductor wafer with a detergent. 2. A semiconductor block separating device for separating each semiconductor wafer from a bed material in a semiconductor block in which a part of a plurality of semiconductor wafers is adhered to the bed material, wherein the semiconductor wafer is adhered to the bed material. 2. A semiconductor wafer separating apparatus comprising: a holding means for holding the semiconductor wafer, and a wedge-shaped member driven into a connecting portion of the semiconductor wafer bed material held by the holding means. 3. A semiconductor wafer surface deposit removing device for physically removing deposits on a surface of a semiconductor wafer cut by a wire saw, the blade being in contact with the surface of the semiconductor wafer to remove deposits. A device for removing deposits on the surface of a semiconductor wafer.