Wafer Scribe Line Structure to Prevent Cutting Cracks

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

The low dielectric material or oxide material in the scribe lines of a semiconductor wafer is prone to cracking or breaking during the cutting process, affecting the cutting quality and potentially damaging the devices in the chip.

Innovation Solution

A semiconductor structure is designed with a metal pad layer paved over the scribe line region, filled with pseudo seal ring structures that divide the material into small blocks, and enhanced with seal ring structures to distribute stress, preventing cracking during wafer cutting.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of manufacture

If low dielectric material or oxide material is used in the scribe line, then the scribe line can be formed for dividing chips, but the material is prone to crack or break during cutting

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvescribe line formationVSAvoidmaterial integrity during cutting

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The scribe line region is divided into multiple segments by introducing seal ring structures and pseudo seal ring structures. These structures partition the continuous low dielectric material or oxide material into isolated blocks, preventing crack propagation across the entire scribe line during the cutting process.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Seal ring structures and pseudo seal ring structures are pre-formed in the scribe line region before the cutting process. These structures act as stress buffers and crack barriers, cushioning the mechanical stresses that occur during wafer cutting and preventing material failure.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #11Beforehand cushioning (Prior cushioning)

2Reliability

If seal ring structures and pseudo seal ring structures are added to prevent cracking, then material integrity is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvematerial integrity during cuttingVSAvoidscribe line structure complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The seal ring structures and pseudo seal ring structures are localized specifically to the scribe line region, where they are needed for crack prevention. The chip active areas remain unaffected and maintain their original simple structure, thus limiting the increase in complexity to only the necessary region.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The pseudo seal ring structures are formed as simplified copies or patterns that replicate the protective function of the seal ring structures. These copied structures provide the necessary crack prevention functionality while using a more straightforward formation process, reducing the overall complexity compared to forming entirely unique structures.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Data Source

PatentUS20250349756A1Semiconductor structure, semiconductor apparatus, and method for manufacturing semiconductor structure

Publication Date: 2025.11.13 RUILI INTEGRATED CIRCUIT CO LTD

AI summary

A semiconductor structure, a semiconductor apparatus, and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor structure are provided. The semiconductor structure includes: a wafer, the wafer being divided into a plurality of chip areas and a scribe line region located between two adjacent chips; seal ring structures, each of the seal ring structures being disposed between one of the plurality of chip areas and the scribe line region; a metal pad layer, the metal pad layer being paved all over the scribe line region and the metal pad layer being located on one side of the scribe line region close to the wafer; and pseudo seal ring structures, the pseudo seal ring structures filling the scribe line region and being disposed on the metal pad layer.