Wire Guide Roll Groove Switching for Wafer Slicing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for slicing semiconductor wafers using wire saws face challenges with groove wear on wire guide rolls, leading to alignment errors and frequent outage times due to the need for regular renewal of coatings and grooves, which affects the economic viability and precision of the process.
Innovation Solution
The method involves a wire saw where only every n-th groove on the wire guide roll is initially occupied by the sawing wire, allowing the wire to be wound into unused grooves as they wear, thereby extending the time between groove renewal without making the coating too hard, which ensures optimal wire guidance and reduces outage times.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of stationary object
If the coating of wire guide rolls is made harder to reduce wear, then the service life of grooves is extended, but the wire guidance precision deteriorates due to loss of optimal friction engagement
Solution Approach 1:
The wire guide roll surface is segmented into multiple grooves, each capable of independent use. The sawing wire can be transferred from worn grooves to unused grooves, allowing the coating to remain soft for optimal wire engagement while extending overall service life through groove multiplication.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of changing the material hardness parameter of the coating, the invention changes the operational parameter by increasing the number of usable grooves. This allows the coating to maintain its original softness for optimal wire guidance while extending service life through parameter optimization of groove quantity and distribution.
2Manufacturing precision
If grooves are renewed frequently to maintain alignment precision, then manufacturing precision is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to increased outage times
Solution Approach 1:
Unused grooves are prepared in advance during the manufacturing of the wire guide roll. When grooves wear out, the wire can be immediately transferred to pre-prepared unused grooves without requiring demounting or regeneration of the wire guide roll, thus maintaining alignment precision while avoiding productivity loss.
Solution Approach 2:
Worn grooves are discarded and replaced by transferring the wire to unused grooves. The wire guide roll itself is recovered and continues to serve its function without requiring demounting or regeneration, thereby maintaining precision while minimizing outage time and maximizing productivity.
3Manufacturing precision
If the distance between grooves is reduced to compensate for wire diameter decrease, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases due to more grooves requiring maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of increasing groove density in the lateral dimension, the invention adds grooves in the longitudinal dimension of the wire guide roll. This allows maintaining optimal groove spacing for precision while extending the functional life of the roll by utilizing multiple grooves along its length, thereby reducing the need for frequent maintenance operations.
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
This approach lengthens the period between groove renewals, reduces outage times, and maintains precision in the slicing process by allowing continuous use of wire guide rolls with periodic groove switching, thus enhancing the economic viability and precision of the semiconductor wafer slicing process.
Implementation Method 1
a long sawing wire coated with bonded abrasive grain runs spirally over wire spools
Implementation Method 2
at least two wire guide rolls clamp a wire web
Data Source
AI summary
A method for slicing wafers from a workpiece using a sawing wire, wherein at least two wire guide rolls clamp a wire web, each wire guide roll having a multiplicity of grooves in its lateral surface, wherein at least one groove in which no wire is inserted during the wire sawing is present alongside a wire-guiding groove and, after wear on the wire-guiding grooves or after a defined number of sawing processes, the sawing wire is wound over into the previously unoccupied grooves that are not yet worn or used, respectively.