Semiconductor Wafer Separation for Reuse and Reduced Grinding
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Solution Overview
Problem
The conventional method for manufacturing semiconductor devices results in inefficient use of semiconductor wafers due to increased thickness and diameter, leading to longer grinding times and a decrease in the number of devices produced per unit volume, causing delays and excessive consumption of wafer material.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a semiconductor wafer source with a first and second main surface and a side wall, where element forming regions are created on the first main surface, and the wafer is cut along a horizontal direction from a thickness direction intermediate portion to separate an element formation wafer and an element non-formation wafer, allowing for reuse of the non-formation wafer as a new source, thereby reducing manufacturing delays and material consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a semiconductor wafer is increased in thickness to suppress deflection, then the wafer's mechanical stability is improved, but the grinding time increases and the number of devices produced per unit volume decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The wafer is divided into two separate wafers by cutting at an intermediate thickness position. The first wafer contains the semiconductor elements and is used for device production, while the second wafer is reused as a new wafer source. This segmentation allows the original thick wafer to be utilized more efficiently, reducing the amount of material that needs to be ground away and increasing the number of devices produced per unit volume while maintaining the necessary thickness for mechanical stability in the element-containing wafer.
2Manufacturing precision
If a thick semiconductor wafer is ground and thinned to manufacture semiconductor devices, then the desired device thickness is achieved, but the grinding time increases and wafer consumption efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The wafer is cut into two portions at an intermediate thickness position before the final thinning process. This preliminary action creates a first wafer with a reduced thickness that still contains the semiconductor elements, thereby reducing the amount of material that needs to be removed during subsequent grinding operations. This significantly decreases the grinding time while still achieving the desired final device thickness, and improves overall wafer consumption efficiency.
3Productivity
If a semiconductor wafer is cut into multiple devices, then the number of devices is increased, but the wafer source is consumed faster without reuse option
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of discarding the second wafer portion that is created when cutting the original thick wafer at an intermediate position, this wafer is reused as a new wafer source for manufacturing additional semiconductor devices. This recovery and reuse of the second wafer reduces overall wafer material consumption and increases the total number of devices that can be produced from the original wafer material, thereby improving both productivity and reducing substance loss.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes a step of preparing a semiconductor wafer source which includes a first main surface on one side, a second main surface on the other side and a side wall connecting the first main surface and the second main surface, an element forming step of setting a plurality of element forming regions on the first main surface of the semiconductor wafer source, and forming a semiconductor element at each of the plurality of element forming regions, and a wafer source separating step of cutting the semiconductor wafer source from a thickness direction intermediate portion along a horizontal direction parallel to the first main surface, and separating the semiconductor wafer source into an element formation wafer and an element non-formation wafer after the element forming step.