Laser processing device and wafer processing method

Abstract

To provide a laser processing device capable of efficiently removing an insulator layer from a predetermined dividing line.SOLUTION: A laser processing device comprises at least: hold means 22 which holds a workpiece; laser beam irradiation means 8 which irradiates the workpiece held by the hold means 22 with a pulse laser beam LB; X-axis feed means 50 which performs processing feeding of the hold means 22 and the laser beam irradiation means 8 relatively in an X-axis direction; and Y-axis feed means 52 which performs processing feeding of the hold means 22 and the laser beam irradiation means 8 relatively in a Y-axis direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction. The laser beam irradiation means 8 includes: an oscillator 81 which oscillates the pulse laser beam LB; a spot forming part 83 which forms a spot shape S of the pulse laser beam LB oscillated by the oscillator 81 long in the Y-axis direction and short in the X-axis direction; a polygon mirror 91 which disperses the spot S formed by the spot forming part 83 in the X-axis direction; and a condenser 86 which condenses the pulse laser beam LB dispersed by the polygon mirror 91 to the workpiece held by the hold means 22.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a laser processing apparatus for irradiating a pulsed laser beam onto a workpiece held by a holding means. And wafer processing method Regarding. [Background technology]

[0002] Wafers, on whose surface multiple devices such as ICs and LSIs are formed and partitioned along planned dividing lines, are then divided into individual device chips using a laser processing machine and a dicing machine, and are used in electrical devices such as mobile phones and personal computers.

[0003] A device is formed by stacking multiple circuit layers on the upper surface of a semiconductor substrate (wafer), and a low-dielectric insulating layer (Low-k film) is also stacked along the dividing lines, and when the dividing lines are cut with a cutting blade constituting a dicing device, the insulating layer may peel off and reach the circuit layer, potentially damaging the device. Therefore, before cutting with the cutting blade, a laser beam is irradiated along the dividing lines to remove the insulating layer (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2005-64231 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, in the technology described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, in order to form multiple laser-processed grooves along one planned dividing line, it is necessary to repeatedly move the wafer held by the holding means and the laser beam application means relative to each other in the X-axis direction to apply the laser beam, which has the problem of low productivity.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its main technical object is to provide a laser processing apparatus capable of efficiently removing an insulating layer from a planned division line. And wafer processing method The purpose of this invention is to provide [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned main technical problem, according to the present invention, A wafer in which a plurality of devices are divided by dividing lines and an insulating layer is formed on the surface of the dividing lines. A holding means for holding the Along the planned dividing line on the surface of the wafer The laser beam application means includes at least a laser beam application means for applying a pulsed laser beam, an X-axis feed means for relatively processing and feeding the holding means and the laser beam application means in the X-axis direction, and a Y-axis feed means for relatively processing and feeding the holding means and the laser beam application means in the Y-axis direction perpendicular to the X-axis direction. The laser beam application means includes an oscillator for oscillating a pulsed laser beam, a spot shaping unit for shaping the spot shape of the pulsed laser beam oscillated by the oscillator so that it is longer in the Y-axis direction and shorter in the X-axis direction, a polygon mirror for dispersing the spot shaped by the spot shaping unit in the X-axis direction, and a pulsed laser beam dispersed by the polygon mirror, which is held by the holding means. Wafer and a collector for collecting light on the A pulsed laser beam is focused on the surface of the wafer on which an insulating layer has been formed, and an ablation process is carried out along the planned dividing line of the wafer to remove the insulating layer and form a groove with a bottom. A laser processing apparatus is provided.

[0008] Applicable It is preferable that the length of the spot shape formed in the spot forming unit in the Y-axis direction is formed to correspond to the width of the planned division line. Also, it is preferable that a water film forming means is disposed between the condenser and the workpiece held by the holding means to form a water film. Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a wafer processing method for processing a wafer in which a plurality of devices are partitioned by planned division lines and an insulating layer is formed on a surface of the planned division lines, the method comprising at least holding means for suction-holding the wafer, laser beam application means for irradiating the wafer held by the holding means with a pulsed laser beam, X-axis feed means for relatively processing-feeding the holding means and the laser beam application means in an X-axis direction, and Y-axis feed means for relatively processing-feeding the holding means and the laser beam application means in a Y-axis direction perpendicular to the X-axis direction, the laser beam application means comprising an oscillator for oscillating a pulsed laser beam, a spot shaping unit for shaping the spot shape of the pulsed laser beam oscillated by the oscillator to be longer in the Y-axis direction and shorter in the X-axis direction, and a spot shaping unit for shaping the spot shape of the pulsed laser beam oscillated by the oscillator to be longer in the Y-axis direction and shorter in the X-axis direction. The present invention provides a method for processing a wafer, comprising: preparing a laser processing apparatus including a polygon mirror for dispersing a spot formed by a part in the X-axis direction, and a condenser for concentrating the pulsed laser beam dispersed by the polygon mirror on a wafer held by the holding means; holding the wafer on which the insulating layer is formed in the holding means of the laser processing apparatus with the surface facing upward; operating the laser beam application means and the X-axis feed means and the Y-axis feed means to focus and irradiate the pulsed laser beam dispersed in the X-axis direction by the polygon mirror and shaped into a spot shape longer in the Y-axis direction and shorter in the X-axis direction along a planned dividing line of the wafer aligned in the X-axis direction; and performing ablation processing along the planned dividing line to remove the insulating layer and form a bottomed processed groove. It is also preferable that after forming the bottomed processed groove along the planned dividing line of the wafer, the wafer is transported to a dicing apparatus, cut along the planned dividing line with a cutting blade of the dicing apparatus, and divided into individual device chips. Effect of the Invention

[0009] The laser processing apparatus of the present invention comprises: A wafer in which a plurality of devices are divided by dividing lines and an insulating layer is formed on the surface of the dividing lines. A holding means for holding the Along the planned dividing line on the surface of the waferThe laser beam application means includes at least a laser beam application means for applying a pulsed laser beam, an X-axis feed means for relatively processing and feeding the holding means and the laser beam application means in the X-axis direction, and a Y-axis feed means for relatively processing and feeding the holding means and the laser beam application means in the Y-axis direction perpendicular to the X-axis direction. The laser beam application means includes an oscillator for oscillating a pulsed laser beam, a spot shaping unit for shaping the spot shape of the pulsed laser beam oscillated by the oscillator so that it is longer in the Y-axis direction and shorter in the X-axis direction, a polygon mirror for dispersing the spot shaped by the spot shaping unit in the X-axis direction, and a pulsed laser beam dispersed by the polygon mirror, which is held by the holding means. Wafer and a collector for collecting light on the A pulsed laser beam is focused on the surface of the wafer on which an insulating layer is formed, and an ablation process is performed along the planned dividing line of the wafer to remove the insulating layer and form a bottomed groove. Therefore, the spot shaping section can set the length of the spot shape in the Y-axis direction corresponding to the width of the planned division line, and the polygon mirror can distribute and irradiate the pulsed laser beam in the X-axis direction, so that the insulating layer can be efficiently removed from the planned division line, improving productivity. Further, a wafer processing method of the present invention is a wafer processing method for processing a wafer in which a plurality of devices are partitioned by planned division lines and an insulating layer is formed on a surface of the planned division lines, and the method at least comprises holding means for suction-holding the wafer, laser beam application means for irradiating the wafer held by the holding means with a pulsed laser beam, X-axis feed means for relatively processing-feeding the holding means and the laser beam application means in the X-axis direction, and Y-axis feed means for relatively processing-feeding the holding means and the laser beam application means in the Y-axis direction perpendicular to the X-axis direction, and the laser beam application means comprises an oscillator for oscillating a pulsed laser beam, a spot shaping unit for shaping a spot shape of the pulsed laser beam oscillated by the oscillator to be longer in the Y-axis direction and shorter in the X-axis direction, a polygon mirror for dispersing the spot shaped by the spot shaping unit in the X-axis direction, and a pulsed laser beam dispersed by the polygon mirror by feeding the holding means and a collector which focuses light onto a wafer held in a holder, the wafer having an insulating layer formed thereon is held in a holding means of the laser processing apparatus with the surface of the wafer formed thereon facing upward, the laser beam application means is operated and the X-axis feed means and the Y-axis feed means are operated to focus and irradiate a pulsed laser beam which has been dispersed in the X-axis direction by the polygon mirror and has a spot shape which is long in the Y-axis direction and short in the X-axis direction along a planned dividing line of the wafer aligned in the X-axis direction, and ablation processing is performed along the planned dividing line to remove the insulating layer and form a processed groove with a bottom.Since the spot shaping unit can set the length of the spot shape in the Y-axis direction corresponding to the width of the planned dividing line and the polygon mirror can distribute and irradiate the pulsed laser beam in the X-axis direction, the insulating layer can be efficiently removed from the planned dividing line, and productivity is improved. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is an overall perspective view of a laser processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a part of the laser processing apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2A is a perspective view of a water film forming device disposed in the laser processing device of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is an exploded perspective view showing the water film forming device of FIG. [Figure 4] 2A is a block diagram showing an outline of an optical system of a laser beam application means disposed in the laser processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is a plan view of a spot formed by the spot forming unit shown in FIG. [Diagram 5] 2 is a perspective view showing an aspect in which laser processing is performed on a wafer by the laser processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 6]FIG. 6(a) is a cross-sectional view of the water film forming device and the wafer during laser processing shown in FIG. 5, and FIG. 6(b) is a plan view showing how the spot during laser processing shown in (a) is dispersed in the X-axis direction. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a laser processing apparatus configured based on the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0012] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a laser processing device 2 of this embodiment. The laser processing device 2 is provided with a holding means 22 arranged on a base 21 and holding a plate-shaped workpiece (e.g., a silicon wafer 10), a moving means 23 for moving the holding means 22, a frame 26 consisting of a vertical wall portion 261 erected in the Z-axis direction indicated by the arrow Z on the side of the moving means 23 on the base 21 and a horizontal wall portion 262 extending horizontally from the upper end of the vertical wall portion 261, and a laser beam application means 8. As shown in the figure, the wafer 10 is supported on an annular frame F via, for example, an adhesive tape T, and held by the holding means 22. The above-mentioned laser processing device 2 is actually covered entirely by a housing or the like, which is omitted for convenience of explanation, and is configured to prevent dust and dirt from entering the inside.

[0013] In addition to the above-mentioned configuration, the laser processing apparatus 2 of this embodiment is provided with a water film forming means 4, as necessary, for forming a water film between the condenser 86 disposed in the laser beam application means 8 and the workpiece held by the holding means 22. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the laser processing apparatus 2 shown in Fig. 1 in a disassembled state in which the liquid recovery pool 60 constituting a part of the water film forming means 4 has been removed from the laser processing apparatus 2.

[0014] The laser processing apparatus 2 according to this embodiment will be further described with reference to Fig. 2. An optical system (described later) constituting the laser beam application means 8 that irradiates the wafer 10 held by the holding means 22 with a pulsed laser beam is housed inside the horizontal wall 262 of the frame 26. A condenser 86 constituting a part of the laser beam application means 8 is disposed on the lower surface side of the tip of the horizontal wall 262, and an alignment means 88 is disposed at a position adjacent to the condenser 86 in the X-axis direction indicated by the arrow X in the figure. The alignment means 88 is used to image the wafer 10 held by the holding means 22 to detect the area to be laser processed and to align the condenser 86 with the processing position of the workpiece.

[0015] The alignment means 88 is equipped with an imaging element (CCD) that uses visible light to image the surface of the wafer 10. Depending on the material constituting the wafer 10, it is preferable to include an infrared irradiating means that irradiates infrared rays, an optical system that captures the infrared rays irradiated by the infrared irradiating means, and an imaging element (infrared CCD) that outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the infrared rays captured by the optical system.

[0016] The holding means 22 includes a rectangular X-axis direction movable plate 30 mounted on the base 21 so as to be movable in the X-axis direction, a rectangular Y-axis direction movable plate 31 mounted on the X-axis direction movable plate 30 so as to be movable in the Y-axis direction indicated by the arrow Y perpendicular to the X-axis direction in FIG. 2, a cylindrical support 32 fixed to the upper surface of the Y-axis direction movable plate 31, and a rectangular cover plate 33 fixed to the upper end of the support 32. A chuck table 34 is disposed on the cover plate 33 and extends upward through an elongated hole formed on the cover plate 33. The chuck table 34 holds a circular workpiece and is configured to be rotatable by a rotation drive means (not shown). A circular suction chuck 35 made of a porous material and extending substantially horizontally is disposed on the upper surface of the chuck table 34. The suction chuck 35 is connected to a suction means (not shown) by a flow path passing through the support 32, and four clamps 36 are disposed at equal intervals around the suction chuck 35. The clamps 36 grip a frame F that holds the wafer 10 when fixing the wafer 10 to the chuck table 34. The plane defined by the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction constitutes a substantially horizontal plane.

[0017] The moving means 23 includes at least an X-axis feed means 50 for relatively feeding the holding means 22 and the laser beam application means 8 in the X-axis direction, and a Y-axis feed means 52 for relatively feeding the holding means 22 and the laser beam application means 8 in the Y-axis direction. The X-axis feed means 50 converts the rotational motion of the motor 50a into linear motion via a ball screw 50b, transmits the motion to the X-axis direction movable plate 30, and moves the X-axis direction movable plate 30 forward and backward in the X-axis direction along the guide rails 27, 27 on the base 21. The Y-axis feed means 52 converts the rotational motion of the motor 52a into linear motion via a ball screw 52b, transmits the motion to the Y-axis direction movable plate 31, and moves the Y-axis direction movable plate 31 forward and backward in the Y-axis direction along the guide rails 37, 37 on the X-axis direction movable plate 30. Although not shown in the figure, the chuck table 34, the X-axis feed means 50, and the Y-axis feed means 52 are each provided with a position detection means, which accurately detects the position of the chuck table 34 in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the rotational position in the circumferential direction (rotational direction). The X-axis feed means 50, the Y-axis feed means 52, and the rotational drive means (not shown) are driven by a control means (not shown), making it possible to accurately position the chuck table 34 at any position and angle.

[0018] The water film forming means 4 will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 3. As shown in Figure 1, the water film forming means 4 includes a water film former 40, a pump 44, a filter 45, a liquid collection pool 60, a pipe 46a connecting the water film former 40 and the pump 44, and a pipe 46b connecting the liquid collection pool 60 and the filter 45. It is preferable that the pipes 46a and 46b are formed partly or entirely from flexible hoses.

[0019] As shown in Fig. 3(a), the water film former 40 is disposed at the lower end of the collector 86. An exploded view of the water film former 40 is shown in Fig. 3(b). As can be seen from Fig. 3(b), the water film former 40 is composed of a housing 42 and a liquid supply unit 43. The housing 42 has a substantially rectangular shape in a plan view, and is composed of a housing upper member 421 and a housing lower member 422.

[0020] The housing upper member 421 is divided into two regions 421a and 421b in the Y-axis direction indicated by the arrow Y in the figure. A circular opening 421c for inserting the light collector 86 is formed in the region 421a on the rear side in the figure, and a plate-shaped portion 421d is formed in the region 421b on the front side. In the housing lower member 422, a cylindrical opening 422a is formed in a region facing the opening 421c of the housing upper member 421, the cylindrical opening 422a having the same shape as the opening 421c and arranged at the same position as the opening 421c in a plan view. A disc-shaped transparent portion 423 is provided at the bottom of the opening 422a, and closes the bottom of the opening 422a. The transparent portion 423 has a property of allowing the pulsed laser beam LB described later to pass through, and is formed of, for example, a glass plate. In the housing lower member 422, a liquid flow path portion 422b for ejecting liquid (water W in this embodiment) from the bottom wall 422d of the housing 42 is formed in an area facing the plate-shaped portion 421d of the housing upper member 421. The liquid flow path portion 422b is a space formed by the plate-shaped portion 421d of the housing upper member 421, the side wall 422c, and the bottom wall 422d. A slit-shaped ejection port 422e extending in the X-axis direction is formed in the bottom wall 422d of the liquid flow path portion 422b, and a liquid supply port 422f for supplying water W to the liquid flow path portion 422b is formed on the side surface to which the liquid supply unit 43 is connected. The lower surface of the transparent portion 423 described above is formed flush with the slit-shaped ejection port 422e extending in the processing feed direction, and the transparent portion 423 forms a part of the bottom wall 422d of the housing lower member 422.

[0021] The liquid supply unit 43 includes a supply port 43a through which water W is supplied, a discharge port (not shown) formed at a position opposite to a liquid supply port 422f formed in the housing 42, and a communication passage (not shown) that connects the supply port 43a and the discharge port. The water film forming device 40 is formed by assembling the liquid supply unit 43 to the housing 42 from the Y-axis direction.

[0022] The water film forming device 40 has the configuration described above, and the water W discharged from the pump 44 is supplied to the housing 42 through the liquid supply unit 43 and is ejected from the ejection port 422e formed in the bottom wall 422d of the housing 42. As shown in Fig. 1, the water film forming device 40 is attached to the lower end of the light collector 86 so that the liquid supply unit 43 and the housing 42 are aligned along the Y-axis direction. As a result, the ejection port 422e formed in the bottom wall 422d of the housing 42 is positioned so as to extend along the X-axis direction.

[0023] 2, a description will be given of the liquid recovery pool 60. As shown in FIG.

[0024] The outer frame 61 includes an outer wall 62a extending in the X-axis direction, an outer wall 62b extending in the Y-axis direction, inner walls 63a, 63b arranged in parallel with each other at a predetermined interval inside the outer walls 62a, 62b, and a bottom wall 64 connecting the lower ends of the outer walls 62a, 62b and the inner walls 63a, 63b. The outer walls 62a, 62b, the inner walls 63a, 63b, and the bottom wall 64 form a rectangular liquid recovery path 70 whose longitudinal direction is along the X-axis direction and whose lateral direction is along the Y-axis direction. An opening penetrating vertically is formed inside the inner walls 63a, 63b that form the liquid recovery path 70. The bottom wall 64 that forms the liquid recovery path 70 is inclined, and a liquid discharge hole 65 is provided at the corner (left corner in the figure) that is the lowest position of the liquid recovery path 70. A pipe 46b is connected to the liquid discharge hole 65, and is connected to the filtration filter 45 via the pipe 46b.

[0025] The waterproof cover 66 includes a gate-shaped fixing bracket 66a and resin bellows members 66b, 66b to which the fixing brackets 66a are fixed at both ends. The fixing bracket 66a is formed to a size that allows it to straddle the two inner walls 63a, 63a of the outer frame body 61 arranged opposite to each other in the Y-axis direction. One of the two fixing brackets 66a arranged on each of the bellows members 66b, 66b is fixed to the inner wall 63b arranged opposite to each other in the X-axis direction of the outer frame body 61. The liquid recovery pool 60 configured in this manner is fixed to the base 21 of the laser processing device 2 by a fixing device (not shown). The cover plate 33 of the holding means 22 is attached so as to be sandwiched between the fixing brackets 66a of the two bellows members 66b, 66b. With the above-mentioned configuration, when the cover plate 33 is moved in the X-axis direction by the X-axis feed means 50, the cover plate 33 moves along the inner wall 63a of the liquid recovery pool 60.

[0026] Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing an outline of the optical system of the laser beam application means 8. As shown in Fig. 4, the laser beam application means 8 includes an oscillator 81 that oscillates a pulsed laser beam LB, an attenuator 82 that adjusts the output of the pulsed laser beam LB oscillated by the oscillator 81 as necessary, a spot forming unit 83 that shapes the shape of the spot S of the pulsed laser beam LB oscillated by the oscillator 81 so that it is longer in the Y-axis direction and shorter in the X-axis direction on the holding means 22 as shown in Fig. 4(b), a polygon mirror 91 that functions to disperse the spot S formed by the spot forming unit 83 in the X-axis direction on the holding means 22, and a condenser 86 that collects the pulsed laser beam LB dispersed in the X-axis direction by the polygon mirror 91 on the wafer 10 held by the holding means 22.

[0027] The polygon mirror 91 disposed above the condenser 86 is provided with a motor (not shown) for rotating the polygon mirror 91 at high speed (for example, 10,000 rpm) in the direction indicated by the arrow R1. Inside the condenser 86, a condenser lens (fθ lens) 86a is provided for condensing the pulsed laser beam LB and irradiating it onto the wafer 10. As shown in the figure, the polygon mirror 91 is provided with a plurality of mirrors M (18 mirrors in this embodiment) on its sidewall surface, and is polygonal in side view. The condenser lens 86a is located below the polygon mirror 91 described above, and condenses the pulsed laser beam LB reflected by the mirror M of the polygon mirror 91 rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow R1, and irradiates it onto the wafer 10 on the chuck table 34. As the polygon mirror 91 rotates, the irradiation angle of the pulsed laser beam LB reflected by the mirror M changes continuously within a predetermined range, and the spot S formed by the pulsed laser beam LB is dispersed within a predetermined range in the X-axis direction indicated by the arrow R2.

[0028] For example, a diffractive optical element (DOE) is used for the spot shaping unit 83. By using the DOE, the diffraction phenomenon of the pulsed laser beam LB guided from the attenuator 82 is controlled, and the shape of the spot S formed on the chuck table 34 of the holding means 22 is shaped so as to be long in the Y-axis direction and short in the X-axis direction, as shown in FIG. 4(b). The shape of the spot S is set to, for example, a dimension of 10 μm in the X-axis direction and a dimension of 50 μm in the Y-axis direction. Note that the length dimension in the Y-axis direction corresponds to the width dimension (about 55 μm) of the division lines 14 that divide the surface 10a of the wafer 10 (see FIG. 5) described later, and is formed to be slightly smaller than the width dimension. In the above embodiment, a diffractive optical element (DOE) is used for the spot shaping unit 83, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other well-known techniques that can shape the spot shape of the pulsed laser beam LB can be used. As the well-known technology, for example, a digital micromirror device (DMD), a spatial light modulator (SLM), a cylindrical lens, a mask, a phase plate, etc. can be used to change the shape of the spot S of the pulsed laser beam LB to any shape.

[0029] Furthermore, the laser beam application means 8 is provided with a focal point position adjustment means (not shown). Although the specific configuration of the focal point position adjustment means is not shown, it may be configured to have, for example, a ball screw whose nut portion is fixed to the condenser 86 and extends in the Z direction indicated by the arrow Z, and a motor connected to one end of the ball screw. With this configuration, the rotational motion of the motor is converted into linear motion, and the condenser 86 is moved along a guide rail (not shown) arranged in the Z direction, thereby adjusting the Z-direction position of the focal point of the laser beam LB condensed by the condenser 86.

[0030] The laser processing device 2 of the present invention has a configuration generally as described above, and its functions and actions will be described below.

[0031] When performing laser processing using the laser processing device 2 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a wafer 10 supported on an annular frame F via an adhesive tape T is prepared. The wafer 10 is a silicon substrate having a surface 10a on which a plurality of devices 12 are formed, the surface 10a being partitioned by dividing lines 14. A low dielectric constant insulating layer (Low-k film) is coated on the dividing lines 14 on the surface 10a of the wafer 10. After the wafer 10 is prepared, the surface 10a is placed on the suction chuck 35 of the chuck table 34 with the surface 10a facing up, and the wafer is fixed by a clamp 36. At the same time, a suction source (not shown) is operated to generate a suction force on the suction chuck 35, and the wafer 10 is suction-held. In FIG. 5, the chuck table 34, the suction chuck 35, and the crank 36 are omitted.

[0032] After the wafer 10 is held on the chuck table 34, the chuck table 34 is moved appropriately by the moving means 23 to position the wafer 10 directly below the alignment means 88. After the wafer 10 is positioned directly below the alignment means 88, the alignment means 88 captures an image of the wafer 10. Next, based on the image of the wafer 10 captured by the alignment means 88, the processing position (planned dividing line 14) of the wafer 10 is aligned with the condenser 86 by a method such as pattern matching. Based on the position information obtained by this alignment, the chuck table 34 is moved to position the condenser 86 together with the water film forming device 40 above the wafer 10, as shown in FIG. 5. Next, the condenser 86 is moved in the Z direction by a focusing point position adjusting means (not shown) to form a spot S at the surface height of one end of the planned dividing line 14, which is the irradiation start position of the laser beam LB on the wafer 10. 6(a) shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the water film former 40 cut in the Y-axis direction together with the wafer 10. As can be seen from FIG. 6(a), the water film former 40 of the water film forming means 4 is disposed at the lower end of the collector 86, and a gap P of, for example, about 0.5 mm to 2.0 mm is formed between the bottom wall 422d of the housing 42 constituting the water film former 40 and the surface 10a of the wafer 10.

[0033] After the alignment of the collector 86 and the wafer 10 has been performed, a necessary and sufficient amount of water W is replenished to the water film forming means 4 via the liquid recovery path 70 of the liquid recovery pool 60, and the pump 44 is operated. The water W circulating inside the water film forming means 4 is, for example, pure water.

[0034] Since the water film forming means 4 has the above-mentioned configuration, the water W discharged from the discharge port 44a of the pump 44 is supplied to the water film former 40 via the pipe 46a. The water W supplied to the water film former 40 is jetted downward from the jet port 422e formed in the bottom wall 422d of the housing 42 of the water film former 40. As shown in FIG. 6(a), the water W jetted from the jet port 422e forms a layer of water W while filling the gap P formed between the bottom wall 422d of the housing 42 and the wafer 10, particularly between the transparent part 423 and the wafer 10, and then flows down and is collected in the liquid recovery pool 60. The water W collected in the liquid recovery pool 60 is guided to the filtration filter 45 via the above-mentioned pipe 46b, purified by the filtration filter 45, and returned to the liquid supply pump 44. In this way, the water W discharged by the liquid supply pump 44 circulates inside the water film forming means 4.

[0035] After the water film forming means 4 starts operating and a predetermined time (about a few minutes) has elapsed, the bottom wall 422d of the housing 42, in particular the gap P between the transparent portion 423 and the wafer 10, is filled with water W, a layer of water W is formed, and the water W circulates stably through the water film forming means 4.

[0036] In the water film forming means 4, while the laser beam application means 8 is operated in a state where the water W is circulating stably, the X-axis feed means 50 is operated to move the chuck table 34 in the X-axis direction (the direction indicated by the arrow X1 in FIG. 5), which is the processing feed direction, at a predetermined moving speed. The laser beam LB irradiated from the condenser 86 passes through the transparent portion 423 of the water film forming device 40 and the layer of water W, and is irradiated onto the division line 14, which is the processing position of the wafer 10. When the pulsed laser beam LB is irradiated onto the wafer 10 in this manner, as shown in FIG. 6(b), the laser beam LB is dispersed in the X-axis direction by the rotational action of the polygon mirror 91 described above, and as a result, the wafer 10 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow X1 in a state where the spot S is dispersed and irradiated onto the division line 14 of the wafer 10 as indicated by the arrow R3 on the wafer 10.

[0037] The laser processing conditions in the above-mentioned laser processing device 2 can be, for example, as follows. Pulsed laser beam wavelength: 355nm Average output: 11W Repetition frequency: 2.7MHz Machining feed speed: 100mm / s

[0038] After the laser beam LB is irradiated onto a predetermined mirror M, the laser beam LB is irradiated onto the next mirror M located downstream in the rotation direction R1 of the polygon mirror 91, and the laser beam LB is continuously dispersed and irradiated onto the wafer 10. In this manner, the laser beam LB is oscillated from the oscillator 81, and laser processing is performed along the planned division line 14 while the polygon mirror 91 is rotating. Here, in this embodiment, the shape of the spot S of the pulsed laser beam LB is formed to be long in the Y-axis direction and short in the X-axis direction on the planned division line 14 of the wafer 10, as described based on Figures 4(a) and (b), and particularly in this embodiment, the length of the spot S in the Y-axis direction is formed to be 50 µm corresponding to the width (55 µm) of the planned division line 14. In other words, there is no need to repeatedly move the wafer 10 held by the holding means 22 and the laser beam application means 8 relative to one another in the X-axis direction to irradiate the laser beam along one planned dividing line 14. The insulating layer 16 on the planned dividing line 14 can be efficiently removed over a wide area by a single laser processing run, thereby forming a processed groove 100.

[0039] After the above-mentioned laser processing is performed on a predetermined dividing line 14, the moving means 23 is operated to position the condenser 86 on one end of the unprocessed dividing line 14 adjacent to the already laser-processed dividing line 14 in the Y-axis direction, and the same processing as the above-mentioned laser processing is performed to remove the insulating layer 16 on the dividing line 14 and form a processed groove 100. Then, after processing is performed on all dividing lines 14 along the same direction as the processed dividing line 14, the chuck table 34 is rotated 90 degrees to perform the same laser processing on the unprocessed dividing line 14 formed in a direction perpendicular to the previously processed dividing line 14 in the predetermined direction. In this way, a processed groove 100 in which the insulating layer 16 is removed can be formed for all dividing lines 14 on the wafer 10.

[0040] According to the above-mentioned embodiment, after the processed grooves 100 are formed along the dividing lines 14 formed on the wafer 10, the wafer 10 is transferred to a dicing device (not shown) and cut along the dividing lines 14 with a cutting blade arranged on the dicing device, dividing the wafer 10 into individual device chips. As described above, in this embodiment, the insulating layer 16 on the dividing lines 14 is efficiently removed over a wide range (50 μm) corresponding to the width dimension (55 μm) of the dividing lines 14 by the laser processing device 2 to form the processed grooves 100. Therefore, by cutting the dividing lines 14 of the wafer 10 with a cutting blade having a thickness (e.g., 30 μm) smaller than the width dimension of the dividing lines 14 to form device chips, the problem of peeling of the insulating layer 16 reaching the circuit layer of the device 12 and damaging the device 12 is eliminated.

[0041] When the above-mentioned laser processing is performed, bubbles are generated in the water W at the position where the laser beam LB of the wafer 10 is irradiated. In contrast, in this embodiment, as described based on FIG. 6, the liquid W is always flowed at a predetermined flow rate in the gap P formed on the wafer 10. As a result, bubbles generated near the irradiation position of the pulsed laser beam LB are quickly flowed down from the gap P formed on the wafer 10 together with the water W to the outside and removed. In particular, according to this embodiment, the ejection port 422e formed in the bottom wall 422d of the housing 42 is adjacent to the transparent part 423 also disposed on the bottom wall 422d in the Y-axis direction and is formed in a slit shape extending in the processing feed direction. With this configuration, the water W is supplied from the Y-axis direction perpendicular to the X-axis direction in which the pulsed laser beam LB is dispersed, and bubbles generated at the position where the pulsed laser beam LB is irradiated are removed. As a result, the laser beam LB can be irradiated to the wafer 10 while avoiding bubbles generated by the laser processing, and good ablation processing can be continuously performed.

[0042] Furthermore, as the water W continues to flow through the gap P above the wafer 10, debris generated by the ablation process and released into the water W is quickly removed from above the wafer 10 together with air bubbles. The water W containing the air bubbles and debris is guided to the filter 45 via the pipe 46b and is supplied again to the liquid supply pump 44. As the liquid W circulates through the liquid supply mechanism 4 in this manner, debris, dust, and the like are appropriately captured by the filter 45, and the water W is maintained in a clean state. Since the laser processing apparatus 2 of this embodiment is provided with such a water film forming means 4, it is not necessary to cover the surface 10a of the wafer 10 with a protective film such as a protective tape or a water-soluble resin, and productivity is further improved.

[0043] In the above embodiment, the length in the Y-axis direction of the shape of the spot S formed by the laser beam application means 8 is set to 50 μm corresponding to the width of the planned dividing line 14 of 55 μm, but the present invention is not limited to this. When forming the shape of the spot S by the spot forming part 83 arranged in the laser beam application means 8, it is important to form the shape so that the dimension is smaller than the width dimension of the planned dividing line 14 and larger than the thickness of the cutting blade used when dividing the wafer 10 along the planned dividing line 14. [Explanation of symbols]

[0044] 2: Laser processing equipment 4: Water film forming means 40: Water film former 42: Cabinet 421: Upper part of the housing 422: Lower housing member 423:Transparent part 43:Liquid supply section 44: Pump 45: Filtration filter 8: Laser beam irradiation means 81: Oscillator 82: Attenuator 83: Spot molding section 86: Concentrator 86a: Condenser lens (fθ lens) 10: Wafer 12: Device 14: Planned division line 16: Insulating layer (Low-k film) 21: Foundation 22: Holding means 23:Transportation 26: Frame 261: Vertical wall 262:Horizontal wall 30:X-axis movable plate 31: Y-axis direction movable plate 33: Cover plate 34: Chuck table 35: Suction chuck 50: X-axis feed means 52: Y-axis feed means 60: Liquid collection pool 65:Liquid drain hole 70: Liquid recovery passage 88: Alignment means 91: Polygon mirror 100: Machining groove LB: Pulsed laser beam S: Spot W:Water

Claims

1. A wafer processing apparatus comprising at least a holding means for holding a wafer on which a plurality of devices are partitioned by planned dividing lines and on which an insulating layer is formed on a surface of the planned dividing lines, a laser beam application means for applying a pulsed laser beam along the planned dividing lines on the surface of the wafer held by the holding means, an X-axis feed means for relatively feeding the holding means and the laser beam application means in the X-axis direction for processing, and a Y-axis feed means for relatively feeding the holding means and the laser beam application means in the Y-axis direction perpendicular to the X-axis direction, The laser beam application means includes an oscillator that oscillates a pulsed laser beam, a spot shaping unit that shapes the spot shape of the pulsed laser beam oscillated by the oscillator to be longer in the Y-axis direction and shorter in the X-axis direction, a polygon mirror that disperses the spot shaped by the spot shaping unit in the X-axis direction, and a collector that focuses the pulsed laser beam dispersed by the polygon mirror on the wafer held by the holding means, and this laser processing apparatus focuses the pulsed laser beam on the surface of the wafer on which an insulating layer has been formed, and performs ablation processing along the planned division lines of the wafer to remove the insulating layer and form a bottomed processed groove.

2. A laser processing apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein the length in the Y-axis direction of the spot shape formed in the spot forming section is formed to correspond to the width of the planned division line.

3. 3. The laser processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a water film forming means for forming a water film between said condenser and the workpiece held by said holding means.

4. A wafer processing method for processing a wafer having a plurality of devices partitioned by planned dividing lines and having an insulating layer formed on a surface of the planned dividing lines, comprising: a laser processing apparatus comprising at least a holding means for suction-holding a wafer, a laser beam application means for irradiating a pulsed laser beam onto the wafer held by the holding means, an X-axis feed means for relatively processing-feeding the holding means and the laser beam application means in the X-axis direction, and a Y-axis feed means for relatively processing-feeding the holding means and the laser beam application means in the Y-axis direction perpendicular to the X-axis direction, the laser beam application means including an oscillator for oscillating a pulsed laser beam, a spot shaping unit for shaping the spot shape of the pulsed laser beam oscillated by the oscillator so as to be longer in the Y-axis direction and shorter in the X-axis direction, a polygon mirror for dispersing the spot shaped by the spot shaping unit in the X-axis direction, and a condenser for focusing the pulsed laser beam dispersed by the polygon mirror on the wafer held by the holding means, holding the wafer on which the insulating layer is formed facing upward on a holding means of the laser processing apparatus; A wafer processing method in which the laser beam application means is operated while the X-axis feed means and the Y-axis feed means are operated to focus and irradiate a pulsed laser beam which has been dispersed in the X-axis direction by the polygon mirror and has a spot shape which is long in the Y-axis direction and short in the X-axis direction along a planned dividing line of the wafer aligned in the X-axis direction, and to perform ablation processing along the planned dividing line to remove the insulating layer and form a bottomed processed groove.

5. A method for processing a wafer as described in claim 4, comprising the steps of: forming a bottomed machining groove along the planned dividing line of the wafer; transporting the wafer to a dicing device; and cutting the wafer along the planned dividing line with a cutting blade of the dicing device to divide the wafer into individual device chips.

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