Dual-Side Groove Imaging for Semiconductor Cut Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cutting apparatuses for semiconductor workpieces, especially those made of hard materials like silicon carbide, face challenges in maintaining processing accuracy due to the inability to simultaneously image and verify the alignment of cut grooves on both surfaces, leading to potential oblique or tapered cuts, which decreases efficiency and requires additional visual inspection.
Innovation Solution
A processing apparatus with a chuck table made of transparent material and dual imaging units allows for simultaneous imaging of both the front and back surfaces, enabling the control unit to invert and superimpose images for accurate alignment verification without the need for external microscopy, thus improving work efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a single imaging unit is used to image only one surface of the workpiece, then the device complexity is reduced, but the manufacturing precision cannot be verified because cut groove alignment on both surfaces cannot be simultaneously checked
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a second imaging dimension by placing imaging units on both the upper and lower sides of the workpiece. This allows simultaneous imaging of both front and back surfaces, enabling verification of cut groove alignment precision that cannot be achieved with single-surface imaging alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the workpiece by superimposing the inverted image from one surface with the image from the opposite surface. This copying technique allows operators to visually compare cut groove positions on both surfaces, verifying alignment precision without physically measuring each surface separately.
2Manufacturing precision
If visual inspection with a microscope is performed after cutting, then the manufacturing precision can be verified, but the productivity decreases due to additional work time required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs imaging and alignment verification during the cutting process itself rather than as a separate post-processing step. The dual imaging units capture images of both surfaces, and the control unit processes these images to verify cut groove alignment, eliminating the need for subsequent microscope inspection and thereby maintaining productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the cutting process with the inspection process by integrating dual imaging units and image processing capabilities into the cutting apparatus. This combination allows simultaneous cutting and verification of manufacturing precision, eliminating the separate visual inspection step that would reduce productivity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the chuck table is made opaque for structural strength, then the device complexity is reduced, but the adaptability decreases because the front surface cannot be imaged when the back surface is held
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making only the portion of the chuck table that contacts the workpiece surface transparent, while other structural portions can remain opaque for strength. This selective transparency allows imaging of the front surface when the back surface is held, providing adaptability for different holding configurations without requiring the entire chuck table to be transparent.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material structure for the chuck table, combining transparent materials (such as transparent resin or glass) with opaque structural components. This composite approach allows the table to provide both the necessary mechanical strength and the local transparency required for imaging different surfaces, thereby increasing adaptability without excessive complexity.
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
The apparatus ensures precise verification of cut groove alignment on both surfaces within the processing apparatus, eliminating the need for post-processing visual inspection and enhancing overall work efficiency by providing real-time accuracy checks.
Implementation Method 1
a chuck table that includes one surface and the other surface located on an opposite side to the one surface, has a plate-shaped holding component having a predetermined region formed of a transparent material from the one surface to the other surface, and holds the side of the front surface of the workpiece
Implementation Method 2
a second imaging unit that has a second imaging element, is disposed under the chuck table, and images, through the holding component, the side of the front surface of the workpiece
Data Source
AI summary
A processing apparatus includes a first imaging unit over a chuck table that images a back surface side of a workpiece, a second imaging unit under the chuck table that images a front surface side of the workpiece in a region corresponding to a region imaged by the first imaging unit, and a control part that inverts, in a predetermined direction, either a first image obtained by imaging of a processed groove on the back surface side by the first imaging unit or a second image obtained by imaging of the processed groove on the front surface side by the second imaging unit in such a manner that orientations of the first and second images correspond with each other, and that causes a display device to display both the processed groove in the first image and the processed groove in the second image that are superimposed.