Peeling device and method for peeling protective tape

Abstract

We propose a novel technology to improve throughput in the process of peeling tape from the surface of a workpiece. [Solution] A peeling device for peeling off protective tape attached to one side of a workpiece, comprising: a plurality of holding tables that each hold the workpiece with the protective tape exposed; a peeling unit for peeling the protective tape off the workpiece held on the holding tables; and a control unit. The peeling device further comprises a plurality of moving units for independently moving each of the holding tables.

Description

Technical Field

[0007] ,

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for peeling a protective tape from the surface of a workpiece.

Background Art

[0002] In a plate-shaped workpiece (workpiece to be processed) such as a silicon wafer on which a plurality of devices such as ICs and LSIs are formed on the surface, after the back surface is ground to a predetermined thickness, it is divided into individual devices by a cutting device and used in electrical devices such as mobile phones and personal computers.

[0003] After a protective tape for protecting the surface (device surface) of the workpiece is attached, the back surface of the workpiece is thinned by grinding with a known grinding device.

[0004] Thereafter, after a dicing tape is attached to the back surface of the workpiece, the protective tape is peeled off, and the workpiece is divided into individual devices from the surface side of the workpiece by a cutting device.

[0005] Here, as a device and method for peeling a protective tape from the surface of a workpiece, a method is known in which a peeling tape is attached to the end of the protective tape on a holding table and the workpiece and the holding table are relatively moved while pulling the peeling tape to peel the protective tape (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0007] In the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, since only one holding table is provided, it is necessary to carry out the following steps in a series: loading the workpiece (workpiece to be processed) onto the holding table, peeling off the protective tape from the workpiece, and removing the workpiece from the holding table after the protective tape has been removed.

[0008] Therefore, it was not possible to load the next workpiece until the previous workpiece had been unloaded and the holding table was free, resulting in a waiting time for loading.

[0009] Furthermore, this waiting time hinders improvements in throughput, and therefore, improvement was needed.

[0010] In view of the above problems, the present invention proposes a novel technology for improving throughput in a technique for peeling tape from the surface of a workpiece. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] The problems that this invention aims to solve are as described above, and the means for solving these problems will now be explained.

[0012] According to one aspect of the present invention, a peeling device for peeling off protective tape attached to one side of a workpiece comprises a plurality of holding tables that each hold the workpiece with the protective tape exposed, at least one peeling unit for peeling off the protective tape from the workpiece held on the holding tables, and a control unit.

[0013] Furthermore, according to one aspect of the present invention, each holding table is provided with a plurality of moving units for moving each of them independently.

[0014] Furthermore, according to one aspect of the present invention, each moving unit is configured to sequentially position each holding table between a peeling position where the protective tape is peeled off by the peeling unit and an loading / unloading position where workpieces are loaded and unloaded from the holding table, so that each holding table does not interfere with one another.

[0015] Furthermore, according to one aspect of the present invention, when the protective tape is peeled off from a workpiece held on a certain holding table, other workpieces are loaded and unloaded from other holding tables.

[0016] Furthermore, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is a method for peeling off protective tape using a peeling device comprising: a plurality of holding tables that each hold a workpiece with the protective tape attached to one side of the workpiece exposed; at least one peeling unit that peels off the protective tape from the workpieces held on the holding tables; a control unit; and a plurality of moving units for independently moving each of the holding tables, wherein each moving unit is configured to sequentially position each holding table between a peeling position where the protective tape is peeled off by the peeling unit and an loading / unloading position where workpieces are loaded and unloaded from the holding tables, so that the holding tables do not interfere with each other, and when the protective tape of a workpiece held on a certain holding table is peeled off, other workpieces are loaded and unloaded from other holding tables. [Effects of the Invention]

[0017] The present invention provides the following effects: In other words, according to one aspect of the present invention, for example, in the process of removing a workpiece from one holding table, the protective tape on another workpiece from the other holding table can be peeled off in parallel, thereby improving throughput. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0018] [Figure 1]Perspective view showing the configuration of a tape peeling device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Vertical cross-sectional view of a thermocompression bonding member. [Figure 3] Diagram showing a wafer with a protective tape attached. [Figure 4] Diagram showing the operation of feeding out the peeling tape. [Figure 5] Diagram showing the operation of moving the clamping unit to clamp the peeling tape. [Figure 6] Diagram showing the state where the clamping unit holding the peeling tape and the holding table are moved in opposite directions to each other. [Figure 7] Diagram showing the state where the thermocompression bonding unit is lowered to attach the peeling tape to the end of the protective tape. [Figure 8] Diagram showing the state where the peeling tape is cut by a cutter. [Figure 9] Diagram showing the state where the holding table is moved to peel the protective tape from the wafer. [Figure 10] Diagram showing the state where the peeling tape with the peeled protective tape is clamped by the clamping unit. [Figure 11] (A) is a diagram showing the state where one holding table is positioned at the peeling position and the other holding table is positioned at the loading / unloading position. (B) is a diagram showing the state where one holding table moves to the loading / unloading position and at the same time the other holding table moves to the peeling position.

Embodiments for Carrying out the Invention

[0019] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a perspective view of a peeling device 2 according to one embodiment of the present invention, showing a configuration comprising a first holding table 6A, a second holding table 6B, and a peeling unit 7. The peeling device 2 is equipped with a control unit 4, which automatically controls the operation of various moving parts, and the peeling of protective tape is performed automatically, as will be described in detail later. In the following description, the orientation of the mutually orthogonal X, Y, and Z axes shown in Figure 1 will be used as a reference.

[0020] The first holding table 6A is configured to be movable in the YZ direction by a YZ moving unit 6a, and moves between a peeling position where protective tape is peeled off and an loading / unloading position where a wafer W, which is a plate-shaped workpiece, is loaded and unloaded. The YZ moving unit 6a is configured by combining a moving mechanism consisting of a guide rail, a ball screw, and a moving platform that screws into the ball screw and moves along the guide rail, in the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction, so that the holding surface 6c of the first holding table 6A remains horizontal while moving in the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction.

[0021] Similarly, the second holding table 6B is configured to be moved between the peeling position and the loading / unloading position by the YZ moving unit 6b. The YZ moving unit 6b has the same configuration as the YZ moving unit 6a.

[0022] As shown in Figures 11(A) and 11(B), and as will be explained in more detail later, the first holding table 6A and the second holding table 6B are positioned so that they can pass each other in the Y-axis direction by having different positions in the Z-axis direction relative to each other.

[0023] As described above, the XY moving units 6a and 6b shown in Figures 11(A) and 11(B) are configured to sequentially position the holding tables 6A and 6B between the peeling position A, where the protective tape H is peeled off by the peeling unit 7, and the loading / unloading position B, where the workpiece (frame unit U) is loaded and unloaded from the holding tables 6A and 6B, so that the holding tables 6A and 6B do not interfere with each other. In this way, the first holding table 6A and the second holding table 6B are positioned at the peeling position A and loading / unloading position B, respectively, without interfering with each other.

[0024] As shown in Figure 1, each holding table 6A, 6B is configured to have a suction holding section 6d made of porous ceramics or the like, and a frame 6e that surrounds and houses the suction holding section 6d. The frame 6e is connected to a suction source (not shown), which generates negative pressure on the holding surface 6c exposed upward in the suction holding section 6d, and the wafer W is held in place by suction.

[0025] The wafer W, which is a plate-shaped workpiece, is integrated with the frame F via tape T and handled as a frame unit U, and the entire frame unit U is held by the respective holding tables 6A and 6B.

[0026] A protective tape H is attached to the surface of the wafer W, covering the entire surface of the wafer W, and devices formed on the surface of the wafer W are protected by the protective tape H. This protective tape H is peeled off by the peeling unit 7. The workpiece can be any plate-shaped object, and may be a semiconductor wafer, a glass wafer, a package substrate, etc. Also, the protective tape H may protect only a portion of the surface of the wafer W.

[0027] A peeling unit 7 is positioned above the movement paths of the holding tables 6A and 6B. The peeling tape supply mechanism 24 of the peeling unit 7 comprises a feed reel 28 around which the peeling tape 26 is wound, a pair of feed rollers 30 that feed the peeling tape 26 from the feed reel 28, and a pair of guide rollers 32 positioned between the feed reel 28 and the pair of feed rollers 30. The peeling tape 26 is made of a resin film such as polyethylene terephthalate, and its adhesive properties are developed by heating. The width of the peeling tape 26 is, for example, 50 mm.

[0028] A support table 34 is positioned adjacent to the feed roller pair 32. The support table 34 has a width wider than the width of the release tape 26 and has grooves 36 that extend in the width direction (X-axis direction).

[0029] The clamping unit 38 is composed of a clamping member 40 having a lower clamping portion 42 and an upper clamping portion 44 attached to the piston rod 48 of the air cylinder 46. The air cylinder 46 is attached to the moving block 50, and the mounting portion 40a of the clamping member 40 is fixed to the lower end of the air cylinder 46.

[0030] A pair of guide rails 60 extending in the X-axis direction are formed on the support member 58, and the moving block 50 is guided by the pair of guide rails 60 and moved in the Y-axis direction by a block moving mechanism 56 consisting of a ball screw 52 and a servo motor 54 that can rotate in both forward and reverse directions.

[0031] The heat-sealing unit 62 comprises an air cylinder 66 fixed to the lower end of the movable block 50 and a heat-sealing member 64 attached to the tip of the piston rod 68 of the air cylinder 66.

[0032] As shown in Figure 2, the heat-sealing member 64 is composed of a cylindrical case 65 with a closed tip, an insulating material 67 filled inside the case 65, and a coil heater 69 embedded inside the insulating material 67. The crimping surface, which is the tip of the case 65, is covered with a fluororesin layer 71.

[0033] As shown in Figure 1, a cutter 70 is positioned adjacent to the heat-sealing unit 62 so as to be movable in the X-axis direction. The cutter 70 is supported by a support member 72, which is attached to the piston rod 76 of an air cylinder 74. When the air cylinder 74 is activated, the cutter 70 moves in the X-axis direction to cut the release tape 26 supported on the support table 34.

[0034] As shown in Figure 3, the wafer W is integrated with the frame F via tape T to form a frame unit U. A protective tape H is attached to the surface side of the wafer W, protecting devices and other elements formed on the surface of the wafer W. The protective tape H is made of, for example, an adhesive layer formed on a substrate such as polyolefin or polyvinyl chloride. In a grinding apparatus (not shown), the wafer W is held with the protective tape H facing downwards, exposing the back surface Wb of the wafer W. The back surface Wb is then ground, thinning the wafer W to a predetermined thickness. The thinned back surface Wb of the wafer W is then attached to tape T to expose the protective tape H, and this protective tape H is peeled off using the peeling apparatus shown in Figure 1.

[0035] As described above, the peeling device 2 is configured as shown in Figure 1, and comprises a plurality of holding tables (first holding table 6A, second holding table 6B) that each hold a workpiece (wafer W) with the protective tape H attached to one side of the workpiece exposed, a peeling unit 7 that peels off the protective tape H from the workpieces held on the holding tables, a control unit 4, and a plurality of moving units (YZ moving unit 6a, YZ moving unit 6b) for moving each holding table independently.

[0036] Next, the procedure for removing the protective tape H attached to the surface of the wafer W using the peeling device 2 will be described. First, as shown in Figure 4, the wafer W, to which protective tape H is attached to the surface, is held by suction on the holding table 6A and positioned at a predetermined peeling position. On the other hand, in the peeling unit 7, the pair of feed rollers 30 of the peeling tape supply mechanism 24 are rotated to feed out the peeling tape 26 from the feed reel 28.

[0037] Next, as shown in Figure 1, the block moving mechanism 56 (Figure 1) is driven to move the moving block 50 in the direction of arrow Y1. As a result, as shown in Figure 5, the clamping unit 38 and the heat-sealing unit 62 attached to the moving block 50 (Figure 1) are moved in the direction of arrow Y1. The feed roller pair 30 of the release tape supply mechanism 24 is further driven to feed the leading edge of the release tape 26 to the lower clamping portion 42 of the clamping unit 38.

[0038] After driving the air cylinder 46 to grip the end of the release tape 26 with the gripping unit 38 (upper gripping part 44 and lower gripping part 42), the block moving mechanism 56 is driven to move the moving block 50 in the direction of arrow Y2, so that the gripping unit 38 moves in the direction of arrow Y2 while gripping the release tape 26, as shown in Figure 6. At the same time, the holding table 6A is moved in the direction of arrow Y1 to position it in a predetermined position.

[0039] Next, as shown in Figure 7, the air cylinder 66 is activated to lower the thermocompression unit 62 in the direction of arrow Z1, pressing the thermocompression member 64 against the end of the protective tape H, and activating the coil heater 69 (Figure 2) embedded in the thermocompression member 64. This activates the adhesive properties of the release tape 26, causing it to adhere to the end of the protective tape H.

[0040] Next, as shown in Figure 8, the air cylinder 74 is activated to move the cutter 70 in the X-axis direction, causing it to enter the groove 36 of the support table 34 and cut the release tape 26.

[0041] After the release tape 26 is cut, as shown in Figure 9, the clamping unit 38 is moved in the direction of arrow Y1 and the holding table 6A is moved in the direction of arrow Y2, causing the protective tape H to be pulled by the release tape 26 held by the clamping unit 38 and peeled off from the surface of the wafer W.

[0042] By further moving the holding table 6A in the direction of arrow Y2, as shown in Figure 10, the protective tape H is completely peeled off from the wafer surface, and the release tape 26 attached to the protective tape H is held suspended by the clamping unit 38 (lower clamping section 42 and upper clamping section 44). Subsequently, by driving the air cylinder 46 to raise the upper clamping section 44, the protective tape H attached to the release tape 26 is discarded.

[0043] During the peeling process described above, as shown in Figure 11(A), the holding table 6A, which holds the wafer W, is positioned at the peeling position A below the peeling unit 7 by the YX movement mechanism 6a. Meanwhile, the other holding table 6B is positioned at the loading / unloading position B by the YX movement mechanism 6b.

[0044] At loading / unloading position B, the loading / unloading unit 80 loads frame units U from the holding table 6B to the cassette 82 after the protective tape has been removed, and loads frame units U that require protective tape removal from the cassette 82 to the holding table 6B. The loading / unloading unit 80 can be configured, for example, as a robot arm with multiple arms connected by a rotating axis.

[0045] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 11(A), at loading / unloading position B, the frame unit U is loaded from the cassette 82 onto the holding table 6B. Alternatively, the frame unit U (Figure 1) may be formed by a tape mounter (not shown), and then the frame unit U (Figure 1) may be directly placed from the tape mounter onto the holding table 6B by a transport mechanism (not shown). In other words, the tape mounter (not shown) and the peeling device 2 (Figure 1) may be arranged in line to directly transport the frame unit U (Figure 1) from the tape mounter to the peeling device 2 (Figure 1).

[0046] Cassette 82 has shelves for accommodating multiple frame units U and is placed on a cassette mounting base 84. Cassette 82 is loaded onto the cassette mounting base 84 by a cassette transport device (not shown), and after the protective tape has been removed from all frame units U in cassette 82, cassette 82 is unloaded, and then another cassette 82 is loaded.

[0047] As shown in Figure 11(B), when the holding table 6A, which holds the wafer W from which the protective tape has been removed, is moved to the loading / unloading position B by the YX moving mechanism 6a, the holding table 6B, which holds the wafer W from which the protective tape will be removed next, is moved to the peeling position A by the YX moving mechanism 6b. This allows the peeling unit 7 to immediately perform the peeling on the wafer W held on the holding table 6B.

[0048] If only one holding table is provided, a waiting time will occur because the next workpiece (wafer) cannot be loaded until the holding table becomes free. However, by having two holding tables, this waiting time can be reduced. Specifically, for example, while the protective tape is being removed from one holding table, the loading and unloading of workpieces from the other holding table can be performed in parallel, improving throughput.

[0049] In the above embodiment, the peeling device was equipped with two holding tables, but it may be equipped with three or more. Also, in the above embodiment, the peeling device was equipped with one peeling unit, but it may be equipped with two or more. In short, by having a configuration with more holding tables than peeling units, the peeling of protective tape and the loading and unloading of workpieces can be performed in parallel, thereby improving throughput.

[0050] Furthermore, the peeling unit may be configured to heat-press the peeling tape onto the protective tape and then peel it off, or it may be configured to peel off the protective tape by, for example, using a claw member to lift it up.

[0051] Furthermore, in the peeling apparatus configuration described above, when the wafer W from which the protective tape has been peeled is positioned at the loading / unloading position B, the wafer ID printed on the wafer W may be read by a reading means, the read wafer ID may be converted into a barcode and printed on a label, and the label may be attached to the frame F (Figure 1). [Explanation of Symbols]

[0052] 2. Peeling device 4. Control Unit 6A Holding Table 6B Holding Table 6a XY movement mechanism 6b XY movement mechanism 6c Holding surface 6d suction holding part 6e frame 7. Peeling Unit 24. Tape supply mechanism for peeling off tape 26 Release Tape 34 Support Table 38 Clamping Unit 62 Heat-Sealing Unit 64 Thermocompression Members 80 Loading / Unloading Units 82 Cassettes 84 Cassette Mounting Stand A. Peeling position B Loading / unloading position H Protective Tape U-frame unit W wafer

Claims

1. A peeling device for peeling off protective tape attached to one side of a workpiece, Multiple holding tables that each hold the workpiece with the protective tape exposed, A peeling unit for peeling the protective tape off the workpiece held on the holding table, A peeling device having a control unit.

2. Each of the holding tables is provided with multiple moving units for moving them independently. The peeling apparatus according to feature 1.

3. Each of these mobile units is, Each of the holding tables shall not interfere with one another. The peeling position where the protective tape is peeled off by the peeling unit, The loading / unloading position where workpieces are loaded into and unloaded from the holding table, It is configured to sequentially position each of the holding tables between them. The peeling device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. When peeling off the protective tape from a workpiece held on a holding table, Other workpieces are loaded and unloaded from other holding tables. The peeling apparatus according to feature 3.

5. Multiple holding tables that each hold a workpiece with the protective tape attached to one side of the workpiece exposed, A peeling unit for peeling the protective tape off the workpiece held on the holding table, Control unit and Multiple moving units for moving each of the holding tables independently, A method for removing protective tape using a peeling device equipped with the following: Each of these mobile units is, Each of the holding tables shall not interfere with one another. The peeling position where the protective tape is peeled off by the peeling unit, The loading / unloading position where workpieces are loaded into and unloaded from the holding table, It is configured to sequentially position each of the holding tables between them, When peeling off the protective tape from a workpiece held on a holding table, A method for removing protective tape that allows other workpieces to be loaded and unloaded from other holding tables.

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