Patent Abstract:
The present invention relates to a method for making chip assemblies, including the following steps of: (a) providing a tested upper wafer and at least one tested lower wafer; (b) sawing the at least one tested lower wafer to form a plurality of lower dice, the lower dice including a plurality of know good lower dice; (c) picking up and rearranging the know good lower dice on a carrier according to the wafer map of the upper wafer; (d) bonding the upper wafer and the carrier; (e) removing the carrier; and (f) proceeding sawing step. Whereby, the dice of the die assembly are both known good dice, thus the yield loss caused by the different yields between the upper wafer and the lower wafer will not occur.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a method for making die assemblies, and more particularly to a method including wafer-to-wafer stacking for making die assemblies. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    There are two conventional stacking technologies adopted in three-dimensional IC package method: one is Wafer-to-Wafer (WtW) stacking; the other is Chip-to-Chip (CtC) stacking or Chip-to-Wafer (CtW) stacking. Compared with the Chip-to-Chip (CtC) stacking or the Chip-to-Wafer (CtW) stacking, the Wafer-to-Wafer (WtW) stacking is a package method that can achieve high production rate and simple manufacturing process. 
         [0005]    However, the major advantage of the Wafer-to-Wafer (WtW) stacking is that the yield rate of the final product is affected by the yields of the upper wafer and the lower wafer. For example, the yields of two wafers to be stacked are 50% and 100% respectively. Even one of the wafers has a higher yield (100%), the yield rate of the final product is still only 50% after the two wafers are stacked directly. Thus, the yield loss reaches 50%. Consequently, the yield rate of the final product can be significantly raised only when the manufacturing processes of the upper wafer and the lower wafer are very stable. 
         [0006]    Therefore, it is necessary to provide a method for making die assemblies to solve the above problems. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The present invention is directed to a method for making die assembly, comprising the following steps of: (a) providing a tested upper wafer and at least one tested lower wafer, the tested upper wafer having a plurality of upper known good dice; (b) sawing the at least one tested lower wafer to form a plurality of lower dice, the lower dice including a plurality of lower known good dice; (c) picking up and rearranging the lower known good dice on a carrier, wherein the positions of the lower known good dice correspond to the positions of the upper known good dice; (d) bonding the tested upper wafer to the carrier, so that the lower known good dice are electrically connected to the upper known good dice; (e) removing the carrier; and (f) proceeding a sawing step to form a plurality of die assemblies. 
         [0008]    Whereby, the lower known good dice are rearranged according to the wafer mapping of the tested upper wafer, thus, the dice of the die assembly are ensured to be both known good dice. Therefore, the yield loss of the product caused by the different yields between the upper wafer and the lower wafer will not occur. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIGS. 1 to 15  are schematic views of a method for making die assemblies according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]      FIGS. 1 to 15  show schematic views of a method for making die assemblies according to the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 1 , an upper wafer  10  and at least one lower wafer  20  are provided. The upper wafer  10  and the lower wafer  20  have been tested, and have their wafer mappings, wherein the tested upper wafer  10  has a plurality of upper known good dice  11  and a plurality of upper known bad dice (not shown). 
         [0011]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , the upper known good die  11  has a major surface  111 , a back surface  112  and a plurality of conducting elements  113 . The conducting elements  113 , for example, bumps, are disposed adjacent to the major surface  111  of the upper known good die  11 . 
         [0012]    Then, the at least one tested lower wafer  20  is sawed to form a plurality of lower dice. The lower dice including a plurality of lower known good dice  21  ( FIG. 3 ) and a plurality of lower known bad dice (not shown). 
         [0013]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , the lower known good die  21  has a major surface  211 , a back surface  212 , a plurality of vias  213  and a plurality of bumps  214 . The vias  213  are disposed in the lower known good die  21 . The bumps  214  are disposed adjacent to the major surface  211  of the lower known good die  21 . The vias  213  are electrically connected to the bumps  214 . 
         [0014]    Then, the lower known good dice  21  are picked up and rearranged on a carrier  30 , wherein the positions of the lower known good dice  21  correspond to the positions of the upper known good dice  11 . That is, the wafer mapping of the carrier  30  after rearranging the lower known good dice  21  is the same as that of the tested upper wafer  10 . In the embodiment, the carrier  30  is a dummy wafer without any function, and the major surfaces  211  of the lower known good dice  21  are adhered to the carrier  30  by using an adhesion layer  31 . 
         [0015]    In the embodiment, the lower known good dice  21  are picked up to disposed and arranged on the carrier  30 . However, it is to be understood that the lower known bad dice can also be picked up and rearranged on the carrier so as to fill up the spaces between the lower known good dice  21 , wherein the positions of the lower known bad dice correspond to the positions of the upper known bad dice. 
         [0016]    As shown in  FIG. 4 , an insulation layer  32  is formed on the lower known good dice  21  to encapsulate the lower known good dice  21 . Preferably, the insulation layer  32  is a kind of molding compound and fills up the gaps between the lower known good dice  21 . 
         [0017]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , the top surface of the insulation layer  32  is ground to expose the lower known good dice  21 , and parts of the back surfaces  212  of the lower known good dice  21  are removed by etching so as to expose ends of the vias  213 . 
         [0018]    As shown in  FIG. 6 , the exposed ends of the vias  213  are surface finished to form a surface finish layer  33 . 
         [0019]    As shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 , the upper wafer  10  is bonded to the carrier  30 , so that the lower known good dice  21  are electrically connected to the upper known good dice  11 . In the embodiment, an underfill  34  is formed on the lower known good dice  21  by dispensing ( FIG. 7 ). Then, the tested upper wafer  10  is thermally bonded to the carrier  30  by using a suction head  60  ( FIG. 8 ), so that the vias  213  of the lower known good dice  21  are electrically connected to the conducting elements  113  of the upper known good dice  11 . Meanwhile, the underfill  34  becomes an intermediate adhesion layer  35 . 
         [0020]    In the embodiment, the intermediate adhesion layer  35  is formed by dispensing. However, in other embodiment, the intermediate adhesion layer  35  may be formed by the following steps. 
         [0021]    As shown in  FIG. 9 , a first film  51  is adhered on the lower known good dice  21 . Then, UV light is applied to cure the first film  51 . Part of the surface of the first film  51  is removed, so as to expose the vias  213 . In addition, a second film  52  is adhered on the tested upper wafer  10 . The material of the first film  51  and the second film  52  are the same, and the first film  51  and the second film  52  are whole pieces of thin films. Then, UV light is applied to cure the second film  52 . Part of the surface of the second film  52  is removed by etching, so as to expose the conducting elements  113 . Then, the tested upper wafer  10  is thermally bonded to the carrier  30  by using a suction head  60  ( FIG. 10 ), so that the vias  213  of the lower known good dice  21  are electrically connected to the conducting elements  113  of the upper known good dice  11  ( FIG. 11 ). Meanwhile, the first film  51  and the second film  52  form a same layer (i.e., the intermediate adhesion layer  35 ). 
         [0022]    As shown in  FIG. 11 , the suction head  60 , the carrier  30  and the adhesion layer  31  are removed. 
         [0023]    As shown in  FIG. 12 , a sawing step is proceeded to saw the tested upper wafer  10  and the insulation layer  32  to form a plurality of die assemblies  4 . 
         [0024]    In the present invention, the lower known good dice  21  are rearranged on the carrier  30  according to the wafer mapping of the tested upper wafer  10 , thus, the dice  11 ,  21  of the die assembly  4  are ensured to be both known good dice. Therefore, the yield loss of the product caused by the different yields between the upper wafer and the lower wafer will not occur. 
         [0025]    In the present invention, the die assemblies  4  can be proceeded with the following steps. As shown in  FIG. 13 , the die assemblies  4  are electrically connected to a substrate  36 . In the embodiment, the substrate  36  has a top surface  361  and a bottom surface  362 . The bumps  214  of the lower known good dice  21  are electrically connected to the top surface  361  of the substrate  36 . Then, as shown in  FIG. 14 , a lower adhesion layer  37  is formed on the major surface  211  of the lower known good die  21  and the top surface  361  of the substrate  36 , so as to protect the bumps  214 . 
         [0026]    As shown in  FIG. 15 , a molding compound  38  is formed to encapsulate the die assemblies  4 . In the embodiment, the molding compound  38  encapsulates the top surface  361  of the substrate  36 , the upper known good dice  11 , the insulation layer  32 , the intermediate adhesion layer  35  and the lower adhesion layer  37 . Finally, a plurality of solder balls  39  are formed on the bottom surface  362  of the substrate  36 , and the substrate  36  and the molding compound  38  are sawed. 
         [0027]      FIG. 15  shows a cross-sectional view of a die assembly according to the present invention. The die assembly  4  comprises an upper known good dice  11 , a lower known good dice  21 , an insulation layer  32  and an intermediate adhesion layer  35 . Preferably, the die assembly  4  further comprises a substrate  36 , a lower adhesion layer  37 , a molding compound  38  and a plurality of solder balls  39 . 
         [0028]    The upper known good die  11  has a major surface  111 , a back surface  112  and a plurality of conducting elements  113 . The conducting elements  113 , for example, bumps, are disposed adjacent to the major surface  111  of the upper known good die  11 . 
         [0029]    The lower known good die  21  has a major surface  211 , a back surface  212 , a plurality of vias  213  and a plurality of bumps  214 . The vias  213  penetrate the lower known good die  21 . The bumps  214  are disposed adjacent to the major surface  211  of the lower known good die  21 . The vias  213  are electrically connected to the bumps  214 . The back surface  212  of the lower known good die  21  faces the major surface  111  of the upper known good die  11 , and the vias  213  protrude from the back surface  212  of the lower known good die  21  so that the vias  213  of the lower known good dice  21  are electrically connected to the conducting elements  113  of the upper known good dice  11 . Preferably, a surface finish layer  33  is disposed at the ends of the vias  213 . 
         [0030]    The insulation layer  32  encapsulates the periphery of the lower known good die  21 . In the embodiment, the insulation layer  32  is a molding compound, and encapsulates four sides of the lower known good die  21 . The side of the insulation layer  32  is aligned with the side of the upper known good dice  11 . The bottom surface of the insulation layer  32  is aligned with the major surface  211  of the lower known good die  21 . The thickness of the lower known good die  21  is smaller than that of the insulation layer  32   
         [0031]    The intermediate adhesion layer  35  is disposed between the back surface  212  of the lower known good die  21  and the major surface  111  of the upper known good die  11  to protect the vias  213  and the conducting elements  113 . The intermediate adhesion layer  35  includes but is not limited to the two following types. First, the intermediate adhesion layer  35  is an underfill that is formed by dispensing; second, the intermediate adhesion layer  35  is formed by combining two films, such as the first film  51  and the second film  52  in  FIG. 9 . 
         [0032]    The substrate  36  has a top surface  361  and a bottom surface  362 . The bumps  214  of the lower known good dice  21  are electrically connected to the top surface  361  of the substrate  36 . The lower adhesion layer  37  is disposed on the major surface  211  of the lower known good die  21  and the top surface  361  of the substrate  36 , so as to protect the bumps  214 . The molding compound  38  encapsulates the top surface  361  of the substrate  36 , the upper known good dice  11 , the insulation layer  32 , the intermediate adhesion layer  35  and the lower adhesion layer  37 . The solder balls  39  are disposed on the bottom surface  362  of the substrate  36 . 
         [0033]    While several embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, various modifications and improvements can be made by those skilled in the art. The embodiments of the present invention are therefore described in an illustrative but not restrictive sense. It is intended that the present invention should not be limited to the particular forms as illustrated, and that all modifications which maintain the spirit and scope of the present invention are within the scope defined by the appended claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7