JPH1177461A - Cutting equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [PROBLEMS] A cutting device that is less likely to cause bending or thermal distortion of a spindle even when cutting a semiconductor wafer having a large diameter such as 12 inches or 16 inches, thereby enabling stable precision cutting. I will provide a. SOLUTION: By suspending a cutting means comprising a spindle and a blade mounted on the spindle so as to be movable in the axial direction of the spindle, even if the diameter of the semiconductor wafer is increased, the spindle is not lengthened. , Stabilize the support state.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cutting device for cutting a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer, and more particularly, to a cutting device comprising a cutting blade and a spindle for mounting the blade. Accordingly, the present invention relates to a cutting device that stabilizes the support state of the cutting means and enables more precise cutting.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a cutting device for cutting a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer, for example, a dicing device 5 shown in FIG.
0 is well known. When cutting a semiconductor wafer using the dicing apparatus 50, first, the semiconductor wafer W held on the frame F via the holding tape T is loaded into the cassette 5
Store in one. And the loading / unloading means 52 is the cassette 51
From the semiconductor wafer W, and transport the semiconductor wafer W to the chuck table 54 by the transport means 53,
Place it here.

The semiconductor wafer W mounted and held on the chuck table 54 is positioned immediately below the alignment means 55 by the movement of the chuck table 54 in the X-axis direction, and the surface of the semiconductor wafer W is imaged by the imaging means 56, and pattern matching is performed. Through such processing, a region to be cut is detected. Further, by further moving the chuck table 54 in the X-axis direction, the semiconductor wafer W
Go to

In the cutting area 57, as shown in FIG.
A first ball screw 59 provided in the axial direction and rotated by being driven by the first motor 58; and a first ball screw 59 which engages with the first ball screw 59 to rotate in the Y-axis direction with the rotation of the first ball screw 59. And a movable base 60 are provided.

A support member 61 is provided upright from the end of the base 60. Along the support member 61, a second ball screw 63 rotated by driving a second motor 62 is moved in the Z-axis direction. It is arranged in. A spindle support member 64 that moves up and down in the Z-axis direction with the rotation of the second ball screw 63 is engaged with the second ball screw 63, and the spindle support member 64 is attached to the housing 65 in the Y-axis direction. One end of a spindle 66 rotatably supported by the housing 65 is supported.

At the tip of the spindle 66, a blade 67, which is a disk-shaped blade, is rotatably mounted. When cutting the semiconductor wafer W, the first motor 58 drives the first ball screw 59 to rotate and move the base 60 in the Y-axis direction. Positioning in the Y-axis direction is performed. Then, as the blade 67 rotates, the spindle support member 64 descends with the rotation of the second ball screw 63, and is further driven by the third motor 68 to guide the chuck table 54 to the pair of guide rails 69. Then, by moving in the X-axis direction, the semiconductor wafer W is cut in the X-axis direction.

[0007]

However, since the spindle 66 is in a so-called cantilever state in which one end is supported by the spindle support member 64, the semiconductor wafer W has a large diameter of, for example, 12 inches or 16 inches. , The protrusion amount of the spindle 66 becomes 12
Inches, 16 inches or more. As described above, when the amount of protrusion of the spindle 66 increases, the deflection increases, the influence of thermal strain increases, and the vibration during rotation increases, which hinders precision cutting.

[0008] Therefore, the conventional cutting apparatus has a problem in that the spindle can be stably supported so that precise cutting can be performed even for a large-diameter semiconductor wafer.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION As a specific means for solving the above problems, the present invention provides a chuck table for holding a workpiece, and a cutting means for cutting the workpiece held on the chuck table. A cutting device comprising at least a spindle rotatably supported by a housing and having a blade mounted thereon, and a drive source for rotating the spindle, wherein the cutting means is arranged in the axial direction of the spindle. Cutting means for moving includes moving means,
The cutting means moving means, a hanging portion for hanging the cutting means,
An object of the present invention is to provide a cutting device including a guide rail that supports the hanging portion so as to be movable in the Y-axis direction and a drive mechanism that moves the hanging portion supported by the guide rail in the Y-axis direction. .

The suspending portion suspends the region including the center of gravity of the cutting means, the guide rail is formed in a gate shape, and the chuck table is movable in the X-axis direction orthogonal to the Y-axis. An additional requirement is that the chuck table and the cutting means be relatively movable in a Z-axis direction orthogonal to the X-axis and the Y-axis.

According to such a cutting apparatus, since the cutting means can move in the Y-axis direction above the chuck table holding the workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer, the spindle is lengthened even when the diameter of the semiconductor wafer is increased. There is no need to increase bending and vibration, and the problem of thermal distortion is unlikely to occur.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a dicing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 will be described as an embodiment of the present invention.
In the dicing apparatus 10, parts common to the dicing apparatus 50 of FIG. 5 shown as a conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals as in the conventional example, and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of the cutting area 11 in FIG. 1 in detail. In FIG. 2, a portal base 12 is provided in the cutting area 11 so as to stand in the Y-axis direction. The base 12 has a linear scale 14 for measuring the position of the cutting means 13 in the Y-axis direction, and a cutting means 13.
A pair of first guide rails 15 for guiding the movement in the Y-axis direction, a first pulse motor 16 as a drive mechanism for moving the cutting means 13 in the Y-axis direction, and driven by the first pulse motor 16 And a first ball screw 17 that rotates.

The first guide rail 15 supports a suspending portion 18 for suspending the cutting means 13 so as to be movable in the Y-axis direction.
And a driving mechanism including the first ball screw 17 and the first pulse motor 16 form a cutting means moving means for moving the cutting means 13 in the Y-axis direction.

The suspending portion 18 is provided with a second pulse motor 19 for controlling the movement of the cutting means 13 in the Z-axis direction. The depth of cut can be adjusted by controlling the movement in the direction.

The cutting means 13 suspended by the suspending portion 18 so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction includes a housing 20, a spindle 21 rotatably supported by the housing 20, and a blade mounted on the tip of the spindle 21. 22 and a drive source 23 for rotating the spindle 21.
The vicinity of both ends of the housing 20 is suspended, so that the region including the center of gravity of the cutting means 13 is suspended by the suspension 18.

The cavity 24 of the portal base 12 provided in the Y-axis direction is provided by a pair of second guide rails 25 and a pulse motor (not shown) in the X-axis direction orthogonal to the Y-axis. A driven second ball screw 26 is provided, and the chuck table 27 is guided by the second guide rail 25 by the rotation of the second ball screw 26 to move in the X-axis direction. it can.

For example, when cutting the semiconductor wafer W held on the chuck table 27 in the X-axis direction, after a region to be cut is detected by a process such as pattern matching, the Y-axis direction of the region to be cut is detected. And the drive source 23 is driven to rotate the spindle 21 and the blade 22 attached to the tip of the spindle 21.

When positioning the blade 22 at the position in the Y-axis direction of the area to be cut, the first pulse motor 16 is driven to rotate the first ball screw 17 so that the suspension portion 18 is moved to the first position. Y along guide rail 15
Move in the axial direction. When the hanging portion 18 moves in the Y-axis direction, the blade 22 constituting the cutting means 13 suspended from the hanging portion 18 also moves in the Y-axis direction.

At this time, the position of the blade 22 in the Y-axis direction is measured by the linear scale 14, and when the blade 22 is positioned at the position to be cut, the second pulse motor 19 is driven to lower the cutting means 13 and The semiconductor wafer W can be cut in the X-axis direction by moving the chuck table 27 in the X-axis direction along the second guide rail 25.

In this manner, the cutting means 13 is moved in the Y-axis direction.
Are sequentially moved and lowered, and the chuck table 26 is moved to X
By moving the semiconductor wafer W in the axial direction, X
Cutting can be performed one after another in the axial direction.

The cutting area 11 may be configured as shown in FIGS. First, referring to FIG.
A gate-shaped base 30 is provided upright in the Y-axis direction,
A first pulse motor 32 as a drive mechanism for moving the cutting means 31 in the Y-axis direction and a first ball screw 33 driven and rotated by the first pulse motor 32 are provided on the upper portion of the base 30. Has been established.

As shown in FIG. 4, the base 30 is provided with a pair of first guide rails 34 in the Y-axis direction for guiding the movement of the cutting means 31 in the Y-axis direction.
The first guide rail 34 supports the hanging portion 35 so as to be movable in the Y-axis direction.

Then, the cutting means 31 is moved in the Y-axis direction by a driving mechanism including the hanging portion 35, the first guide rail 34, the first ball screw 33 and the first pulse motor 32. Cutting means moving means for cutting.

From the hanging portion 35, a housing 36 and a spindle 37 rotatably supported by the housing 36 are provided.
And a blade 38 attached to the tip of the spindle 37
And a drive source 39 such as a motor for rotating the spindle 37.
Is suspended. The hanging part 3
5 is provided with a second pulse motor 40 and a second ball screw 41 for controlling the movement of the cutting means 31 in the Z-axis direction. 41 rotates and cutting means 3
The cutting depth can be adjusted by controlling the movement in the Z-axis direction.

When the third ball screw 43 is driven by the third pulse motor 44 and rotated, the chuck table 42 is guided by the pair of second guide rails 45 and moves in the X-axis direction. Hollow part 4 of base 30
5 can be passed.

When cutting the semiconductor wafer W in the cutting area configured as described above, the cutting means 31 is moved in the Y-axis direction by the rotation of the first ball screw 33, and the cutting position of the blade 38 is changed in the Y-axis direction. Perform position adjustment. Then, as the blade 38 rotates, the cutting means 31 descends with the rotation of the second ball screw 41, and further, the chuck table 42 moves in the X-axis direction, thereby cutting in the X-axis direction. .

In any of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the cutting means is suspended and can be positioned above the chuck table, so that the semiconductor wafer W to be cut has a large diameter. If so, there is no need to lengthen the spindle. In addition, since the cutting means is suspended substantially entirely including the center of gravity by the suspension portion, bending and thermal distortion are unlikely to occur, and precise cutting can be stably performed.

[0029]

As described above, according to the cutting apparatus of the present invention, since the cutting means can move in the Y-axis direction above the chuck table holding the workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer, the semiconductor wafer can be moved. Even if the diameter is increased, it is not necessary to lengthen the spindle, the deflection and vibration do not increase, the problem of thermal distortion hardly occurs, and the precision cutting can be stably performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an embodiment of a cutting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a cutting area of the cutting device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a design change in the configuration of a cutting area of the cutting device.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a design change of a configuration of a cutting area of the cutting device.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional cutting device.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a cutting area of the cutting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: Dicing equipment 11: Cutting area 12: Base
13: Cutting means 14: Linear scale 15: First guide rail 1
6: First pulse motor 17: First ball screw 18: Suspension unit 19:
Second pulse motor 20: Housing 21: Spindle 22: Blade 23: Driving source 24: Cavity 25: Second guide rail 26: Second ball screw 27: Chuck table 30: Base 31: Cutting means 32: First One pulse motor 33: First ball screw 34: First guide rail 35: Suspension 36: Housing 37: Spindle 38: Blade 39: Drive source 40: Second pulse motor 41: Second ball screw 42: Chuck table 43: Third ball screw 44: Third pulse motor 45: Second guide rail 46: Cavity 50: Dicing device 51: Cassette 52: Loading / unloading means 53: Transport means 54: Chuck table 55 ： Alignment means 5
6: Imaging means 57: Cutting area 58: First motor 59: First ball screw 60: Base 61: Support member 62: Second motor 63: Second ball screw 64: Spindle support member 65: Housing 66: Spindle 67: Blade 68: Third motor 69: Guide rail

Claims (4)

[Claims] A chuck table for holding a workpiece;
A cutting device for cutting a workpiece held by the chuck table, the cutting device comprising: a spindle rotatably supported by a housing and having a blade mounted thereon; and a spindle rotating the spindle. And a cutting unit moving means for moving the cutting means in the axial direction of the spindle, the cutting means moving means, a hanging portion for suspending the cutting means,
A cutting device comprising: a guide rail for supporting the hanging portion movably in the Y-axis direction; and a driving mechanism for moving the hanging portion supported by the guide rail in the Y-axis direction. 2. The cutting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the suspension section suspends an area including the center of gravity of the cutting means. 3. The cutting device according to claim 1, wherein the guide rail is formed in a gate shape. 4. The chuck table is movable in an X-axis direction orthogonal to the Y-axis, and the chuck table and the cutting means are relatively movable in a Z-axis direction orthogonal to the X-axis and the Y-axis. The cutting device according to claim 1, 2 or 3.