Laser and plasma etch wafer dicing using UV-curable adhesive film

A system for dicing a semiconductor wafer comprising a plurality of integrated circuits, the system comprising:

• a factory interface;
• a laser scribe apparatus coupled with the factory interface;
• a plasma etch chamber coupled with the factory interface;
• and
• an ultra-violet (UV) irradiation station coupled with the factory interface, the UV irradiation station configured to weaken a UV-curable adhesive film.

A method of dicing a semiconductor wafer comprising a plurality of integrated circuits, the method comprising:

• forming a mask above a silicon substrate coupled to a carrier substrate by a UV-curable adhesive film, the mask covering and protecting integrated circuits disposed on the silicon substrate, the integrated circuits comprising a layer of silicon dioxide disposed above a layer of low K material and a layer of copper;
• patterning the mask, the layer of silicon dioxide, the layer of low K material, and the layer of copper with a laser scribing process to expose regions of the silicon substrate between the integrated circuits;
• etching the silicon substrate through the exposed regions to form singulated integrated circuits;
• subsequent to etching the silicon substrate, removing the mask;
• subsequent to removing the mask, irradiating the UV-curable adhesive film with ultra-violet (UV) light;
• and
• detaching the singulated integrated circuits from the carrier substrate.

A method of dicing a semiconductor wafer comprising a plurality of integrated circuits, the method comprising:

• forming a mask above the semiconductor wafer coupled to a carrier substrate by a UV-curable adhesive film, the mask covering and protecting the integrated circuits, wherein the UV-curable adhesive film is a double-sided tape comprising a carrier film disposed between two adhesive layers;
• patterning the mask with a laser scribing process to provide a patterned mask with gaps, exposing regions of the semiconductor wafer between the integrated circuits;
• etching the semiconductor wafer through the gaps in the patterned mask to form singulated integrated circuits;
• irradiating the UV-curable adhesive film with ultra-violet (UV) light;
• and
• detaching the singulated integrated circuits from the carrier substrate.

A method of dicing a semiconductor wafer comprising a plurality of integrated circuits, the method comprising:

• forming a mask above the semiconductor wafer coupled to a carrier substrate by a UV-curable adhesive film, the mask covering and protecting the integrated circuits;
• patterning the mask with a laser scribing process to provide a patterned mask with gaps, exposing regions of the semiconductor wafer between the integrated circuits, wherein patterning the mask with the laser scribing process comprises patterning with a femtosecond-based laser scribing process;
• etching the semiconductor wafer through the gaps in the patterned mask to form singulated integrated circuits, wherein etching the semiconductor wafer through the gaps in the patterned mask comprises using a high density plasma etching process;
• irradiating the UV-curable adhesive film with ultra-violet (UV) light;
• and
• detaching the singulated integrated circuits from the carrier substrate.