Method of cutting substrate elements
The method of aligning and cutting substrate elements on a support device addresses the inefficiencies of existing techniques by enabling the efficient production of substrate elements with complex shapes, improving accuracy and reducing waste.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- FR2022002556
- Authority / Receiving Office
- FR · FR
- Patent Type
- Patents
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2022-03-23
- Publication Date
- 2025-06-20
- Estimated Expiration
- 2042-03-23
AI Technical Summary
Existing methods for cutting substrates into non-rectangular shapes are time-consuming, expensive, and lack flexibility, resulting in insufficient accuracy and high waste of substrate material.
A method involving the alignment and cutting of substrate elements on a support device, using cutting lines with common directions to create additional sides and corners, allowing for the creation of substrate elements with complex shapes efficiently.
This method enables rapid and cost-effective production of substrate elements with non-rectangular shapes, improving cutting accuracy and reducing waste compared to conventional milling techniques.
Smart Images
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Abstract
Description
Title of the invention: Method for cutting substrate elements Technical field
[0001] The present description relates generally to methods of cutting a substrate, for example a glass substrate or a semiconductor substrate or an optical substrate. Prior art
[0002] Cutting a substrate into rectangular substrate elements is relatively easy, since cutting lines can be made in perpendicular directions. However, cutting a substrate into substrate elements having other shapes, such as shapes having five or more sides, is more complex. Conventional methods for obtaining substrate elements having non-rectangular shapes use milling operations. However, such methods are time-consuming and expensive, and the accuracy achieved after milling is not always sufficient. Such methods also lack flexibility in terms of the angles of the corners that can be achieved and lead to relatively high amounts of wasted substrate area. Summary of the invention
[0003] There is a need for a relatively rapid method of obtaining substrate elements having non-rectangular shapes at a relatively low cost and having relatively high flexibility.
[0004] One embodiment overcomes all or part of the drawbacks of the known methods.
[0005] One embodiment provides a method comprising: - providing substrate elements each having a first side and a second side meeting at a corner; - the removal and placement of substrate elements to align them on a support device; - cutting each of the substrate elements along a cutting line having a first common direction and intersecting the first and second sides of each of the substrate elements to create a third side on each substrate element, the third side of each of the substrate elements meeting the first and second sides at corresponding corners.
[0006] According to one embodiment, during picking and placing, said substrate elements are oriented such that the first sides of the substrate elements are parallel on the support device and / or such that the second sides of the substrate elements are parallel on the support device.
[0007] According to one embodiment, the cutting of said substrate elements is carried out along a second cutting line having a second direction common to all the substrate elements, different from or parallel to the first direction and crossing the first and / or second sides and / or another side of each of the substrate elements.
[0008] According to one embodiment, the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction.
[0009] According to one embodiment, said support device is configured to hold said substrate elements in place while the cutting of the substrate elements is carried out.
[0010] According to one embodiment, the substrate elements comprise glass or a photovoltaic material or a semiconductor material, for example silicon, silicon carbide, germanium or an alloy of indium and gallium or sapphire.
[0011] According to one embodiment, the substrate elements have a fourth side, the first side or the second side meeting the fourth side at an additional corner; and after the third side of the substrate elements has been created, the substrate elements are picked and placed so as to be aligned on the support device or on another support device; then a further cutting of the substrate elements is performed along an additional cutting line having a third direction common to all the substrate elements and intersecting the first side or the second side and the fourth side of each of the substrate elements to create at least a fifth side, for each of the substrate elements, meeting the first side or the second side and the fourth side at corresponding corners.
[0012] One embodiment provides a method comprising: - cutting a substrate, arranged on a support device, with a first cutting tool, into substrate elements each having a first and a second side meeting at a corner; - rotating the cutting tool and cutting the substrate elements, to create at least one third side, for each of the substrate elements, the third side meeting the first and second sides at corresponding corners.
[0013] According to one embodiment, the cutting of the substrate elements is carried out along at least two parallel cutting lines.
[0014] According to one embodiment, during the cutting of the substrate, the same cutting operation is carried out twice in order to separate two adjacent substrate elements.
[0015] According to one embodiment, the substrate elements are arranged in columns with a gap between adjacent columns or in rows with a gap between adjacent rows.
[0016] According to one embodiment, the substrate elements each comprise a same arrangement of features, the arrangement of features being rotated 180° between alternating substrate elements such that opposite corners are cut on alternating substrate elements.
[0017] According to one embodiment, at least one of the cutting steps is carried out by sawing or by laser cutting.
[0018] According to one embodiment, the step of providing substrate elements comprises cutting a substrate, placed on an initial support, into substrate elements. Brief description of the drawings
[0019] These characteristics and advantages, as well as others, will be explained in detail in the following description of particular embodiments given without limitation in relation to the attached figures among which:
[0020] [Fig.l], [Fig.2] and [Fig.3] are schematic top views of a substrate element according to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0021] [Fig.4] represents a method of obtaining the substrate elements of [Fig.l] according to an example based on milling;
[0022] [Fig.5] shows a method of obtaining the substrate elements of [Fig.1], [Fig.2] and / or [Fig.3] according to an embodiment of the present description; and
[0023] [Fig.6] shows a method for obtaining substrate elements of [Fig.1], [Fig.2] and / or [Fig.3] according to another embodiment of the present description. Description of the embodiments
[0024] The same elements have been designated by the same references in the different figures. In particular, the structural and / or functional elements common to the different embodiments may have the same references and may have identical structural, dimensional and material properties.
[0025] For the sake of clarity, only the steps and elements useful for understanding the described embodiments have been shown and are detailed.
[0026] Unless otherwise specified, when referring to two elements connected to each other, this means directly connected without intermediate elements other than conductors, and when referring to two elements connected (in English "coupled") to each other, this means that these two elements can be connected or be connected by means of one or more other elements.
[0027] In the following description, when reference is made to absolute position qualifiers, such as the terms "front", "back", "top", "bottom", "left", "right", etc., or relative position qualifiers, such as the terms "above", "below", "upper", "lower", etc., or to orientation qualifiers, such as the terms "horizontal", "vertical", etc., reference is made unless otherwise specified to the orientation of the figures or to a substrate in a normal position of use.
[0028] Unless otherwise specified, the expressions "about", "approximately", "substantially", and "of the order of" mean to within 10%, preferably to within 5%.
[0029] [Fig.l] is a schematic top view of an example of a substrate element 100.
[0030] The substrate element 100 has a first side 110 and a second side 120, which are perpendicular to each other in the example of [Fig. 1]. Corresponding corners of the first and second sides are connected by a third side 130, which corresponds to a cut corner of the substrate element 100. The substrate element 100 of [Fig. 1] also comprises, for example, a fourth side 160 and a fifth side 170, which are, for example, perpendicular to each other and meet at a corner opposite the third side 130.
[0031] [Fig.2] is a schematic top view of an example of a substrate element 200. The substrate member 200 is similar to the substrate member 100 of [Fig.l], except that corresponding corners of the second 120 and fourth 160 sides are connected by a sixth side 250, which corresponds to another cut corner of the substrate member 200.
[0032] [Fig. 3] is a schematic top view of an example of a substrate element 300. The substrate element 300 is similar to the substrate element 200 of [Fig. 2], except that corresponding corners of the first and fifth sides 110, 170 are connected by a seventh side 380, which corresponds to another cut corner of the substrate element 300. The substrate element 300 is also different from the substrate element 200 of [Fig. 2] in that corresponding corners of the fourth side 160 and the fifth side 170 are connected by an eighth side 370, which corresponds to another cut corner of the substrate element 300.
[0033] The substrate elements 100, 200, 300 are, for example, made of glass or a photovoltaic material or a semiconductor material, for example, silicon, silicon carbide, germanium, an alloy of indium and gallium or a sapphire. The substrate elements 100, 200, 300 are, in another example, made of a plastic such as PMMA (Polymethylmethacrylate) or a polycarbonate or an optical grade plastic. In some embodiments, each of the substrate elements comprises an electronic circuit and / or an integrated circuit and / or an interconnect circuit. In some embodiments, each of the substrate elements comprises a ball grid array or an organic land grid array (OLGA) substrate.
[0034] Although Figures 1 to 3 are shown to have shapes corresponding to rectangular elements with respectively one, two and four corners cut out, the method described in the present description can be used to obtain substrate elements having different shapes with three or five or more cut corners
[0035] [Fig.4] shows a method of obtaining the substrate element of [Fig.l] according to an example based on milling.
[0036] In a step 410, an initial substrate is provided comprising nine rectangular substrate elements arranged in three rows and three columns, and a milling tool is used to cut a corner of each of the substrate elements included in the initial substrate. The milling tool is raised between milling a corner of each substrate element which may result in additional production costs. A gap is required between adjacent columns and rows to allow the milling tool to complete cutting without cutting the substrate elements in the adjacent columns and rows. For example, it is assumed that the substrate elements on the initial substrate of this example are designed for milling with 800 μm gaps between adjacent substrate elements.
[0037] In a step 420, the substrate elements are cut using perpendicular cutting lines 430, 440 along vertical and horizontal directions. From the perspective of the intervals between the rows and columns of the substrate elements, two horizontal cutting lines 430 are formed between adjacent rows of substrate elements and two vertical cutting lines 440 are formed between adjacent columns of substrate elements.
[0038] The method of [Fig.4] is therefore relatively time consuming due to the high number of cutting lines and there is a relatively high amount of wasted material between the lines and columns.
[0039] [Fig.5] shows a method of obtaining the substrate elements of [Fig.1], [Fig.2] and / or [Fig.3] according to an embodiment of the present description.
[0040] In a step 500, an initial substrate 520 placed on a first support is cut into several substrate elements similar to the substrate elements of [Fig.l] or [Fig.2] or [Fig.3] but without a cut corner. The cutting operation is, for example, carried out by sawing or by laser. Before the cutting operation, the initial substrate is, for example, fixed on a support with a tape. After the cutting operation, an ultraviolet treatment is, for example, applied to the tape in order to dissociate from the tape the substrate elements obtained by the cutting operation. The cutting operation consists, for example, of cutting along perpendicular cutting lines 510, 530, which define, for example, substrate elements having a rectangular shape. In other embodiments, the cutting lines 510, 530 are non-perpendicular.Further, in some embodiments, the substrate elements are fabricated by another process and provided already formed.
[0041] In a step 502, the substrate elements are picked up and placed so as to be aligned on a second support device (not shown). The second device support is, for example, configured to hold the substrate elements in place. The second support device comprises, for example, a surface covered by a tape and the substrate elements are held in place by the tape. The substrate elements are, for example, each oriented along one or more cutting lines to be used to form one or more corner cuts in the substrate elements. The substrate elements are, for example, placed so as to be parallel to each other such that the angle of each corner cut is the same. For example, the substrate elements are placed so that their first sides 110 are parallel and their second sides 120 are parallel. In the example of [Fig. 5], the substrate elements are placed so as to be arranged in four parallel lines, each line having four substrate elements.
[0042] In a step 504, the substrate elements of each row arranged in step 502 are cut along a cutting line 570 having a first direction common to all the substrate elements. Each cutting line 570 intersects, for example, the first and second sides 110, 120 of each of the substrate elements to create the third side 130 on each substrate element. In the example of [Fig. 5], since the substrate elements are arranged in four parallel rows, there are four similar parallel cutting lines 570 having the first common direction. At the end of step 504, the substrate elements have, for example, a corner cut off, which is detached from the rest of the substrate element and is, for example, discarded.
[0043] Step 504 results for example in substrate elements similar to the substrate element 100 of [Fig. 1]. In order to obtain substrate elements similar to those of [Fig. 2] or 3, an additional step 506 is for example implemented, in which the substrate elements obtained in step 504 are cut along additional cutting lines, which are made for example by sawing or by laser cutting along vertical cutting lines 580 and / or along vertical cutting lines 490. The vertical line 580 and / or the vertical cutting line 590, is for example duplicated for each column of substrate elements. In the example of [Fig. 5], the vertical cutting lines 580 are arranged to intersect the second and fourth sides of each substrate element of a column of substrate elements.In this example, the vertical cutting lines 590 are arranged, for example, to intersect the sixth and first sides of each substrate element in a column of the substrate elements.
[0044] In an example of a step 506, additional horizontal cutting lines 595 are made to intersect the sixth sides and the fourth sides of each of the substrate elements in a same row. Similar horizontal lines 595 are, for example, made for each row of the substrate elements.
[0045] The additional cutting lines made in step 506 allow for example to obtain substrate elements similar to the substrate elements 300 of [Fig. 3].
[0046] In the case where each cut corner has a different angle and / or in order to obtain substrate elements having other shapes, it is possible, in certain embodiments, as an alternative to step 506, to repeat steps 502 and 504. During the repetition of step 502, the substrate elements are rotated when placed, so that they are oriented differently from their orientation in the first step 502. In this case, more than one cut corner can be created. For example, the substrate elements obtained in the example have two or three or four cut corners.
[0047] The method of [Fig. 5] allows for an increase in the number of substrate elements obtained from an initial substrate compared to methods using milling, such as the method of [Fig. 4]. Using the method of [Fig. 5], the initial substrate is for example designed with sawing intervals of 250 pm between substrate elements, which leads to a reduction in the amount of wasted surface compared to the example of [Fig. 4]. The overall cutting accuracy of corners cut with the method of [Fig. 5] is a function of the accuracy of the sawing machine which is typically ±5 pm, combined with the thickness accuracy of the blade, which is typically ±15 pm for cuts of the initial substrate, and a pick and place accuracy, which is typically ±10 pm. This overall accuracy of about ±30 pm is an improvement over the milling accuracy of [Fig.4], which is about ±100 pm.
[0048] [Fig.6] shows a method of obtaining the substrate elements of [Fig.l], of [Fig.2] and / or of [Fig.3] according to another embodiment of the present description.
[0049] In the example of [Fig.6], the substrate elements to be obtained are arranged on the initial substrate with gaps between adjacent columns and not between adjacent rows. In another example (not shown), gaps are present between adjacent rows and not between adjacent columns.
[0050] In the example of [Fig.6], the substrate elements each comprise a same feature arrangement, the feature arrangement being rotated 180° between alternating substrate elements such that opposite corners are cut on alternating substrate elements.
[0051] The method of [Fig.6] comprises a step of cutting the initial substrate, which is arranged on a support device. The cutting of the initial substrate is carried out along cutting lines 630, 620, which are for example perpendicular to each other, for example with a first cutting tool, to obtain a trimming (chipping in English) of the substrate elements.
[0052] In another step of the method of [Fig.6], the cutting tool or device support is, for example, rotated relative to the substrate, to cut the substrate elements along cutting lines 610, so that at least the third side is created for each of the substrate elements. The cutting tool is, for example, a sawing tool or a laser.
[0053] In the method of [Fig.6], each substrate element is separated from the neighbors by two cutting lines 620, 630, which are, for example, parallel.
[0054] In the example of [Fig.6], as the substrate elements of the same columns are rotated 180°, opposite corners are cut on alternate substrate elements.
[0055] In the example of [Fig.6], the width of the gap between the columns determines the distance from the diagonal at which the cutting line intersects each element. Furthermore, the angle of the cutting lines 630 relative to the substrate elements is also a function of the width of the gap.
[0056] In one example, the method of [Fig.6] could be combined with the method of [Fig.5] by picking and placing substrate elements to cut additional corners.
[0057] Various embodiments and variations have been described. Those skilled in the art will understand that certain features of these various embodiments and variations could be combined, and other variations will occur to those skilled in the art. In particular, the substrate elements may have a non-rectangular shape prior to the corner cutting operation. For example, prior to the corner cutting operation, the substrate elements could have a polygon shape, such as a convex polygon shape, including but not limited to a triangular or parallelogram shape.
[0058] Finally, the practical implementation of the embodiments and variants described is within the reach of those skilled in the art from the functional indications given above.
Claims
Claims
1. A method of shaping substrate elements comprising: - providing substrate elements each having a first side (110) and a second side (120) meeting at a corner; - picking and placing the substrate elements to align them on a support device; - cutting each of the substrate elements along a cutting line (570) having a first common direction and intersecting the first and second sides (110, 120) of each of the substrate elements to create a third side (130) on each substrate element, the third side of each of the substrate elements meeting the first and second sides at corresponding corners.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein during picking and placing, said substrate elements are oriented such that first sides of the substrate elements are parallel on the support device and / or such that second sides of the substrate elements are parallel on the support device.
3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the cutting of said substrate elements is carried out along a second cutting line (580, 590, 595) having a second direction common to all the substrate elements, different from or parallel to the first direction and intersecting the first and second sides and / or another side of each of the substrate elements.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction.
5. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said support device is configured to hold said substrate elements in place while cutting of the substrate elements is performed.
6. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the substrate elements comprise glass or a photovoltaic material or a semiconductor material, for example silicon, silicon carbide, germanium, an alloy of indium and gallium or sapphire or a ball contact matrix or a pad matrix substrate.
7. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the substrate elements have a fourth side, the first side or the second side meeting the fourth side at an additional corner; and wherein, after the third side 130 of the substrate elements has been created, the substrate elements are picked up and placed so as to be aligned on the support device or on another support device; then a further cut of the substrate elements is made along an additional cut line having a third direction common to all the substrate elements and intersecting the first side or the second side and the fourth side of each of the substrate elements to create at least a fifth side, for each of the substrate elements, meeting the first side or the second side and the fourth side at the corresponding corners.
8. A method for obtaining substrate elements comprising: - cutting (620, 630) a substrate, arranged on a support device, with a first cutting tool, into substrate elements (100) each having a first and a second side meeting at a corner; - rotating the cutting tool and cutting 610 the substrate elements, in order to create at least a third side, for each of the substrate elements, the third side meeting the first and second sides at corresponding corners; the substrate elements each comprising a same arrangement of features, the arrangement of features being rotated 180° between alternating substrate elements such that opposite corners are cut on alternating substrate elements.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the cutting of the substrate elements is performed along at least two parallel cutting lines.
10. A method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein, during the cutting of the substrate, the same cutting operation is carried out twice in order to separate two adjacent substrate elements.
11. A method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the substrate elements are arranged in columns with a gap between adjacent columns or in rows with a gap between adjacent rows.
12. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein at least one of the cutting steps is carried out by sawing or laser cutting.
13. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the step of providing substrate elements comprises cutting a substrate, placed on an initial support, into substrate elements.