Panasonic Corporation

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

Other

Krosakiharima Corporation

Kiyoshi Arita

Hiroshi Haji

Tetsuhiro Iwai

Akira Nakagawa

Shoji Sakemi

Masaru Nonomura

Atsushi Harikai

Teruaki Nishinaka

Tatsuhiro Mizukami

Kazuhiro Noda

Taiji Matano

Kouichi Takahashi

Shogo Okita

Tadahiko Sakai

Hidehiko Karasaki

Mitsuru Ozono

Yutaka Koma

Junichi Terayama

Koji Kuga

Nobuhiro Satou

Tanemasa Asano

Nobuhiro Sato

Isam Morisako

An element chip manufacturing method including: preparing a semiconductor substrate including a first layer having a first principal surface, and a second layer having a second principal surface, the first layer provided with element regions, a dicing region, and an alignment mark, wherein the first layer includes a semiconductor layer, and the second layer includes a metal layer adjacent to the semiconductor layer; irradiating a first laser beam absorbed in the metal film and passing through the semiconductor layer, from the second principal surface side to a first region corresponding to the mark; imaging the semiconductor substrate from the second principal surface side with a camera, and then calculating a second region corresponding to the dicing region on the second principal surface; irradiating a second laser beam to the second region from the second principal surface side; and dicing the semiconductor substrate into a plurality of element chips.

Element chip manufacturing method

An object is to provide a plasma processing device capable of accurately judging whether or not the proper maintenance time has come which is necessary for maintaining an operation state of a device in the best condition. A discharge detection sensor, in which a dielectric memberand a probe electrode unitare combined with each other, is attached to an opening portionprovided in a lid portioncomposing a vacuum chamber. A change in the electric potential induced in the probe electrodeaccording to a change in plasma discharge is received and whether or not the maintenance work is necessary is judged by comparing a counted value, which is obtained when a leak discharge wave-form countercounts the number of times of the detection of detecting a V-type wave form of a V-shaped specific pattern, which is caused by leak discharge correlated with the attachment of foreign object in the vacuum chamber, by a V-type wave-form detecting portion, with an allowable value which has been previously set by a maintenance judging portion

Plasma processing device

In a plasma processing apparatus for generating a plasma in a plasma generation space between a lower electrode and an upper electrode so that a processing object mounted on the lower electrode is subjected to plasma processing, a plurality of cutout portions for absorption of strain caused by thermal expansion due to rapid temperature increases in the plasma processing are formed at an equal pitch in an outer edge portion of a gas shower plate included in the upper electrode. Thus, the gas shower plate can be prevented from being damaged by occurrence of cracks in the outer edge portion of the gas shower plate or the like.

Gas shower plate for plasma processing apparatus

An object is to provide a plasma processing device capable of rightly monitoring existence of plasma discharge and also rightly monitoring existence of abnormal discharge. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of monitoring a state of plasma discharge in the plasma processing device. A discharge detection sensor, in which a dielectric memberand a probe electrode unitare combined with each other, is attached to an opening portionprovided in a lid portioncomposing a vacuum chamber. A change in the electric potential induced in the probe electrodeaccording to a change in plasma discharge is received, electric potential change wave-forms of specific patterns are respectively detected by an N-type wave-form detecting portionand V-type wave-form detecting, and a discharge state judgment including a judgment of whether the electric discharge exists or does not exist and whether the electric discharge is normal or abnormal is made according to a counted value of counting the number of times of appearance of these electric potential change wave forms for each type of wave-form by a discharge ON wave-form counter, a discharge OFF wave-form counter, an abnormal discharge wave-form counterand a leak discharge wave-form counter

Plasma processing device and method of monitoring plasma discharge state in plasma processing device

An object is to provide a plasma processing device capable of highly accurately monitoring an operation state including whether or not the plasma discharge is executed, whether the discharge is normal or abnormal and whether or not the maintenance work of the vacuum chamber is necessary. A discharge detection sensor, in which a dielectric memberand a probe electrode unitare combined with each other, is attached to an opening portionprovided in a lid portioncomposing a vacuum chamber. A change in electric potential induced according to a change in plasma discharge in a probe electrode is received by a plurality of wave-form detecting portions and a detection signal is outputted each time a change in electric potential agreeing with a predetermined different condition appears. The detection signal outputted from the corresponding wave-form detecting portion is counted by the plurality of wave-form detecting portions and the counted value is held. According to the counted value, an operation state is highly accurately monitored which includes whether or not the plasma discharge is executed, whether the discharge is normal or abnormal and whether or not the maintenance work of the vacuum chamber is necessary.

Plasma processing device and plasma discharge state monitoring device

A plasma processing apparatus includes: a vacuum chamber; a plasma processing execution portion; a discharge state detecting unit; a window portion; a camera; a first storing portion; a second storing portion; and an image data extracting unit. The image data extracting unit extracts at least moving image data, which show the generation state of the abnormal discharge, from the first storing portion and stores the extracted moving image data in the second storing portion when the discharge state detecting unit detects the abnormal discharge.

Plasma processing apparatus

A plasma processing apparatus includes a vacuum chamber, a plasma processing execution portion, a discharge state detecting unit, a window portion, a camera, a first storing portion, a second storing portion and an image data extracting unit. When an abnormal discharge is detected, the image data extracting unit extracts at least moving image data showing a generation state of the abnormal discharge from the first storing portion and stores the extracted moving image data in the second storing portion. When plasma processing is ended without the detection of the abnormal discharge, the image data extracting unit extracts, from the first storing portion, moving image data of a predetermined specific period or still image data of a specific period derived from the moving image data of the first storing portion and stores the extracted moving image data or the extracted still image data in the second storing portion.

By performing plasma etching on the second surface of a semiconductor wafer on the first surface of which an insulating film is placed in dividing regions and on the second surface of which a mask for defining the dividing regions are placed, the second surface being located opposite from the first surface, the insulating film is exposed from an etching bottom portion by removing portions that correspond to the dividing regions. Subsequently, by continuously performing the plasma etching in the state in which the exposed insulating film is surface charged with electric charge due to ions in the plasma, corner portions put in contact with the insulating film are removed in the device-formation-regions. Consequently, individualized semiconductor chips having a high transverse rupture strength are manufactured.

Manufacturing method for semiconductor chips, and semiconductor chip

To provide a substrate processing method and a semiconductor chip manufacturing method that enable low-cost formation of a mask for etching using plasma etching. During formation of a mask used in plasma dicing for separating a semiconductor waferinto discrete semiconductor chipsby means of etching using plasma processing, there is adopted a method including printing a lyophobic liquid in an area on a rear surfacethat is to be an objective of etching, thereby forming a lyophobic pattern made up of lyophobic films; supplying a low viscosity resinand a high viscosity resin, in this sequence, to the rear surfaceon which the lyophobic pattern is formed, thereby forming a resin filmthat is thicker than the lyophobic filmsin an area where the lyophobic filmsare not present; and curing the resin film, to thus form a mask* that covers an area except for the area to be etched. Thus, a mask for etching purpose can be formed at low cost without use of a high-cost method, like photolithography.

Substrate processing method, semiconductor chip manufacturing method, and resin-adhesive-layer-backed semiconductor chip manufacturing method

A mask used when a semiconductor wafer is diced into individual semiconductor chips by plasma etching is formed as follows. First, a pattern of a liquid-repellent film is formed by printing a liquid-repellent liquid on the area to be etched on the rear surface of the semiconductor wafer. Next, a resin film thicker than the liquid-repellent film is formed in the area not having the liquid-repellent film by supplying a liquid resin to the rear surface on which the liquid-repellent pattern has been formed. Then, the resin film is cured to form the mask covering the area other than the area to be removed by the etching. This method allows the formation of an etching mask without using a high-cost method such as photolithography.

Method for processing a substrate, method for manufacturing a semiconductor chip, and method for manufacturing a semiconductor chip having a resin adhesive layer

To provide a method of segmenting a semiconductor wafer, which is capable of preventing chippings. A semiconductor waferis partitioned into a circumferential ring-shaped regionand a segmentation region placed in the inner side of the ring-shaped region. The semiconductor waferincluded in the segmentation region is cut into the form of a lattice along a plurality of perpendicular cutting linesand is segmented into a plurality of chips. On the other hand, the semiconductor waferincluded in the ring-shaped regionis cut along two partition linesextending in parallel to the cutting linesfrom the center O of the semiconductor waferand is partitioned into four independent regions.

Method of segmenting semiconductor wafer

By performing plasma etching on the second surface of a semiconductor wafer on the first surface of which an insulating film is placed in dividing regions and on the second surface of which a mask for defining the dividing regions are placed, the second surface being located opposite from the first surface, the insulating film is exposed from an etching bottom portion by removing portions that correspond to the dividing regions. Subsequently, by continuously performing the plasma etching in the state in which the exposed surfaces of the insulating film are charged with electric charge due to ions in the plasma, corner portions put in contact with the insulating film are removed. Subsequently, by removing the mask and thereafter performing plasma etching on the second surface, corner portions located on the second surface side are removed.

Manufacturing method for semiconductor chips

In a manufacturing method for performing plasma etching on a second surface of a semiconductor wafer that has a first surface where an insulating film is placed in dividing regions and the second surface which is opposite from the first surface and on which a mask for defining the dividing regions is placed thereby exposing the insulating film from etching bottom portions by removing portions that correspond to the dividing regions and subsequently continuously performing the plasma etching in the state in which the exposed surfaces of the insulating film are charged with electric charge due to ions in the plasma thereby removing corner portions put in contact with the insulating film in the device-formation-regions, isotropic etching is performed on the semiconductor wafer at any timing.

A plasma dicing apparatus in which a semiconductor wafer with a protective sheet stuck thereonto covering the entire circuit-forming surface and with an etching-resistant mask member stuck on the back surface opposite to the circuit-forming surface is mounted on a mounting stage; plasma etching is performed using the mask member as a mask; and the semiconductor wafer is diced into plural semiconductor chips. The plasma dicing apparatus includes a ring-shaped frame member retaining the outer circumference of the mask member extending off the outer circumference of the semiconductor wafer. The mounting stage is composed of a wafer supporting part supporting a semiconductor wafer and a frame member supporting part supporting the frame member. This facilitates carrying a semiconductor wafer into and out of the vacuum chamber.

Growing community of inventors

Fukuoka, Japan

Kiyoshi Arita