Method and apparatus for preventing chip breakage during semiconductor manufacturing using wafer grinding striation information
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsRonald Lee Mendelson, Robert Francis Cook, David Frederick Diefenderfer, Eric Gerhard Liniger, John M. Blondin, Donald W. Brouillette
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Abstract
A method is described by which the mechanical strength of chips of semiconductor devices can be controlled by appropriate wafer finishing and sorted by knowledge of the finishing method and chip and wafer geometry. The control and sorting derive from a knowledge of the geometry of the striations remaining on the back of chips after the wafer-grinding finishing step.
Claims5
A method of processing the backside of a semiconductor wafer after substantially completing front side processing, comprising the steps of:
- a) providing a wafer having a front side and a back side, the front side having substantially completed rectangular chips, said chips having a shortest edge;
- and
- b) processing the backside to thin the wafer, wherein when the processing is complete, striations along an orientation approximately parallel to said shortest edge are avoided.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.