METHOD FOR PLASMA DICING A SEMI-CONDUCTOR WAFER
FIG1 is a top down view of a semiconductor substrate illustrating individual devices separated by streets
A typical semiconductor substrate after device fabrication is illustrated in FIG1. The substrate (100) has on its surface a number of areas containing device structures (110) separated by street areas (120) which allows for separation of the device structures into individual die. Although silicon is commonly used as a substrate material, other materials chosen for their particular characteristics are frequently employed. Such substrate materials include Gallium Arsenide and other III-V materials or non-semi-conductor substrates on which a semi-conducting layer has been deposited. Further substrate types may also include Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) wafers and semiconductor wafers mounted on carriers. While the example above describes die separated by streets, aspects of the invention may be beneficially applied to other pattern configurations on a substrate.
top-down view
100
substrate substrates
110
device structures
120
areas
1
approximately
['1. A method for plasma dicing a substrate (100), the method comprising: - providing a process chamber (600) having a wall; - providing a plasma source (620) adjacent to the wall of the process chamber (600); - providing a work piece support (630) within the process chamber (600) ; - providing an electrostatic chuck (670) within said work piece support (630), said electrostatic chuck (670) having a plurality of gas inlet ports (1710) ; - providing a lift mechanism (680) within the process chamber (600) ; - loading a work piece (320) onto said work piece support (630) using said lift mechanism (680), said work piece (320) having a support film (300), a frame (310) and the substrate (100), said lift mechanism (680) engaging said work piece (320) outside an outer diameter of the substrate (100) of said work piece (320) and at least one of said gas inlet ports (1710) is positioned outside of said outer diameter of the substrate (100) of said work piece (320); - electrostatically clamping said work piece (320) to said work piece support (630) using said electrostatic chuck (670); - generating a plasma (400) using the plasma source (620); and etching the work piece (320) using the generated plasma (400).']