Plastic Seal Layer for Semiconductor Wafer Thinning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional semiconductor fabrication methods are complex and costly, with wafer thinning processes prone to warping or cracking, requiring intricate carrier plate bonding and de-bonding procedures.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the formation of a plastic seal layer on the functional surface of a substrate before thinning, which supports the substrate during the thinning process and serves as a packaging material, simplifying the process and reducing production costs by eliminating the need for carrier plate de-bonding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a carrier plate is bonded to the wafer for thinning process, then the wafer can be supported during thinning, but the fabrication process becomes complicated and production cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the carrier plate from the final product structure, using it only temporarily during thinning, then completely removing it afterward. This extracts the support function to only the necessary phase, eliminating the need for de-bonding steps and simplifying the overall process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary thinning of the wafer before bonding to the carrier plate, so that the wafer is already partially thinned and more stable during the bonding and subsequent processing steps, reducing the risk of warping or cracking.
2Productivity
If the wafer is thinned to very small thickness, then the integration level and packaging efficiency improve, but the wafer becomes prone to warping or cracking
Solution Approach 1:
The wafer undergoes preliminary thinning before carrier plate bonding, reducing its thickness in advance when it is still supported by the full wafer structure, minimizing stress and preventing warping or cracking during subsequent processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The carrier plate acts as an intermediary support structure during the critical thinning phase, providing mechanical stability to the thin wafer without becoming part of the final product, thus enabling thin wafer processing while maintaining structural integrity.
3Ease of manufacture
If carrier plate de-bonding is performed after thinning, then the carrier plate can be removed, but the process time and production cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The carrier plate is completely extracted from the process after serving its temporary support function, with all bonding and de-bonding operations eliminated. This achieves carrier plate removal without adding any de-bonding steps, as the plate is discarded after use.
Solution Approach 2:
The carrier plate is treated as a disposable, low-cost temporary support structure that is used only during the thinning process and then discarded, eliminating the need for expensive de-bonding operations and reducing overall process time and cost.
Data Source
AI summary
A semiconductor structure includes providing a substrate including a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. The first surface is a functional surface. The method also includes forming a plastic seal layer on the first surface of the substrate, and performing a thinning-down process on the second surface of the substrate after forming the plastic seal layer. The plastic seal layer provides support for the substrate during the thinning-down process, and thus warping or cracking of the plastic seal layer 240 may be avoided. In addition, the plastic seal layer can also be used as a material for packaging the substrate. Therefore, after the thinning-down process, the plastic seal layer does not need to be removed. As such, the fabrication process is simplified, and the production cost is reduced.