1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor assembly processes, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for picking up a semiconductor chip by blowing air through air holes in a dicing tape to separate the semiconductor chip from the dicing tape and then picking up the semiconductor chip. A method of removing a semiconductor chip from a dicing tape and a method for forming a perforated dicing tape are also provided.
2. Description of the Related Art
In semiconductor assembly processes, dividing a wafer into semiconductor chips may be termed “sawing” or “dicing.” After the wafer has been diced or sawed into individual semiconductor chips, each of the semiconductor chips may be separated from the wafer and attached to a lead frame. To perform a dicing process, dicing tape may be attached to the back of the wafer. A needle pick-up method is conventionally used to separate a semiconductor chip from the dicing tape. However, because the needle applies physical stress to the semiconductor chip, the needle may damage the chip as it forcibly pushes the semiconductor chip off the dicing tape.
Referring to FIG. 1, in a conventional needle pick-up method, a wafer 20 may be mounted to a dicing tape 10 (P1). Next, the wafer 20 may be divided into separate chips 30 by sawing or dicing the wafer (P2). UV radiation 40 may be applied to weaken the adhesion of the dicing tape 10 (P3). The chips 30 may then be removed from the dicing tape 10 (e.g., “picked up”) using a needle 50 that may have one or more pins 55. For example, the needle 50 may be positioned under the dicing tape 10 (and the semiconductor chip 30), thereby pushing the semiconductor chip 30 off the dicing tape 10. The pushed-up semiconductor chip 30 may then be picked up by a suction collection member 60 positioned over the chip 30. The semiconductor chip 30 may then be attached to a mounting pad of a lead frame (not shown).
When the needle pick-up method described above is used to remove the semiconductor chip 30 from the dicing tape 10, the sharp end of the needle pins 55 used to penetrate the dicing tape 10 and force the semiconductor chip 30 off of the dicing tape 10 may apply physical stress to the semiconductor chip 30. This stress on the semiconductor chip 30 may physically damage the semiconductor chip 30, such as by cracking the semiconductor chip 30 or breaking the edges of the semiconductor chip 30. In addition, because semiconductor chip thickness has been reduced so that thin semiconductor packages that have a thickness of several tens of μm or multi chip packages that have a thickness of several hundred μm or less may be formed, the conventional needle pick-up method may cause severe damage to such a thin chip. Because a damaged semiconductor chip 30 is not easily separated from the dicing tape 10 and leads to defective units, manufacturing costs may be increased.