Semiconductor manufacturing equipment, coating equipment, and semiconductor device manufacturing method

Abstract

To provide a technology which enables reduction of shape change of an applied paste.SOLUTION: A semiconductor manufacturing device includes: a coating applicator having a syringe in which a paste is stored, and a nozzle provided at a tip of the syringe; a stage having a placement part on which a substrate mounted with a semiconductor chip is placed, and a cooling part which cools the placement part; and a control unit configured to apply the paste from the nozzle onto the semiconductor chip and cool the applied paste by the cooling part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and is applicable to, for example, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that applies paste onto a semiconductor chip.

Background Art

[0002] A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus such as a bonder is an apparatus that bonds (places and adheres) an element onto a substrate or an element using a bonding material. The bonding material is, for example, a resin paste, solder, or the like. The resin paste is a liquid adhesive, and hereinafter will be simply referred to as paste. The element is, for example, a semiconductor chip, a glass chip, a silicon chip, or the like. The semiconductor chip is, for example, a logic chip, a memory chip, an image sensor chip, or the like. The substrate is, for example, a wiring substrate, a lead frame formed of a thin metal plate, a glass substrate, or the like.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a technique capable of reducing shape changes in the applied paste. Other problems and novel features will become apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] A brief overview of representative examples from this disclosure is as follows: The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprises a coating apparatus having a syringe in which paste is stored and a nozzle provided at the tip of the syringe; a stage having a mounting section on which a substrate on which a semiconductor chip is mounted is placed and a cooling section for cooling the mounting section; and a control unit configured to apply the paste from the nozzle onto the semiconductor chip and to cool the applied paste with the cooling section. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to this disclosure, it becomes possible to reduce changes in the shape of the applied paste. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a schematic top view showing a bonder in an embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the chip supply unit shown in Figure 1. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a schematic side view showing the preform section shown in Figure 1. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a schematic side view showing the chip supply unit and bonding unit shown in Figure 1. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a flowchart showing a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device using the bonder shown in Figure 1. [Figure 6] Figure 6 is a front view showing the coating apparatus and preform stage. [Figure 7] Figure 7 is a top view showing an example of the substrate configuration in the embodiment. [Figure 8] Figure 8(a) is a top view showing an example of paste application. Figure 8(b) is a top view illustrating the problems with the paste application shown in Figure 8(a). [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] The embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, in the following description, the same reference numerals will be used for the same components, and repeated explanations may be omitted. In addition, to make the explanation clearer, the width, thickness, shape, etc. of each part may be represented schematically in the drawings, compared to the actual embodiment. Furthermore, the dimensional relationships and ratios of each element do not necessarily match between multiple drawings.

[0009] The configuration of a bonder, which is one embodiment of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, will be explained using Figures 1 to 4.

[0010] As shown in Figure 1, the bonder 10 broadly comprises a chip supply unit 1 that supplies workpieces DG to be mounted on a substrate S, a preform unit 9, a bonding unit 4, a transport unit 5, a substrate supply unit 6, a substrate unloading unit 7, and a control unit (control device) 8 that monitors and controls the operation of each unit. The Y-axis direction is the front-to-back direction of the bonder 10, and the X-axis direction is the left-to-right direction. The chip supply unit 1 is located on the front side of the bonder 10, and the bonding unit 4 is located on the rear side. Here, semiconductor chips D are mounted on the substrate S in multiple product areas that will ultimately form a single package.

[0011] As shown in Figure 2, the chip supply unit 1 includes a wafer holder 12 for holding a wafer 11 and a push-up unit 13 for pushing up workpieces DG from the wafer 11. Here, workpieces DG are, for example, glass chips or semiconductor chips. The wafer 11 is a disc-shaped glass plate or semiconductor wafer to which a dicing tape 16 is attached and then diced to divide it into a plurality of glass chips or semiconductor chips. The wafer holder 12 includes an expand ring 15 for holding a wafer ring 14 and a support ring 17 for horizontally positioning the dicing tape 16 to which the plurality of workpieces DG are attached and held by the wafer ring 14. The push-up unit 13 is positioned inside the support ring 17. The control unit 8 moves the wafer holder 12 in the X-axis and Y-axis directions by a driving means (not shown) and moves the workpieces DG to be picked up to the position of the push-up unit 13 (pickup position).

[0012] When the workpiece DG is pushed up, the wafer holder 12 lowers the expand ring 15 that holds the wafer ring 14. As a result, the dicing tape 16 held by the wafer ring 14 is stretched, widening the spacing between the workpiece DGs, and the push-up unit 13 pushes up the workpiece DGs from below, improving the pick-up ability of the workpiece DGs.

[0013] As shown in Figure 3, the preform unit 9 includes a syringe 91, a drive unit (not shown) for moving the syringe 91 in the X-axis direction, Y-axis direction, and vertical direction, and a preform camera 94 as an imaging device for determining the application position of the syringe 91. The preform unit 9 applies paste to the semiconductor chip D mounted on the substrate S, which has been transported by the transport unit 5, using the syringe 91. The syringe 91 has paste sealed inside, and is configured so that the paste is pushed out from the tip of the nozzle 92 onto the semiconductor chip D mounted on the substrate S by air pressure.

[0014] As shown in Figure 4, the bonding unit 4 includes a bond head 41 equipped with a collet 42 that adsorbs and holds the workpiece DG at its tip, a Y drive unit (not shown) that moves the bond head 41 in the Y-axis direction, and a substrate recognition camera 44 that captures a position recognition mark (not shown) on the substrate S and recognizes the bond position. The bonding unit 4 picks up the workpiece DG from the chip supply unit 1 and bonds it onto the semiconductor chip D coated with paste PA, which is mounted on the substrate S that is being transported. At this time, the bond head 41 corrects the pickup position and orientation based on the imaging data of the wafer recognition camera 24, picks up the workpiece DG from the wafer 11, and bonds the workpiece DG onto the semiconductor chip D mounted on the substrate based on the imaging data of the substrate recognition camera 44.

[0015] As shown in Figure 1, the transport unit 5 has a transport lane 52 as a transport path on which the substrate S moves. With this configuration, the substrate S moves from the substrate supply unit 6 along the transport lane 52 to the coating position, then moves to the bonding position after coating, and after bonding moves to the substrate discharge unit 7, where the substrate S is delivered.

[0016] The control unit 8 includes a memory that stores a program (software) for monitoring and controlling the operations of the respective parts of the bonder 10 described above, and a central processing unit (CPU) that executes the program stored in the memory.

[0017] Next, a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device using the bonder in the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 5. In the following description, the operations of the respective parts constituting the bonder 10 are controlled by the control unit 8.

[0018] (Wafer loading process (process S1)) The wafer ring (wafer ring) 14 is loaded into the bonder 10. The loaded wafer ring 14 is supplied to the chip supply unit 1. Here, the wafer ring 14 holds a dicing tape 16 to which workpieces DG divided from the wafer 11 are attached.

[0019] (Substrate loading process (process S2)) A substrate S on which semiconductor chips D are mounted is loaded into the substrate supply unit 6 of the bonder 10. After loading, the substrate S is transported to the pre-form stage 95 by the transport unit 5.

[0020] (Pre-form process (process S3)) The pre-form camera 94 acquires an image of the surface of the semiconductor chip D mounted on the substrate S before coating to confirm the surface to which the paste PA is to be applied. If there is no problem with the surface to be coated, the position where the paste of the substrate S supported by the pre-form stage 95 is to be applied is confirmed and positioned. The positioning is performed by pattern matching or the like, similar to the bonding unit 4.

[0021] Paste PA is applied to the semiconductor chip D mounted on the substrate S from the nozzle 92 at the tip of the syringe 91. Paste PA is, for example, a UV (ultraviolet) curing adhesive. After application, the applied paste PA is photographed by the preform camera 94. Based on the image acquired by the photograph, it is confirmed whether the paste PA has been applied correctly, and the applied paste PA is inspected (visual inspection). If there are no problems with the application, the substrate S is transported to the bond stage 45 by the transport unit 5.

[0022] (Bond process (process S4)) After process S1, the wafer holder 12 is moved so that the desired workpiece DG can be picked up from the wafer 11. The wafer recognition camera 24 photographs the workpiece DG, and positioning and surface inspection of the workpiece DG are performed based on the image data acquired by the photograph. By processing the image data, the amount of displacement (in the X, Y, and θ directions) of the workpiece DG on the wafer holder 12 from the workpiece position reference point of the bonder 10 is calculated and positioning is performed. The workpiece position reference point is a predetermined position of the wafer holder 12 that is held in advance as the initial setting of the device. Surface inspection of the workpiece DG is performed by processing the image data.

[0023] After step S3, the substrate S placed on the bond stage 45 is photographed by the substrate recognition camera 44, and image data is acquired. By processing the image data, the amount of displacement of the substrate S from the substrate position reference point of the bonder 10 (in the X, Y, and θ directions) is calculated. The substrate position reference point is a predetermined position of the bonding unit 4, which is held as the initial setting of the device.

[0024] The bond head 41 is moved parallel to and lowered to directly above the workpiece DG to be picked up. The suction position of the bond head 41 is corrected based on the calculated displacement of the workpiece DG, and the workpiece DG is vacuum-suctioned by the collet 42. The bond head 41, having picked up the workpiece DG from the wafer 11, bonds the workpiece DG to a predetermined location on the semiconductor chip D mounted on the substrate S on the bond stage 45. The substrate recognition camera 44 photographs the workpiece DG bonded to the semiconductor chip D, and an inspection is performed based on the image data acquired by the photograph to determine whether the workpiece DG has been bonded to the desired position.

[0025] (Substrate unloading process (process S5)) The substrate S to which the workpiece DG has been bonded is transported to the substrate unloading section 7. The substrate S to which the workpiece DG has been bonded is removed from the substrate unloading section 7. The substrate S is unloaded from the bonder 10.

[0026] The details of the preform section 9 will be explained using Figure 6.

[0027] The preform unit 9 comprises a syringe 91, a nozzle 92, a nozzle holder 93, upper and lower arms 96, and a preform stage 95. The syringe 91 contains paste. The nozzle 92 is located at the bottom of the syringe 91. The nozzle 92 is held by the nozzle holder 93. The nozzle holder 93 also functions as a heater block, and a heating unit 93a is fitted into it. The heating unit 93a is composed of, for example, a resistance heating electric heater. The upper and lower arms 96 are connected to the nozzle holder 93 and are a mechanism for moving the syringe 91 and nozzle 92 up and down, and are moved up and down by a drive unit (not shown).

[0028] A temperature sensor (not shown) is provided near the nozzle 92 on the nozzle holder 93, and the control unit 8 controls the heating unit 93a based on the temperature of the temperature sensor. Heat from the heating unit 93a is transferred to the entire nozzle 92 via the nozzle holder 93 by heat conduction, heating the paste inside the nozzle 92 and maintaining it at an appropriate temperature.

[0029] The preform stage 95 has a mounting section 95a on which a substrate S on which a semiconductor chip as a workpiece is mounted is placed, and a cooling section 95b for cooling the mounting section 95a. The cooling section 95b is composed of, for example, a Peltier element.

[0030] The preform stage 95 is equipped with a temperature sensor (not shown) near the mounting section 95a, and the control unit 8 controls the cooling section 95b based on the temperature of the temperature sensor. Heat from the paste applied to the semiconductor chip D is dissipated by thermal conduction from the mounting section 95a to the cooling section 95b via the semiconductor chip D and the substrate S, maintaining the paste applied to the semiconductor chip D at an appropriate temperature. The syringe 91, nozzle 92, nozzle holder 93, and upper and lower arms 96 constitute the coating apparatus. The preform stage 95 may also be included in the coating apparatus.

[0031] When applying the paste to the semiconductor chip D, the paste is placed in the syringe 91, and pressurized gas such as air is supplied from the top of the syringe 91 for a certain period of time from, for example, an air pulse type dispenser (not shown) to dispense a predetermined amount of paste. At this time, the nozzle 92 is heated to a predetermined temperature. The predetermined temperature is a temperature at which the paste does not harden, for example, 40-50°C. During application, with the nozzle 92 in close proximity to the semiconductor chip D, the syringe 91 is scanned (drawn) in a two-dimensional, single-stroke manner in the XY plane.

[0032] The application of the paste will be explained using Figures 7, 8(a), and 8(b).

[0033] As shown in Figure 7, the substrate S has multiple product areas (hereinafter referred to as attachment areas P) arranged in a grid pattern, which will ultimately form a single package. A semiconductor chip D is mounted on each attachment area P. In the following, we will describe an example in which four attachment areas P are arranged in a row, and eight rows in total.

[0034] Paste is sequentially applied to the semiconductor chip D using a syringe 91, starting from the first row of the first column (CN=1, RN=1) in the upper right of the substrate S, which has attachment regions P arranged in a grid pattern, and moving downwards. After applying paste to the semiconductor chip D from the fourth row of the first column (CN=1, RN=4) in the lower right, the substrate S is moved to the second column from the right for surface inspection and positioning. Then, paste is sequentially applied starting from the top position (first row) (CN=2, RN=1) in the second column from the right and moving downwards. Subsequently, paste is applied to the third, fourth, ..., and eighth columns in the same manner.

[0035] The paste dispensing process is described below. The paste is contained in a syringe 91. Initially, the upper and lower arms 96 are moved so that the nozzle 92 is positioned above the dispensing position WS shown in Figure 8(a). As the upper and lower arms 96 are lowered, the tip of the nozzle 92 descends from a relatively high position and reaches a predetermined height (nozzle height) above the top surface of the substrate S at the dispensing start timing. The nozzle height is, for example, 100 to 200 μm. When compressed air is supplied from the dispenser, the air pressure in the syringe 91 rapidly increases, and dispensing gradually begins. Synchronized with this, the drawing operation begins. Specifically, the nozzle 92 moves horizontally in two dimensions as the upper and lower arms 96 are moved. The nozzle 92 generally returns to the dispensing position WS, where the drawing operation ends. Synchronized with this, when the supply of compressed air from the dispenser is stopped, the air pressure in the syringe 91 rapidly decreases, but the dispensing gradually weakens and stops. Almost simultaneously with the stopping of dispensing, the upper and lower arms 96 raise the nozzle 92. Through this operation, for example, as shown in Figure 8(a), paste PA is applied in a ring shape onto the semiconductor chip D.

[0036] If coating is not performed for a predetermined time, a phenomenon occurs where the amount of coating applied at the start of coating becomes unstable due to thixotropy. Thixotropy is the property that when subjected to a constant force, the viscosity gradually decreases and becomes liquid. Conversely, when left stationary, the viscosity increases and becomes solid. As a result, as shown in Figure 8(b), there may be an area on the semiconductor chip D where the amount of paste at the writing position WS is insufficient and not coated. Therefore, it is common practice to perform a preliminary operation to test the paste before coating the first attachment area P (CN=1, RN=1).

[0037] While not limited to UV-curing adhesives, depending on the material, paste application may not be stable unless a test application is performed before starting application to the attachment area P in the first row of each column. In other words, it is possible to keep the application amount constant at the start of application by increasing the frequency of the test application. However, this increases the test application time and reduces productivity.

[0038] In this embodiment, the viscosity of the paste is kept lower than its viscosity at room temperature by continuously heating the nozzle 92 to a predetermined temperature. Here, since the paste has thermosetting properties, the predetermined temperature is preferably a temperature that does not harden the paste, for example, 40 to 50°C. This reduces the variation in the amount of paste dispensed and stabilizes the application. Therefore, the test application of paste can be performed only before applying it to the first attachment area P (CN=1, RN=1), and the preparatory operation time can be reduced.

[0039] When the paste is applied, the nozzle 82 is heated, which reduces the viscosity of the paste being applied. As a result, the viscosity of the paste applied to the semiconductor chip D is also reduced, and if the paste temperature remains high, there is a possibility that the paste will undergo shape changes (changes over time), such as the base of the paste widening and the height decreasing over time.

[0040] In this embodiment, the cooling section 95b of the preform stage 95 cools the paste applied via the mounting section 95a and the substrate S so that the temperature of the paste returns to the temperature before heating (room temperature). By actively and quickly returning the temperature of the applied paste to room temperature, the viscosity of the paste increases, the viscosity is restored, and shape changes can be reduced.

[0041] According to this embodiment, one or more of the following effects are achieved.

[0042] (a) It becomes possible to reduce changes in the shape of the applied paste.

[0043] (b) The paste can be applied stably.

[0044] (c) As a result of (b) above, the number of preliminary operations (e.g., test runs) before the start of coating can be greatly reduced, and the cycle time can be shortened. This makes it possible to improve production capacity.

[0045] (d) Product quality can be improved by (a) or (b) above.

[0046] The disclosures made by the Disclosers have been described in detail based on embodiments, but it goes without saying that the disclosures are not limited to the embodiments described above and can be modified in various ways.

[0047] For example, in the embodiment, a Peltier element was described as the cooling unit, but cooling water circulation or air cooling may also be used.

[0048] Furthermore, although the embodiment described an electric heater using resistance heating as an example of the heating element, an electric heater such as an infrared heater or induction heater, or a Peltier element may also be used.

[0049] Furthermore, although the embodiment describes an example in which the paste is heated by the heating section of the nozzle 92, for pastes whose viscosity at room temperature is lower than that of the embodiment, the paste may be applied without heating, or the nozzle 92 may be provided with a cooling section to cool the paste before application. In this case, the applied paste may be cooled to a temperature lower than the temperature of the paste at the time of application by the preform stage 95 to reduce changes in shape over time.

[0050] Furthermore, although the embodiment described an example in which paste PA is applied in a ring shape on the semiconductor chip D, paste PA may also be applied on the semiconductor chip D in a shape other than a ring (for example, an X shape or a Z shape).

[0051] Furthermore, although the embodiment described an example in which paste PA is applied on semiconductor chip D, semiconductor chips (dies) separated from a semiconductor wafer may also be stacked on top of semiconductor chip D.

[0052] Furthermore, although the embodiment described an example in which paste PA is applied on a semiconductor chip D, paste PA may also be applied on a substrate S. In this case, the semiconductor chip is bonded to the substrate S.

[0053] Furthermore, although the embodiment described an example in which a workpiece DG picked up from the chip supply unit 1 by the bond head 41 is bonded to a semiconductor chip D mounted on a substrate S, an intermediate stage may be provided between the chip supply unit 1 and the bonding unit 4, the workpiece DG picked up from the chip supply unit 1 by the pickup head is placed on the intermediate stage, and the workpiece DG is picked up again from the intermediate stage by the bond head 41 and bonded to the semiconductor chip D mounted on the substrate S. [Explanation of symbols]

[0054] 8. Control Unit 10. Bonder (semiconductor manufacturing equipment) 91... Syringe 92... Nozzle 93a... Heating part 95... Preform Stage 95a... Mounting section 95b...Cooling section D... Semiconductor chip PA... Paste S... Circuit board

Claims

1. A coating apparatus comprising: a syringe in which paste is stored; a nozzle provided at the tip of the syringe; and a nozzle holder that holds the nozzle and also functions as a heater block for heating the nozzle; A stage having a mounting section on which a substrate with semiconductor chips mounted on it is placed, and a cooling section for cooling the mounting section, It comprises a control unit and, The control unit, (a) The heater block continuously heats the nozzle, and the paste is applied from the nozzle onto the semiconductor chip. (b) A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus configured such that the cooling unit cools the applied paste to its pre-heating temperature so that the temperature of the heated and applied paste returns to its original state quickly.

2. In the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of Claim 1, The control unit is configured to constantly heat the nozzle with the heater block so that the change in the amount of paste dispensed is small in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

3. In the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of Claim 1, The control unit is configured to dispense the paste in an annular manner onto the semiconductor chip by the drawing operation of the syringe in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

4. In the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of claim 1, The aforementioned paste is an ultraviolet-curing adhesive used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

5. In the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, Furthermore, it is equipped with a bond head, The control unit is configured to place a workpiece on the semiconductor chip using the bond head.

6. In the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of claim 5, The aforementioned workpiece is a semiconductor manufacturing device for glass chips.

7. The system comprises a syringe in which paste is stored, a nozzle provided at the tip of the syringe, a nozzle holder that holds the nozzle and also functions as a heater block for heating the nozzle, a stage, and a control unit. The aforementioned stage has a mounting section on which a workpiece is placed, and a cooling section for cooling the aforementioned mounting section. The control unit, (a) The heater block continuously heats the nozzle, and the paste is applied from the nozzle onto the workpiece. (b) A coating apparatus configured to cool the applied paste to its pre-heating temperature using the cooling unit so that the temperature of the heated and applied paste returns to its original state quickly.

8. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device using a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprising: a coating apparatus having a syringe in which paste is stored; a nozzle provided at the tip of the syringe; and a nozzle holder having the function of a heater block for holding the nozzle and heating the nozzle; and a stage having a mounting section on which a substrate on which a semiconductor chip is mounted is placed; and a cooling section for cooling the mounting section, wherein (a) A coating step in which the nozzle is constantly heated by the heater block and the paste is applied to the semiconductor chip with the coating apparatus, (b) A cooling step in which the cooling unit cools the paste applied on the stage to its pre-heating temperature so that the temperature of the heated and applied paste returns to its original state as quickly as possible, A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device containing [a specific component].

9. In the method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 8, The substrate has a plurality of attachment regions arranged in a grid, and the semiconductor chip is mounted on each of the plurality of attachment regions. The coating step is a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, wherein the coating step involves coating the paste onto the semiconductor chips mounted on the plurality of attachment regions using the syringe.

10. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 9, further, (c) A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising the step of bonding dies on the semiconductor chips mounted on the plurality of attachment regions after the cooling step.

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