Semiconductor Die Singulation via Rounded Corner Stress Mitigation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The process of singulating semiconductor dies from a wafer is prone to physical and thermal stresses, which can damage the dies and render them defective or inoperable.
Innovation Solution
The use of an etching process to form rounded corners and scribe regions in the semiconductor substrate, followed by singulation with a saw blade, helps to distribute and mitigate the stresses during the separation process, and subsequent bonding and thinning to minimize defects and enhance the die-wafer interface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If singulation is performed using a saw blade to separate individual dies from the wafer, then the individual dies can be separated for separate utilization, but physical and thermal stresses during the separation process can damage the dies, rendering them defective or inoperable
Solution Approach 1:
Rounded corners and scribe regions are formed in the semiconductor substrate prior to the singulation process. These pre-formed features serve to distribute and mitigate the physical and thermal stresses that occur during the saw blade separation process, preventing die damage before the damaging forces are applied.
Solution Approach 2:
The rounded corners and scribe regions act as stress-distributing features that cushion the impact of physical and thermal stresses during singulation. By preparing these protective geometric features in advance, the die structure is reinforced against the harmful forces that will be applied during the separation process.
2Productivity
If physical and thermal stresses are applied during the singulation process to separate individual dies, then the dies can be separated from the wafer, but the stresses can cause defects and render dies inoperable
Solution Approach 1:
The rounded corners and scribe regions transform the harmful concentrated stresses from the singulation process into beneficial distributed stresses. The geometric features convert the potentially damaging point loads into distributed stress fields that the die structure can withstand, effectively converting the harmful aspect of the separation process into a beneficial stress distribution pattern.
Solution Approach 2:
The formation of rounded corners and scribe regions changes the geometric parameters of the semiconductor substrate. These parameter changes in the substrate geometry fundamentally alter how stresses are distributed during singulation, transforming the stress concentration that would normally occur at sharp corners into a distributed stress pattern across the rounded features and scribe regions.
Data Source
AI summary
A semiconductor device and method of manufacture are provided. In an embodiment a first semiconductor device and a second semiconductor device are formed within a semiconductor wafer and a scribe region between the first semiconductor device and the second semiconductor device is patterned. A singulation process is then utilized within the scribe region to singulate the first semiconductor device from the second semiconductor device. The first semiconductor device and the second semiconductor device are then bonded to a second semiconductor substrate and thinned in order to remove extension regions from the first semiconductor device and the second semiconductor device.