As modern electrical devices get smaller, the requirement for precision wafer grinding is growing. This process provides the dimensional accuracy that is needed in many industries, including medical devices and scientific instruments.
The goal is to provide a high machining efficiency and quality grind wheel that has minimal sub-surface damage. This requires a precise selection of the abrasive grain size and tool geometry that best satisfies the wafer’s quality and characteristics.
High Precision
The precision of a wafer grinding process plays a vital role in semiconductor manufacturing. It is a critical manufacturing process that requires high accuracy to produce the highest quality product at the lowest possible cost.
This method is especially beneficial for obtaining high flatness and low process deformation on a wafer produced by a slicing process. The slicing process causes the wafer to be wavy, and this waviness can interfere with the precision of the subsequently performed edge-rounding and surface polishing processes.
One of the most effective ways to increase a wafer’s flatness and minimize process deformation is by performing double-ended grinding. This is an advanced machining technique that uses two grinding wheels with different abrasive concentrations.
Another way to achieve high flatness is by utilizing the Dice Before Grind (DBG) process. This technique reverses the traditional die dicing process by performing low deformation grinding and polishing on an edge-rounded portion of a wafer. This allows for lower process deformation and increased flatness, which is important for maximizing yields in a variety of manufacturing applications.
Increasing the surface quality of a wafer is important for the production of a wide range of high-quality electronic devices, including microelectronics, photovoltaics, and microsystems technology. This is because wafers with high-quality surfaces are much less likely to chip, crack or break in the machining process.
Another important aspect of a semiconductor wafer’s surface quality is its total thickness variation (TTV). This is a result of the grinding process, and it can be reduced or even eliminated by performing a ductile grinding process on the wafer. This process can reduce the TTV on a semiconductor wafer to less than 1 mm or lower, which can help improve the precision of the subsequently performed edge-rounding processes and surface polishing.
High Yield
The increasing requirement for thin and flat wafers in the semiconductor industry has created a growing need for more precision grinding techniques. This process is critical for reducing the number of die printed on a wafer substrate, improving the line-width capability, and optimizing the manufacturing process latitude, yield and throughput.
Despite the many benefits of grinding, it is still a challenging process for manufacturers and their customers alike. Among the most serious challenges is tool wear and bluntness, which can result in increased grinding force, heat and damage to the surface of the wafer. This can adversely affect the surface quality of the fabricated device and exacerbate the risk of breakage during the fabrication process.
For example, hot pressing diamond wheels are expensive, have high tool-wear, and can cause significant scratches on the wafer.
To combat these problems, researchers have developed grinding methods that are more effective and provide better surface quality. One such method involves the use of a sol-gel diamond wheel, which has a lower abrasive wear rate than a traditional hot pressing diamond wheel.
This approach can improve the flatness of a wafer without changing its surface roughness, which can help maximize its yield and reduce the cost of reworking a finished wafer. This can be especially important for a high-precision, low-volume production environment.
Another approach is to use a bipolar electrical discharge grind (EDG). This type of grinding can effectively minimize the contact area between the wafer and the grinding wheel, which helps reduce grinding force and heat generation. In addition, it can provide an equal energy distribution for both sides of the wafer.
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High Quality
In semiconductor manufacturing, precision wafer grinding is a key process in producing atomically smooth and damage-free wafers before the subsequent chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process. This ensures optimal performance of the fabricated semiconductor components and reduces production costs.
To achieve high quality, it is important to choose a grinder that can meet your specific requirements and hold tight tolerances throughout the process. The best option for your application is a metal grinding machine with programmable speed, feed and wheel life settings to maintain the highest level of accuracy.
Another factor to consider is the equipment used to inspect and verify shipped parts. Fortunately, many precision grinding companies have advanced tools that can get close to laboratory-level accuracy. These include microscopy, laser micrometer, video edge detection, linear variable differential transformer (LVDT), and interferometry.
Choosing a metal grinding company with the ability to meet your needs will go a long way in reducing your production issues down the road. Be sure to ask about their capabilities in terms of delivering your parts on time and on budget.
The quality of the workpiece after the grinding is also an important consideration.
A common problem with this type of grinding is that the workpiece may become warped over time due to the abrasive effects of the grinding wheel. This can lead to dimensional misalignments or voids in the finished part, and it could impact product reliability.
One way to maximize the quality of your part is to choose a diamond or silicon abrasive wheel with a high rigidity vitrified bond that causes little damage to your workpiece and ensures a stable grinding process. This will allow you to have a better surface finish, improve the thickness accuracy of your workpiece, and increase the life of your wheels.
High Efficiency
The precision wafer grinding process is an important technique to maximize yield and quality. It has many benefits, including uniform surface flatness and low rework rates. Also, it improves chip performance by eliminating process-induced degradation layers. It is an essential technology to achieve multi-layer stacking and 3D integrated circuits (ICs) manufacturing.
The resulting chuck table had a slant angle of 90 degrees and a lateral angle of -40°. This is a desirable shape because it minimizes the tilt angle between the spindle and chuck table. This was a significant improvement from the traditional grind-and-chamfer method and achieved a higher quality and yield.
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