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US 11,056,351 B2Granted
Process monitor for wafer thinning
AssigneeSynaptics Incorporated
InventorStephen L. Morein
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for thinning an integrated circuit (IC) wafer. The system includes a support structure to hold the IC wafer and a mechanism to operate on the IC wafer. The support structure includes one or more inductive coils configured to transmit a power signal to the IC wafer and receive a feedback signal from the IC wafer. The system further includes a process controller to control the operation based at least in part on the feedback signal received from the IC wafer.
Claims10
A method of operating on an integrated circuit (IC) wafer, comprising:
- transmitting a power signal inductively to the IC wafer, the power signal powering wafer measurement circuitry disposed in the IC wafer;
- receiving a feedback signal inductively from the wafer measurement circuitry on the IC wafer;
- monitoring a characteristic of the received feedback signal;
- and
- removing layers of material from a surface of the IC wafer until the monitored characteristic reaches a threshold level.
2 more elements
A method of operating on an integrated circuit (IC) wafer, comprising:
- transmitting a plurality of power signals inductively to the IC wafer, the plurality of power signals powering a plurality of wafer measurement circuits disposed in the IC wafer, wherein each of the power signals is transmitted to a different region of the IC wafer;
- receiving a respective feedback signal inductively from each of the wafer measurement circuits on the IC wafer;
- monitoring a characteristic of each of the received feedback signals;
- and
- removing layers of material from a surface of the IC wafer until the monitored characteristic for at least one of the received feedback signals reaches a threshold level.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.