International Business Machines Corporation

Steven Ross Codding

Timothy Charles Krywanczyk

Edmund Juris Sprogis

Timothy E Neary

Joseph R Greco

Matthew R Whalen

David Domina

James L Hardy, Jr

Wolfgang Sauter

David Michael Audette

John Chester Malinowski

Jason P Ritter

Joseph D Danaher

James R Palmer

Caitlin W Weinstein

Steven G Perrotte

Brian J Thibault

Jocelyn Sylvestre

Melvin T Kelly

Disclosed are embodiments of a method of removing patterned circuit structures from the surface of a semiconductor wafer. The method embodiments comprise blasting the surface of the semiconductor wafer with particles so as to remove substantially all of the patterned circuit structures. The blasting process is followed by one or more grinding, polishing and/or cleaning processes to remove any remaining circuit structures, to remove any lattice damage and/or to achieve a desired smoothness across the surface of the semiconductor wafer.

Method to recover patterned semiconductor wafers for rework

A C4 grind tape and a laser-ablative adhesive layer are formed on a front side of a semiconductor substrate. A carrier substrate is thereafter attached to the laser-ablative adhesive layer. The back side of the semiconductor substrate is thinned by polishing or grinding, during which the carrier substrate provides mechanical support to enable thinning of the semiconductor substrate to a thickness of about 25 &#x3bc;m. A film frame tape is attached to the back side of the thinned semiconductor substrate and the laser-ablative adhesive layer is ablated by laser, thereby dissociating the carrier substrate from the back side of the C4 grind tape. The assembly of the film frame tape, the thinned semiconductor substrate, and the C4 grind tape is diced. The C4 grind tape is irradiated by ultraviolet light to become less adhesive, and is subsequently removed.

Method of thinning a semiconductor substrate

A method of recycling monitor wafers. The method includes: (a) providing a semiconductor wafer which includes a dopant layer extending from a top surface of the wafer into the wafer a distance less than a thickness of the wafer, the dopant layer containing dopant species; after (a), (b) attaching an adhesive tape to a bottom surface of the wafer; after (b), (c) removing the dopant layer; and after (c), (d) removing the adhesive tape.

Method for recycling of ion implantation monitor wafers

A wafer processing method. The method includes providing a semiconductor wafer. The semiconductor wafer includes (i) a semiconductor layer and (ii) a dopant layer on top of the semiconductor layer. The dopant layer comprises dopants. The method further includes removing the dopant layer from the semiconductor wafer. No chemical etching is performed on the dopant layer before said removing the dopant layer is performed.

Recycling of ion implantation monitor wafers

A method holds wafers that contain patterned structures using a particle blasting tool. Next, the method directs particles at the patterned structures, such that the particles contact the patterned structures with a predetermined velocity and remove the patterned structures. This process of directing the particles at the wafer is controlled to stop directing the particles when substantially all of the patterned structures are removed from the wafer. This process also comprises selecting the particles to have a size equal to or less than 3 microns. For example, the particles can comprise aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, cerium, and/or a plastic. By maintaining the particle size equal to 3 microns or less, the blasting produces a substantially smooth wafer surface, thereby omitting the need for subsequent wafer polishing. Further, the wafers produced by such processing do not exhibit the highly stress lattice and fragile nature of wafers processed by wet processing.

Method to remove circuit patterns from a wafer

A semiconductor structure fabrication method for removing a tape physically attached to a device side of the semiconductor substrate by an adhesive layer of the tape, wherein the adhesive layer comprises an adhesive material. The method includes the step of submerging the tape in a liquid chemical comprising monoethanolamine or an alkanolamine for a pre-specified period of time sufficient to allow for a separation of the tape from the semiconductor substrate without damaging devices on the semiconductor substrate.

Tape removal in semiconductor structure fabrication

Disclosed are a method of and system for fabricating a semiconductor wafer. The method comprises the steps of providing a silicon wafer having a front side an a back side, building an integrated circuit on the front side of the wafer, and thereafter removing substrate from the back side of the silicon wafer. The building step includes the steps of forming a desired structure in the wafer, and forming an end structure in the wafer, said end structure extending to a greater depth, toward the back side of the wafer, than the desired structure. Also, the removing step includes the step of removing said substrate only to the end structure, whereby no part of the desired structure is removed during the removing step.

Silicon wafer thinning end point method

A thermally conductive protective film or layer is applied to the backside surface of a semiconductor wafer prior to a subsequent dicing operation performed on the wafer to singulate the wafer into diced semiconductor chips, during which the thin thermally conductive film minimizes and prevents chipping and cracking damage to the wafer and diced chips. During subsequent electrical operation of a diced chip, the thin thermally conductive film functions as a thermal conductor to dissipate and conduct away to a heat sink any heat generated during operation of the chip.

Application of a thermally conductive thin film to a wafer backside prior to dicing to prevent chipping and cracking

A method for the removal of residual UV radiation-sensitive adhesive from the surfaces of semiconductor wafers, remaining thereon from protective UV radiation-sensitive tapes which were stripped from the semiconductor wafers. Moreover, provided is an arrangement for implementing the removal of residual sensitive adhesive, which remain from tapes employed as protective layers on semiconductor wafers, particularly wafers having surfaces including C4 connections.

Rework process for removing residual UV adhesive from C4 wafer surfaces

A method of treating a molybdenum (moly) mask used in a C4 process to pattern C4 contacts. The moly mask has a wafer side which contacts a wafer during the C4 process and has a rough surface that includes spikes/projections of moly. The moly mask also has a non wafer side and a plurality of holes extending through the mask to pattern C4 contacts in the C4 process. An adhesive layer, such as an adhesive tape, is applied to the non wafer side of the moly mask, to enable a polishing tool to pull a vacuum on the non wafer side of the moly mask in spite of the presence of the holes to secure the moly mask during a subsequent polishing step. The tape also functions as a cushion so that defects on the non wafer side of the moly mask do not replicate through the moly mask to the polished wafer side of the moly mask. The wafer side of the moly mask is then subjected to mechanical or chemical/mechanical polishing to substantially remove the spikes of moly without significantly altering the dimensions of the moly mask or the holes.

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Underhill Center, VT, United States of America

Steven Ross Codding