Soft handling process tooling for low and medium volume known good die product

Abstract

A method of transferring a semiconductor die from a wafer containing a plurality of semiconductor dice. There is provided a semiconductor wafer having a top side and an opposing bottom side and a plurality of dice formed therein, each die containing a portion of the top side and the opposing bottom side. The wafer is removably secured to a support and the wafer is operated upon to form individual dice on the support. The support is preferably a flexible film. A tool is disposed between the support and the bottom side of a the die by creating a vacuum between the tool and the bottom side to cause adherence of the die to the tool and the die is removed from the support with the tool and placed in a die carrier with the top side facing the carrier and the vacuum is then released. The film, when flexible, is stretched to separate the dice from each other and create streets between adjacent dice so that the tool can be disposed under the die from the street. The tool preferably includes an inclined surface with a port exiting at the surface extending through and out of the tool, the vacuum being created at the port and the inclined surface contacting the bottom side of the die. Prior to operation with the tool, a lifting member can impinge against the die bottom through the support to separate a portion of the die from the support, the tool entering beneath the die at the portion of the die removed from the support. The carrier preferably includes a carrier base having a plurality of vacuum ports and an air transmissive lint-free layer over the vacuum ports with the top side of the die abutting the lint-free layer, the die being disposed over one of the vacuum ports.