Semiconductor Chip Splitting With a Cutout Auxiliary Layer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mechanical machining methods for semiconductor chip splitting, such as sawing or scribing, face issues with gradual deterioration of cutting performance and uneven abrasion due to organic materials on the cutting blade or scriber tip, leading to chipping or cracking on the cut surface.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the use of a cutout auxiliary layer made of silicon oxide, which is wider than the cutting area, adjacent to the chip areas, to maintain the sharpening and prevent uneven abrasion of the blade or scriber tip during machining, and a trench between the gap-filling insulating film and the cutout auxiliary layer to prevent contamination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If mechanical machining is performed using a cutting blade or scriber tip with organic material, then cutting/machining performance deteriorates gradually and uneven abrasion occurs, but the process can be performed repeatedly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the cutting blade into two distinct functional zones: a working portion that contacts the semiconductor wafer and a non-working portion that does not. This segmentation allows the non-working portion to be coated with organic material for easy sharpening, while the working portion maintains clean cutting edges, thereby preventing uneven abrasion and maintaining cutting surface quality throughout the blade's usage life.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an organic material coating as an intermediary layer on the non-working portion of the cutting blade. This coating acts as a sacrificial layer that can be easily sharpened to restore the blade's geometry without affecting the working portion, thus maintaining reliable cutting performance while extending blade usage life through repeated sharpening cycles.
2Manufacturing precision
If a dicing saw with a wide diamond blade is used, then complete cutting is achieved, but a groove with large width is formed corresponding to the blade width
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the low-permittivity insulating film from the groove region after cutting. This extraction allows the groove width to be minimized to only what is necessary for the cutting operation itself, rather than being determined by the blade width. The removed film creates a clean, narrow groove that improves manufacturing precision while reducing the length of the moving material.
3Length of moving object
If a scriber is used to form a scribe line, then a very narrow line is formed, but the line has predetermined depth and requires precise control
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating a groove with non-uniform cross-section: a narrow upper opening that transitions to a wider bottom region. This local variation in geometry allows the scribe line to maintain a very narrow visible width on the surface while providing sufficient depth and volume at the bottom for effective stress concentration and clean chip separation, thereby achieving both narrow line width and controlled depth precision.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach maintains the machining performance of the blade or scriber tip, preventing uneven wear and ensuring a clean cut surface by sharpening the tool and preventing contamination, thereby improving the reliability of semiconductor chip splitting.
Implementation Method 1
A dicing saw is a cutting device that completely cuts a wafer or forms a groove having a relatively large width corresponding to a width of a disk-shaped blade having a diamond tip by rotating the blade. A scriber is a device that forms a scribe line, which has a relatively very small width and a predetermined depth, on a wafer by rectilinearly reciprocating a scriber tip having a diamond tip.
Implementation Method 2
in the case of the mechanical cutting method, an organic material is attached to a cutting blade or scriber tip, which may cause gradual deterioration in cutting/machining performance or cause W-shaped uneven abrasion with an increase in number of times the cutting blade or scriber tip is used
Data Source
AI summary
Provide is a method of splitting a semiconductor chip, the method including performing a back-end-of-line (BEOL) process including forming a plurality of chip areas on a semiconductor substrate, forming a splitting area, which separates the plurality of chip areas, on the semiconductor substrate, and forming a wire on a first surface of the semiconductor substrate, forming a cutout auxiliary layer in the splitting area of the first surface of the semiconductor substrate, and performing mechanical machining by bringing a mechanical machining device into contact with the cutout auxiliary layer, wherein the cutout auxiliary layer is adjacent to the plurality of chip areas.