# US 10,319,807 B2 · Wafer group, wafer manufacturing device, and wafer manufacturing method

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- Number: US 10,319,807 B2
- Document ID: US10319807B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/533,312
- Filed: 2015-12-09
- Published: 2018-01-25
- Granted: 2019-06-11
- Earliest claimed: 2014-12-18
- Assignees: Dowa Electronics Materials Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Dowa Electronics Materials Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Shinya Shoji; Makoto Ishii; Kazuyuki Umetsu; Junji Sugiura
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10319807B2

## CPC

- H10D 62/10: Shapes, relative sizes or dispositions of the regions of the semiconductor bodies; Shapes of the semiconductor bodies
- B28D 5/00: Fine working of gems, jewels, crystals, e.g. of semiconductor material; apparatus or devices therefor (working by grinding or polishing B24; for artistic purposes B44B)
- B28D 5/0011: {with preliminary treatment, e.g. weakening by scoring}
- B28D 5/0023: {rectilinearly}
- H10P 52/00: Grinding, lapping or polishing of wafers, substrates or parts of devices
- H10P 90/12: {Preparing bulk and homogeneous wafers}
- H10P 90/123: {by grinding or lapping}
- H10P 90/128: {by edge treatment, e.g. chamfering}
- H10P 90/18: {by shaping}
- H10P 74/203: {Structural properties, e.g. testing or measuring thicknesses, line widths, warpage, bond strengths or physical defects}
- H10D: INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
- B28D: WORKING STONE OR STONE-LIKE MATERIALS
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10

## Abstract

A wafer group facilitates securing uniformity of products manufactured from the wafer group whose composition varies among wafers. A technique excludes uncertain factors in forming OF, forming OF with extremely high probability and extremely high accuracy, the wafer group being constituted by a plurality of wafers obtained from the same ingot, with all wafers having an orientation flat (OF), wherein the wafer group is constituted by 70 or more wafers, and in the OF orientation accuracy of the wafer group represented by an angle, the OF orientation accuracy in each wafer is within ±0.010°.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A wafer group constituted by a plurality of wafers obtained from the same ingot, with all wafers having an orientation flat (OF), wherein
the wafer group is constituted by 70 or more wafers, and in the OF orientation accuracy of the wafer group represented by an angle, the OF orientation accuracy in each wafer is within ±0.010°, and
for each wafer constituting the wafer group, a plot is formed in which the number of each wafer sequentially given from the side close to one end of the ingot is taken as X axis, and a concentration of a predetermined element in each wafer is taken as Y axis, and in this plot, the number of portions where continuity of the plot is lost, is a number equal to or less than 10% of a value obtained by adding the number of portions wherein continuity of the plot is lost to a total number of the wafers in the wafer group, and an increase/decrease value of the concentration of the predetermined element in a wafer of the next number is three times or less than the increase/decrease value assumed from the continuity of the plot, as compared with the wafer of an arbitrary number.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The wafer group according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the following conditions are satisfied:
(Condition 1) a value obtained by subtracting a minimum value from a maximum value of the OF orientation accuracy in each wafer, is 0.010° or less;
(Condition 2) a value obtained by subtracting an average value of the OF orientation accuracy of the wafer group from the maximum value of the OF orientation accuracy in each wafer, is 0.006° or less;
(Condition 3) a value obtained by subtracting the minimum value of the OF orientation accuracy in each wafer from the average value of the OF orientation accuracy of the wafer group, is 0.006° or less; and
(Condition 4) a standard deviation of the OF orientation accuracy of the wafer group, is 0.0015 or less.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The wafer group according to claim 1, wherein the wafer is a semiconductor wafer having a cleavage property.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The wafer group according to claim 1, wherein a plane constituting OF is any one of (011), (0-1-1), (0-11) and (01-1).

### Claim 5

A wafer manufacturing device, with a wafer having two opposed lower and upper surfaces and an orientation flat (OF) formed by cleavage, comprising:
a stage which can be freely switched between fixing of the wafer and a release of a fixture from the lower surface, and which can be freely double-opened;
a scriber which puts scribe on the lower surface for cleaving the wafer, and which is disposed in a belt-like gap at a joint of the double-open stage, and movable along the gap;
a pressing part disposed above the stage and movable in a vertical direction; and
a door opening mechanism for double-opening the stage downward in conjunction with a downward movement of the pressing part,
wherein the pressing part includes an indenter which has a long portion for pressing the upper surface of the wafer, and which is disposed above the gap and along the gap of the stage so as to be is freely swingable along the gap in a pendulum manner.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The wafer manufacturing device according to claim 5, wherein the pressing part further comprises the door opening mechanism, and the door opening mechanism is a protruding part protruding downward of the indenter, and is a protruding part that pushes and double-opens the stage by moving the pressing part downward.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The wafer manufacturing device according to claim 6, further comprising an adjuster that adjusts a vertical relative position between the indenter and the protruding part in the pressing part.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The wafer manufacturing device according to claim 6, wherein the stage is freely double-opened and closed according to a movement amount of the protruding part.

### Claim 9 (depends on 5)

The wafer manufacturing device according to claim 5, wherein the indenter is tilted so that one end of the long portion of the indenter is positioned lower than the end thereof in a stationary state.

### Claim 10

A wafer manufacturing method, for a wafer having two opposed lower and upper surfaces and an orientation flat (OF) formed by cleavage, comprising the steps of:
putting a scribe on the lower surface for forming OF, at least as a part of a planned cleavage line, by a scriber disposed in a belt-like gap at a joint of the double-open stage which can be freely double-opened, with a lower surface side of the wafer fixed to the stage; and
double-opening the stage downward in conjunction with a downward movement of the pressing part by moving the pressing part including an indenter having a long portion, which is freely swingable along the gap in a pendulum manner, from an upper side to a lower side of the stage after release of a fixture of the wafer, and cleaving the wafer by pressing the planned cleavage line on the upper surface opposed to the scribe put on the lower surface, by the long portion of the indenter.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The wafer manufacturing method according to claim 10, wherein in the cleavage step, the stage is pushed and double-opened by a protruding part which is a part of the pressing part and protruding downward of the indenter, by moving the pressing part from an upper side to a lower side of the stage.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The wafer manufacturing method according to claim 11, wherein the cleavage step comprises the steps of:
bringing the long portion of the indenter into contact with the upper surface;
pressing the planned cleavage line on the upper surface by the long portion of the indenter; and
pushing and double-opening the stage by the protruding part.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The wafer manufacturing method according to claim 11, comprising the steps of:
closing the double-opened stage by moving the protruding part upward after the cleavage step; and
performing the scribing step and the cleavage step to another wafer after the closing step.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The wafer manufacturing method according claim 11, further comprising the step of:
adjusting a vertical relative position between the indenter and the protruding part in the pressing part according to a thickness of the wafer, before the cleavage step.

### Claim 15 (depends on 10)

The wafer manufacturing method according to claim 10,
wherein in the scribing step, a scribe is put on a periphery of the lower surface which is one end of the planned cleavage line, and the indenter is tilted so that one end of the long portion of the indenter is positioned lower than the other end thereof in a stationary state, and
in the cleavage step, a portion of the planned cleavage line on the upper surface opposed to the other end where the scribe is not put on the planned cleavage line on the lower surface, are first brought into contact with the indenter.

### Claim 16

A wafer group constituted by a plurality of wafers, with all of them having an orientation flat (OF),
wherein the wafer group is constituted by 30 or more wafers, and
for each wafer constituting the wafer group, a plot is formed in which the number of each wafer sequentially given from the side close to one end of an ingot is taken as X axis, and a concentration of a predetermined element in each wafer is taken as Y axis, and in this plot, the number of portions where continuity of the plot is lost, is a number equal to or less than 10% of a value obtained by adding the number of portions wherein continuity of the plot is lost to a total number of the wafers in the wafer group, and an increase/decrease value of the concentration of the predetermined element in a wafer of the next number is three times or less than the increase/decrease value assumed from the continuity of the plot, as compared with the wafer of an arbitrary number, and
in an OF orientation accuracy of the wafer group represented by an angle, the OF orientation accuracy in each wafer is within ±0.010°.