Apparatus and method for irradiating energy beam

An energy beam irradiating apparatus and/or method which, when peeling off an adhesive sheet having an energy radiation curable adhesive and stuck to a wafer, has an ultraviolet ray irradiated to the adhesive sheet, and on an occasion of reducing its adhesive strength. The wafer with the adhesive sheet is suction-held with a supporting member, and the ultraviolet ray is irradiated from an UV lamp in this state. On this occasion, a nitrogen gas N is ejected from a gas discharge area adjacent to a wafer suction-holding area of the supporting member.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for irradiating an energy beam, which irradiate an energy beam to an adhesive sheet stuck on an adherend via an energy radiation curable adhesive.

BACKGROUND ART

As an energy beam irradiating apparatus of this type, for example, the one with the structure of Patent Document 1 is known. In the energy beam irradiating apparatus of the same Document, on curing an ultraviolet radiation curable adhesive, in order to prevent oxygen in the atmosphere from inhibiting its ultraviolet radiation cure, a wafer (1) is disposed in a processing chamber (20) which is closed with a shielding plate (21) and of which inside atmosphere is replaced with a nitrogen gas, and thereafter, ultraviolet ray are irradiated to an adhesive tape (2) stuck to the wafer (1) to reduce its adhesive strength, so that the adhesive tape (2) can be easily peeled off. The reference numerals in the above described parentheses are used in Patent Document 1. The same thing also applies hereinafter.

However, according to the energy beam irradiating apparatus of Document 1, the structure in which the wafer (1) is disposed in the processing chamber (20) of which inside atmosphere is replaced with a nitrogen gas is adopted on the occasion of ultraviolet ray irradiation, and therefore, it takes time to replace the inside atmosphere of the processing chamber (20) with the nitrogen gas, which reduces the processing performance of the entire equipment. There are also the problems of requiring a large amount of nitrogen gas to fill the processing chamber (20) with the nitrogen gas to increase the consumption amount of the gas, and the problem of necessity of securing the installation space of the processing chamber (20).

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Problem to be Solved by the Invention

The present invention is made in view of the above described problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for irradiating an energy beam that are preferable for enhancement of the processing performance of the equipment, reduction in gas consumption, and reduction in an equipment installation space.

Means for Solving the Problem

In order to attain the above-described object, an energy beam irradiating apparatus according to the present invention is an energy beam irradiating apparatus that, when peeling off an adhesive sheet having an energy radiation curable adhesive stuck on an adherend, irradiates an energy beam to the adhesive to cure the adhesive and reduce an adhesive strength, and the aforesaid energy beam irradiating apparatus has a supporting member that suction-holds the aforesaid adherend, and energy beam irradiating means that irradiates the energy beam to the adhesive sheet, and the aforesaid supporting member has a gas discharge area adjacent to a suction-holding area for the adherend.

In the energy beam irradiating apparatus of the present invention, ejection of a gas from the gas discharge area may be performed in a sealed space.

In the energy beam irradiating apparatus according to the present invention, the adherend may be a semiconductor wafer.

In the energy beam irradiating apparatus according to the present invention, a gas which ejects from the gas discharge area may be an inert gas.

In the energy beam irradiating apparatus according to the present invention, ejection of a gas from the gas discharge area may be forcibly directed to an inside of the adherend.

In the energy beam irradiating apparatus according to the present invention, the energy beam may be an ultraviolet ray, and the energy radiation curable adhesive may be an ultraviolet radiation curable adhesive.

In order to attain the above described object, an energy beam irradiating method of the present invention is an energy beam irradiating method for, when peeling off an adhesive sheet having an energy radiation curable adhesive stuck to an adherend , irradiating an energy beam to an adhesive to cure the adhesive and reduce an adhesive strength, and the aforesaid energy beam irradiating method includes the step of ejecting a gas from a gas discharge area adjacent to a suction-holding area for the adherend, when energy beam irradiating means irradiates the energy beam to the adhesive with a supporting member suction-holding the adherend.

In the energy beam irradiating method according to the present invention, the ejection of the gas from the gas discharge area may be performed in a sealed space.

In the energy beam irradiating method according to the present invention, the adherend may be a semiconductor wafer.

In the energy beam irradiating method according to the present invention, the gas ejecting from the gas discharge area may be an inert gas.

In the energy beam irradiating method according to the present invention, the ejection of the gas from the gas discharge area may be forcibly directed to an inside of the adherend.

In the energy beam irradiating method according to the present invention, the energy beam may be an ultraviolet ray, and the energy radiation curable adhesive may be an ultraviolet radiation curable adhesive.

Effect of the Invention

In the present invention, the construction in which the gas is ejected from the gas discharge area adjacent to the suction-holding area for the adherend is adopted as described above, and therefore, cure inhibition by oxygen in the atmosphere can be prevented, in addition to which, charge of the gas is not required on the occasion of irradiation of the energy beam such as an ultraviolet ray and the like. Therefore, charging time of the gas is not required, and enhancement of the processing performance of the entire equipment and reduction in gas consumption amount can be achieved. A processing chamber or the like for charging the gas is not required, and therefore, the equipment installation space can be correspondingly reduced.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1is a plane view of a semiconductor manufacturing equipment to which an energy beam irradiating apparatus or an energy beam irradiating method of the present invention is applied,FIGS. 2(a) and2(b) are explanatory views of a supporting member which constructs the energy beam irradiating apparatus applied to the semiconductor manufacturing equipment inFIG. 1,FIGS. 3(a) and3(b) are explanatory views of a mechanism of the energy beam irradiating apparatus inFIGS. 2(a) and2(b), andFIGS. 4(a) to4(d) are explanatory views of a process of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment inFIG. 1.

In a semiconductor manufacturing equipment1inFIG. 1, a manufacturing method for performing dicing of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, abbreviated as “wafer W”) first (seeFIG. 4(a)), and thereafter, performing back grind for the diced wafer W (seeFIG. 4(b)), a so-called pre-dicing method is adopted. In this manufacturing method, the diced wafer W (seeFIG. 4(a)) is subjected to back grind processing in a back grind stage S1(seeFIG. 4(b)) and is formed to be of a desired thickness. Before the back grind processing is performed, a protection sheet T is stuck to a circuit surface of the wafer W via an ultraviolet radiation curable adhesive A. Then, by the back grind processing, the wafer W is divided into individual pieces to be an aggregate of a plurality of chips C (seeFIG. 4(c) and4(d)). The wafer W which is divided into a plurality of chips C by the back grind is transported to a peeling stage S2, and the protection sheet T is peeled off from the wafer W in the stage S2(seeFIG. 4(d)).

As inFIG. 1, a UV lamp2as energy beam irradiating means is placed partway along a wafer transport passage L from the back grind stage SI to the peeling stage S2. The UV lamp2reduces adhesive strength by curing the above described adhesive A which bonds the wafer W and the protection sheet T with ultraviolet rays so as to be able to peel off the protection sheet T easily.

When the wafer W is transported along the wafer transport passage L, the wafer W is suction-held by a supporting member3. The supporting member3has a suction part5and a discharge part6formed by a porous member integrally provided on an undersurface of a support base plate4as shown inFIGS. 2A and 2B. The suction part5is formed to have substantially the same diameter as the wafer W, and its undersurface is an area which suction-holds the wafer W (hereinafter, called “wafer suction-holding area SA”). The discharge part6is formed into a ring shape so as to surround an outer periphery of the suction part5, and forms a gas discharge area GA which is adjacent to the wafer suction-holding area SA. An outer peripheral surface of the discharge part6is covered with a ring-shaped side plate4-1which is provided integrally with the support base plate4.

The support base plate4is provided with a gas feed hole7and a suction hole8. A feed hose9of an inert gas (nitrogen gas N in this embodiment) is connected to one end of the gas feed hole7to feed a nitrogen gas N from a gas pump not shown, and the other end of the gas feed hole7opens to a surface (porous surface) of the discharge part6. Meanwhile, a suction hose10is connected to one end of the suction hole8to suck air by a vacuum pump not shown, and the other end of the suction hole8opens to a surface (porous surface) of the suction part5.

The suction part5is constructed by the porous member, and when suction through the suction hose10is performed, a suction force occurs to the entire wafer suction-holding area SA of the supporting member3. By this suction force, the wafer W divided into a plurality of chips is suction-held by the supporting member3. The discharge part6is also constructed by the porous member as described above, and when supply of the nitrogen gas N is performed through the feed hose9, the nitrogen gas N ejects from the gas discharge area GA adjacent to the above described wafer suction-holding area SA, specifically, the undersurface of the discharge part6through the gas feed hole7and the discharge part6.

The wafer W which is suction-held as described above is the aggregate of a plurality of individual chips C, and therefore, a suction force by the suction hose10also occurs to an outer peripheral surface of the wafer W through a gap G between the chips C shown inFIGS. 3(a) and3(b) (this gap G is formed as the groove cut in dicing in a pre-dicing method). Therefore, the nitrogen gas N which ejects from the discharge part6as described above is sucked from the outer peripheral surface of the wafer W which is suction-held as inFIGS. 3(a) and3(b), and forcibly enters the inside of the wafer W through the gap G between the chips C. The nitrogen gas N which enters the inside of the wafer W is finally sucked by the suction hose10through the inside of the suction part5and the suction hole8. Therefore, curing inhibition in the portions where the ultraviolet radiation curable adhesive contacts the atmosphere, especially in the gap G between the chips C can be effectively prevented, and the adhesive does not remain on the wafer at the time of peeling off the protection sheet T shown inFIG. 4(d).

Next, an action of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment inFIG. 1, and an action and operation of the apparatus and method for irradiating an energy beam of the present invention will be described.

In the semiconductor manufacturing equipment1inFIG. 1, the wafer W with the protection sheet T after dicing (seeFIG. 4(a)) is transported to the back grind stage S1, and back grind of the wafer W is performed on the same stage S1(seeFIG. 4(b)). When the back grind is completed, the grind surface of the wafer W is suction-held by the supporting member3mounted to a tip end of a multi-articulated robot11as shown inFIGS. 3(a) and3(b).

The wafer W with the protection sheet T which is suction-held as described above is transported to the peeling stage S2by the articulated robot11with the protection sheet T down. Since on this occasion, the wafer W with the protection sheet T is set to pass above the UV lamp2, ultraviolet rays are irradiated to the protection sheet T from the UV lamp2, the adhesive A which bonds the wafer W and the protection sheet T is cured, and the adhesive strength is reduced, whereby the protection sheet T is in the easily peelable state. Then, the wafer W with the protection sheet T which is transported to the peeling stage S2is placed so that the protection sheet T is the top surface, and the protection sheet T is peeled off from the wafer W in the state where the wafer W is sucked (seeFIG. 4(d)).

When the wafer W with the protection sheet T passes above the UV lamp2as described above, supply of the nitrogen gas N is performed through the feed hose9as shown inFIGS. 3(a) and3(b) andFIG. 4(c), and with the help of the suction force by the suction hose10, the nitrogen gas N is sucked from the outer peripheral surface of the wafer W which is suction-held as shown inFIGS. 3(a) and3(b), and forcibly enters the inside of the wafer W through each gap G between the chips C. Since the active oxygen which inhibits cure of the adhesive A on the outer periphery and in the inside of the wafer W is removed by the nitrogen gas N which ejects as above, the adhesive A can be sufficiently cured, and the problem caused by undercure of the adhesive A, for example, the problem that the adhesive A remains on the outer periphery of the wafer W and the outer periphery of the individual chips C after peeling off the protection sheet T and the like can be effectively prevented.

According to the energy beam irradiating apparatus of the above described embodiment, the construction in which the nitrogen gas N is ejected from the gas discharge area GA adjacent to the wafer suction-holding area SA is adopted, and therefore, charge of the nitrogen gas N is not required on ultraviolet ray irradiation. Thus, charging time of the nitrogen gas N is not required, and enhancement of the processing performance of the entire semiconductor manufacturing equipment and reduction in consumption amount of the nitrogen gas N can be achieved. The processing chamber or the like for charging the nitrogen gas N is not required, and therefore, the equipment installation space can be reduced correspondingly. Further, during transportation of the wafer W, ejection of the nitrogen gas N and ultraviolet ray irradiation to the protection sheet T are performed, and therefore, there is the advantage of high operation efficiency.

An example using the nitrogen gas N is described in the above described embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to this, and inert gases such as a helium gas, and an argon gas other than a nitrogen gas N may be used.

The example using the ultraviolet radiation curable adhesive as an energy radiation curable adhesive is described in the above described embodiment, but adhesives that cure with energy beams other than ultraviolet rays may be applied. In this case, energy beam irradiating means corresponding to the applied energy beam is used instead of the above described UV lamp2.

In the above described embodiment, the construction in which the nitrogen gas N is ejected from the gas discharge area GA adjacent to the wafer suction-holding area SA during transportation of the wafer W which is suction-held with the supporting member3is adopted, but such ejection of the nitrogen gas N may be performed in a sealed space. Even in the case of adopting such a sealed space, the nitrogen gas N is also discharged from the gas discharge area GA adjacent to the wafer suction-holding area SA, and the construction in which the nitrogen gas N is charged into the sealed space is not adopted. Accordingly, such a sealed space does not required for charging the nitrogen gas N, and therefore, the sealed space may be simple.

3: supporting member

GA: gas discharge area