Patent ID: 6563204
Filing Date: 2003-05-13
Classification: H01L,Y10S

Abstract:
Apparatus for protecting an array of sensitive microcircuits on the face of a semiconductor wafer from contamination during die-sawing and subsequent manufacturing operations, comprising:a sealed, protective dome formed over each of the microcircuits and associated dies on the face of the wafer such that, when the individual microcircuits and their associated dies are sawn from the wafer, the protective dome over each microcircuit and associated die remains associated with and protectively sealed over that microcircuit and die; a first sheet having upper and lower surfaces and an area sufficient to cover each of the dies in the wafer, the first sheet having a pattern of the protective domes formed into it through its lower surface, the pattern corresponding to the array of microcircuits in the wafer, each of the domes having a height greater than the maximum height of any microcircuit feature extending upward from the face of the wafer, and a periphery at least as great as the periphery of a corresponding one of the microcircuits; means for removably adhering the lower surface of the first sheet to the face of the wafer such that each microcircuit in the wafer is centrally disposed below a corresponding one of the domes and protectively sealed therein; and wherein at least one edge of the first sheet is trimmed such that, when the first sheet is adhered to the wafer, at least one end of at least one set of saw-alignment scribe lines on the face of the wafer is exposed at that edge of the sheet.