Patent ID: 7387963
Filing Date: 2008-06-17
Classification: B24B,H01L

Abstract:
1. A process for producing a semiconductor wafer, comprising the following process sequence: (a) providing a semiconductor wafer having a rounded and etched edge; (b) polishing the edge of the semiconductor wafer by moving the semiconductor wafer which is held on a centrally rotating chuck and projects beyond the chuck toward at least one polishing drum which is inclined at an angle with respect to the chuck as rotates centrally and is covered with a polishing cloth and pressed against one another under a contact pressure, with a polishing abrasive being supplied continuously, the polishing drum and semiconductor wafer being moved away from one another after a predetermined number of revolutions of the semiconductor wafer; (c) cleaning the semiconductor wafer; (d) inspecting an edge region of the semiconductor wafer using an inspection unit; and (e) further processing the semiconductor wafer; wherein the inspection of the edge region of the semiconductor wafer as described in step (d) automatically detects and classifies all the defects above a size of 0.3 μm in the edge region, and wherein, if defects are detected during the inspection, the semiconductor wafer is reprocessed as described in steps (b) to (d) and is then processed further as described in step (e), the edge polishing as described in step (b) being carried out with polishing parameters which have been optimized on the basis of the classification of the defects, or otherwise the semiconductor wafer is sorted out and removed if reprocessing is not possible on account of the defects which have been detected.