A system for visually inspecting a semiconductor device sidewall
By illuminating and reflecting multiple beams of light from different angles onto the image capture device, the problem of inaccurate detection of chips with tilted sidewalls in existing technologies is solved, thereby improving detection accuracy and output efficiency.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- SUZHOU MI EQUIP CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2025-02-07
- Publication Date
- 2026-05-22
AI Technical Summary
Existing visual inspection equipment has difficulty accurately detecting sidewall tilting defects in semiconductor devices caused by non-perpendicular cutting, resulting in high rejection rates and low production efficiency.
Multiple beams of light are used to illuminate the sidewalls of semiconductor devices from different angles, and the light is reflected by a beam splitter to an image capture device to achieve detection of vertical, tilted, or combined sidewalls.
This improved the detection accuracy of chips with tilted sidewalls, reduced the rejection rate, and maintained high throughput and equipment output.
Smart Images
Figure CN122072227A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present invention provides a system for visually inspecting the sidewalls of a semiconductor device, wherein the system includes at least one set of light-emitting devices configured to emit multiple beams of light toward the sidewalls of the semiconductor device at an angle relative to the top of the semiconductor device plane, at an angle relative to the bottom of the semiconductor device plane, or a combination of both, to detect vertical, inclined, or combined sidewalls, such inclination possibly being caused by dicing the semiconductor device from a wafer. Background Technology
[0002] During the wafer dicing process, it is often difficult to control the dicing process to accurately cut glass material devices perpendicularly. Therefore, the sidewalls of the diced chips may be tilted. However, these chips can still be proven to be functionally qualified. Existing vision inspection equipment may detect these qualified chips with tilted sidewalls as defects, classifying them as cell fragments, thus unnecessarily rejecting qualified chips. This results in a high rejection rate, thereby reducing the machine's output efficiency.
[0003] Traditional visual inspection systems involve unidirectional illumination of the sidewalls of semiconductor devices. If the sidewalls are tilted (especially at an angle greater than 1 degree), the camera will not be able to receive any light reflected from the sidewalls, resulting in no visual inspection results being obtained.
[0004] Patent US7064046B2 by WAKUI MOTOAKI et al. discloses an algorithm for aligning rotating blades during the dicing process of partially cutting wafers attached to a substrate. However, the prior art does not emit multiple beams of light towards the tilted sidewalls of the chip to detect defects in the tilted sidewall chip.
[0005] Therefore, it would be desirable to have a system for visually inspecting the sidewalls of semiconductor devices to mitigate the above-mentioned defects. This system would be able to detect vertical, tilted, or a combination thereof chip sidewalls, the tilt of which may be caused by the dicing process. Summary of the Invention
[0006] Accordingly, the main objective of this invention is to provide a system for visual inspection of the sidewalls of semiconductor devices, which is capable of capturing images of qualified chips that have been poorly cut (i.e., cut at an angle, with sidewalls not perpendicular).
[0007] Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for visual inspection of the sidewalls of semiconductor devices, which can achieve high throughput or high unit output per hour (UPH), maintain high equipment output, and simultaneously perform inspection of six sidewall cells.
[0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for visual inspection of the sidewalls of semiconductor devices, which, when implemented in a specific embodiment of the present invention, does not negatively affect the system’s rapid inspection unit output per hour (UPH). Other objects of the invention will become apparent from understanding the following detailed description of the invention or from using the invention in practice.
[0009] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the following is provided: A system for visual inspection of the sidewalls of a semiconductor device, comprising: A set of first light-emitting devices is configured to emit multiple first light rays toward a first sidewall of a semiconductor device; wherein the first light rays are parallel to a plane of the semiconductor device, at an angle relative to the top of the plane of the semiconductor device, at an angle relative to the bottom of the plane of the semiconductor device, or a combination thereof. Its features are, The system also includes an image capture device; The system further includes a set of second light-emitting devices configured to emit multiple second light rays toward a second sidewall of the semiconductor device; wherein the second light rays are parallel to the plane of the semiconductor device, at an angle relative to the top of the plane of the semiconductor device, at an angle relative to the bottom of the plane of the semiconductor device, or a combination thereof. The system further includes a set of third light-emitting devices configured to emit multiple third light rays toward a third sidewall of the semiconductor device; wherein the third light rays are parallel to the plane of the semiconductor device, at an angle relative to the top of the plane of the semiconductor device, at an angle relative to the bottom of the plane of the semiconductor device, or a combination thereof. The system further includes a set of fourth light-emitting devices configured to emit multiple fourth light rays toward a fourth sidewall of the semiconductor device; wherein the fourth light rays are parallel to the plane of the semiconductor device, at an angle relative to the top of the plane of the semiconductor device, at an angle relative to the bottom of the plane of the semiconductor device, or a combination thereof. The system also includes a first beam splitter disposed in the path of the reflected first light ray and configured to manipulate the first light ray reflected from the first sidewall toward the image capturing device; The system also includes a second beam splitter disposed in the path of the reflected second light ray and configured to manipulate the second light ray reflected from the second sidewall toward the image capturing device; The system also includes a third beam splitter disposed in the path of the reflected third ray and configured to manipulate the third ray reflected from the third sidewall toward the image capturing device; The system also includes a fourth beam splitter disposed in the path of the reflected fourth ray and configured to manipulate the fourth ray reflected from the fourth sidewall toward the image capturing device; Wherein, the first sidewall, the second sidewall, the third sidewall, or the fourth sidewall are vertical sidewalls, inclined sidewalls, or combinations thereof. Attached Figure Description
[0010] Other aspects and advantages of the invention will be understood after studying the detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 This is a front sectional view of the system of the present invention.
[0011] Figure 2 This is a top-view view of the system of the present invention.
[0012] Figure 3A and Figure 3B The images captured by the system of the present invention are shown in comparison with those captured by prior art systems.
[0013] Detailed description of the attached figures Numerous specific details are set forth in the following detailed description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, those skilled in the art will understand that the invention can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, and / or components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the invention.
[0014] The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of embodiments of the invention, given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are not drawn to scale.
[0015] The present invention is a system 101 for visual inspection of the sidewalls of a semiconductor device 107, comprising a first light-emitting device 117A and an image capture device 105; wherein the system 101 further comprises a second light-emitting device 117B, a third light-emitting device 117C and a fourth light-emitting device 117D.
[0016] The first light-emitting device 117A is configured to emit multiple first light rays 113A toward the first sidewall 109A of the semiconductor device 107; wherein the first light rays 113A are parallel to the plane of the semiconductor device 107, at an angle relative to the top of the plane of the semiconductor device 107, at an angle relative to the bottom of the plane of the semiconductor device 107, or a combination thereof.
[0017] The second light-emitting device 117B is configured to emit multiple second light rays 113B toward the second sidewall 109B of the semiconductor device 107; wherein the second light rays 113B are parallel to the plane of the semiconductor device 107, at an angle to the top of the plane of the semiconductor device 107, at an angle to the bottom of the plane of the semiconductor device 107, or a combination thereof.
[0018] The third light-emitting device 117C is configured to emit multiple third light rays 113C toward the third sidewall 109C of the semiconductor device 107; wherein the third light rays 113C are parallel to the plane of the semiconductor device 107, at an angle to the top of the plane of the semiconductor device 107, at an angle to the bottom of the plane of the semiconductor device 107, or a combination thereof.
[0019] The fourth light-emitting device 117D is configured to emit multiple fourth light rays 113D toward the fourth sidewall 109D of the semiconductor device 107; wherein the fourth light rays 113D are parallel to the plane of the semiconductor device 107, at an angle to the top of the plane of the semiconductor device 107, at an angle to the bottom of the plane of the semiconductor device 107, or a combination thereof.
[0020] The positions of the first light-emitting device 117A, the second light-emitting device 117B, the third light-emitting device 117C, or the fourth light-emitting device 117D in the group are configured to be adjustable.
[0021] The angles of the first light-emitting device 117A, the second light-emitting device 117B, the third light-emitting device 117C, or the fourth light-emitting device 117D toward the top surface of the semiconductor device 107, or the angles of the first light-emitting device 117A, the second light-emitting device 117B, the third light-emitting device 117C, or the fourth light-emitting device 117D toward the bottom surface of the semiconductor device 107, are configured to be proportional to the angle of the corresponding semiconductor device sidewall toward which the light is incident.
[0022] The inclined sidewalls of the first sidewall 109A, the second sidewall 109B, the third sidewall 109C, the fourth sidewall 109D, or a combination thereof are respectively irradiated by the first ray 113A, the second ray 113B, the third ray 113C, the fourth ray 113D, or a combination thereof.
[0023] System 101 further includes a first beam splitter 119A, a second beam splitter 119B, a third beam splitter 119C, and a fourth beam splitter 119D. The first beam splitter 119A is disposed in the path of the reflected first ray 113A and configured to manipulate the first ray 113A reflected from the first sidewall 109A toward the image capture device 105. The second beam splitter 119B is disposed in the path of the reflected second ray 113B and configured to manipulate the second ray 113B reflected from the second sidewall 109B toward the image capture device 105. The third beam splitter 119C is disposed in the path of the reflected third ray 113C and configured to manipulate the third ray 113C reflected from the third sidewall 109C toward the image capture device 105. The fourth beam splitter 119D is disposed in the path of the reflected fourth ray 113D and configured to manipulate the fourth ray 113D reflected from the fourth sidewall 109D toward the image capture device 105.
[0024] The first beam splitter 119A, the second beam splitter 119B, the third beam splitter 119C, and the fourth beam splitter 119D are all located within the field of view of the image capture device 105.
[0025] The first sidewall 109A, the second sidewall 109B, the third sidewall 109C, or the fourth sidewall 109D are vertical sidewalls, inclined sidewalls, or combinations thereof.
[0026] For example, the first light-emitting device 117A may include at least one top first light-emitting device 117AA, at least one parallel first light-emitting device 117AB, at least one bottom first light-emitting device 117AC, or a combination thereof; the second light-emitting device 117B may include at least one top second light-emitting device 117BA, at least one parallel second light-emitting device 117BB, at least one bottom second light-emitting device 117BC, or a combination thereof; the third light-emitting device 117C may include at least one top third light-emitting device 117CA, at least one parallel third light-emitting device 117CB, at least one bottom third light-emitting device 117CC, or a combination thereof; and the fourth light-emitting device 117D may include at least one top fourth light-emitting device 117DA, at least one parallel fourth light-emitting device 117DB, at least one bottom fourth light-emitting device 117DC, or a combination thereof.
[0027] System 101 may also optionally include at least one fifth light-emitting device 121, configured to emit a fifth ray 115 from the image capturing device 105, through the first beam splitter 119A, the second beam splitter 119B, the third beam splitter 119C, the fourth beam splitter 119D, or a combination thereof, toward at least one sidewall of the semiconductor device 107.
[0028] The first light-emitting device 117A, the second light-emitting device 117B, the third light-emitting device 117C, the fourth light-emitting device 117D, or the fifth light-emitting device 121 are configured to emit light of any suitable wavelength, any suitable intensity, and any form. Examples of the light-emitting device 107 are light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or any type of light-emitting device capable of illuminating the semiconductor device 107 sufficiently to provide a clear image that can be captured by the image capturing device 105 to detect defects on the surface and / or inside the semiconductor device 107. The semiconductor device 107 may be made of glass.
[0029] The visual inspection of the present invention can be performed while the semiconductor device 107 is held by the clamping device 123. The semiconductor device 107 can also be configured to be tiltable, rotatable, or a combination thereof. The system 101 of the present invention may also include at least one cover to reduce light exposure from the light-emitting device.
[0030] While the invention has been shown and described herein in a manner considered to be its preferred embodiment, illustrating the superior results and advantages obtained by the invention compared to the prior art, the invention is not limited to those specific embodiments. Therefore, the forms of the invention shown and described herein are to be considered illustrative only, and other embodiments, as defined in the appended claims, may be chosen without departing from the scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A system (101) for visually inspecting the sidewalls of a semiconductor device (107), comprising: A set of first light-emitting devices (117A) is configured to emit multiple first light rays (113A) toward a first sidewall (109A) of the semiconductor device (107); wherein the first light rays (113A) are parallel to the plane of the semiconductor device (107), at an angle to the top of the plane of the semiconductor device (107), at an angle to the bottom of the plane of the semiconductor device (107), or a combination thereof; Its features are, The system also includes an image capture device (105); The system (101) further includes a set of second light-emitting devices (117B) configured to emit multiple second light rays (113B) toward a second sidewall (109B) of the semiconductor device (107); wherein the second light rays (113B) are parallel to the plane of the semiconductor device (107), at an angle to the top of the plane of the semiconductor device (107), at an angle to the bottom of the plane of the semiconductor device (107), or a combination thereof; The system (101) further includes a set of third light-emitting devices (117C) configured to emit multiple third light rays (113C) toward a third sidewall (109C) of the semiconductor device (107); wherein the third light rays (113C) are parallel to the plane of the semiconductor device (107), at an angle to the top of the plane of the semiconductor device (107), at an angle to the bottom of the plane of the semiconductor device (107), or a combination thereof; The system (101) further includes a set of fourth light-emitting devices (117D) configured to emit multiple fourth light rays (113D) toward a fourth sidewall (109D) of the semiconductor device (107); wherein the fourth light rays (113D) are parallel to the plane of the semiconductor device (107), at an angle to the top of the plane of the semiconductor device (107), at an angle to the bottom of the plane of the semiconductor device (107), or a combination thereof; The system (101) also includes a first beam splitter (119A) disposed in the path of the reflected first light ray (113A) and configured to manipulate the first light ray (113A) reflected from the first sidewall (109A) toward the image capturing device (105). The system (101) also includes a second beam splitter (119B) disposed in the path of the reflected second light ray (113B) and configured to manipulate the second light ray (113B) reflected from the second sidewall (109B) toward the image capturing device (105). The system (101) also includes a third beam splitter (119C) disposed in the path of the reflected third ray (113C) and configured to manipulate the third ray (113C) reflected from the third sidewall (109C) toward the image capturing device (105). The system (101) also includes a fourth beam splitter (119D) disposed in the path of the reflected fourth ray (113D) and configured to manipulate the fourth ray (113D) reflected from the fourth sidewall (109D) toward the image capturing device (105). Wherein, the first sidewall (109A), the second sidewall (109B), the third sidewall (109C) or the fourth sidewall (109D) are vertical sidewalls, inclined sidewalls or combinations thereof.
2. The system (101) for visual inspection of the sidewalls of a semiconductor device (107) according to claim 1, wherein, The positions of the first light-emitting device (117A), the second light-emitting device (117B), the third light-emitting device (117C), or the fourth light-emitting device (117D) in the group are configured to be adjustable.
3. The system (101) for visual inspection of the sidewalls of a semiconductor device (107) according to claim 1, wherein, The first group of light-emitting devices (117A) includes at least one top first light-emitting device (117AA), at least one parallel first light-emitting device (117AB), at least one bottom first light-emitting device (117AC), or a combination thereof; the second group of light-emitting devices (117B) includes at least one top second light-emitting device (117BA), at least one parallel second light-emitting device (117BB), at least one bottom second light-emitting device (117BC), or a combination thereof; the third group of light-emitting devices (117C) includes at least one top third light-emitting device (117CA), at least one parallel third light-emitting device (117CB), at least one bottom third light-emitting device (117CC), or a combination thereof; and the fourth group of light-emitting devices (117D) includes at least one top fourth light-emitting device (117DA), at least one parallel fourth light-emitting device (117DB), at least one bottom fourth light-emitting device (117DC), or a combination thereof.
4. The system (101) for visual inspection of the sidewalls of a semiconductor device (107) according to claim 2, wherein, The angle of the first light-emitting device (117A), the second light-emitting device (117B), the third light-emitting device (117C), or the fourth light-emitting device (117D) towards the top surface of the semiconductor device (107), or the angle of the first light-emitting device (117A), the second light-emitting device (117B), the third light-emitting device (117C), or the fourth light-emitting device (117D) towards the bottom surface of the semiconductor device (107), is configured to be proportional to the angle of the corresponding semiconductor device sidewall towards which the light is incident.
5. The system (101) for visual inspection of the sidewalls of a semiconductor device (107) according to claim 1, wherein, The semiconductor device (107) is configured to be tiltable, rotatable, or a combination thereof.
6. The system (101) for visual inspection of the sidewalls of a semiconductor device (107) according to claim 1, wherein, The inclined sidewalls, namely the first sidewall (109A), the second sidewall (109B), the third sidewall (109C), the fourth sidewall (109D), or a combination thereof, are respectively irradiated by the first ray (113A), the second ray (113B), the third ray (113C), the fourth ray (113D), or a combination thereof.
7. The system (101) for visual inspection of the sidewalls of a semiconductor device (107) according to claim 1, wherein, The system (101) further includes at least one fifth light-emitting device (121) configured to emit a fifth ray (115) from the image capturing device (105) through the first beam splitter (119A), the second beam splitter (119B), the third beam splitter (119C), the fourth beam splitter (119D), or a combination thereof, toward at least one sidewall of the semiconductor device (107).
8. The system (101) for visual inspection of the sidewalls of a semiconductor device (107) according to claim 1, wherein, The first light-emitting device (117A), the second light-emitting device (117B), the third light-emitting device (117C), or the fourth light-emitting device (117D) are configured to emit light of any suitable wavelength, any suitable intensity, and any form.
9. The system (101) for visual inspection of the sidewalls of a semiconductor device (107) according to claim 1, wherein, The first beam splitter (119A), the second beam splitter (119B), the third beam splitter (119C), and the fourth beam splitter (119D) are all located within the field of view of the image capture device (105).