Method for wafer dicing and composition useful thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9328318-B2
Application number	US-201414195285-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 3, 2014
Priority date	Jul 9, 2010
Publication date	May 3, 2016
Grant date	May 3, 2016

Abstract

A solution for semiconductor wafer dicing is disclosed. The solution suppresses the adherence of contamination residues or particles, and reduces or eliminates the corrosion of the exposed metallization areas, during the process of dicing a wafer by sawing. The solution comprises at least one organic acid and/or salt thereof; at least a surfactant and/or at least a base; and deionized water, the composition has a pH is equal or greater than 4. The solution can further comprise, a chelating agent, a defoaming agent, or a dispersing agent.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus for wafer dicing comprising:
a wafer comprising plurality of integrated circuits;
a dicing machine comprising a dicing saw and a plurality of bond pads;
a dicing solution, comprising:
from 0.001 wt % to 30 wt % of at least one acid selected from the group consisting of citric acid, fumaric acid and oxalic acid;
from 0.001 wt % to 20 wt % of a base;
from 0.001 wt % to 10 wt % of a surfactant;
optionally, at least one of
from 1 ppb to 10 wt % of a chelating agent;
from 1 ppb to 5 wt % of a defoaming agent;
from 1 ppb to 5 wt % of a dispersing agent;

the remainder being deionized water; and
the solution has a pH ranging from 4 to 6.58;
wherein
the base is potassium hydroxide (KOH); and
the surfactant is selected from the group consisting of secondary alcohol ethoxylate, secondary alkanesulfonate, and mixtures thereof;

deionized water;
and
a mixer containing mixture of the dicing solution and the deionized water; and
the mixture is in contact with the wafer and the dicing saw.

2. A method of wafer dicing, wherein the wafer is diced by a saw with bonding pads, contamination residues are produced by sawing the wafer, corrosion is potentially formed on all exposed metallization areas; comprising steps of:
contacting the wafer with a solution during the dicing, the solution consisting of:
at least one compound selected from the group consisting of an organic acid and salt thereof;
a surfactant which has low surface tension at low concentrations and low foaming;
a base selected from the consisting of potassium hydroxide (KOH), guanidiene carbonate, aqueous ammonia, and ammonium hydroxide;
optionally, at least one of
a chelating agent;
a defoaming agent;
a dispersing agent;

the remainder deionized water; and
the solution has a pH ranging from 4 to 6.58.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein
the at least one first compound ranges from 0.001 wt % to 30 wt %;
the surfactant ranges from 0.001 wt % to 10 wt %;
the base ranges from 0.001 wt % to 20 wt %;
the chelating agent ranges from 1 ppb to 10 wt %;
the defoaming agent ranges from 1 ppb to 5 wt %;
the dispersing agent ranges from 1 ppb to 5 wt %;
and
wherein the solution is diluted with deionized water from 1:0 to 1:10000.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein
the organic acid is selected from the group consisting of oxalic acid, citric acid, maliec acid, malic acid, malonic acid, gluconic acid, glutaric acid, ascorbic acid, formic acid, acetic acid, ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid, diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid, aminobenzoic acids such as anthranilic acid, fumaric acid, glycine, alanine, cystine, and mixtures thereof; and
the surfactant is selected from the group consisting of anionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, non-ionic surfactants, zwitterionic surfactants,silicone surfactants, poly(alkylene oxide) surfactants, fluorochemical surfactants, acetylenic diol surfactants, primary alcohol ethoxylates,secondary alcohol ethoxylates, amine ethoxylates, glucosides, glucamides, polyethylene glycols, poly(ethylene glycol-co-propylene glycol), and combinations thereof.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein
the non-ionic surfactant is selected from the group consisting of octyl and nonyl phenol ethoxylates, secondary alcohol ethoxylates, acetylenic alcohol and combinations thereof;
the anionic surfactant is selected from the group consisting of linear alkylbenzenesulfonates (LAS), secondary alylbenzenesulfonate, fatty alcohol sulfates (FAS), secondary alkanesulfonates (SAS), fatty alcohol ether sulfates (FAES), and combinations thereof.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the solution consist of
at least one acid selected from the group consisting of citric acid and oxalic acid;
a base of potassium hydroxide (KOH);
at least one surfactant selected from the group consisting of secondary alcohol ethoxylate and secondary alkanesulfonate; and
the remainder being deionized water.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein the chelating agent ranges from 0.001 wt % to 10 wt % and is selected from the group consisting of: aminobenzoic acids; ethylenediaminetetracetic acid (EDTA), N-hydroxyethylethylenediaminetriacetic acid (NHEDTA), nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), diethylklenetriaminepentaceticdiethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DPTA), ethanoldiglycinate, citric acid, gluconic acid, oxalic acid, phosphoric acid, tartaric acid, methyldiphosphonic acid, aminotrismethylenephosphonic acid, ethylidene-diphosphonic acid, 1-hydroxyethylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid, 1-hydroxypropylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid, ethylaminobismethylenephosphonic acid, dodecylaminobismethylenephosphonic acid, nitrilotrismethylenephosphonic acid, ethylenediaminebismethylenephosphonic acid, ethylenediaminetetrakismethylenephosphonic acid, hexadiaminetetrakismethylenephosphonic acid, diethylenetriaminepentamethylenephosphonic acid, 1,2-propanediaminetetetamethylenephosphonic acid, ammonium salts, organic amine salts, maronic acid, succinic acid, dimercapto succinic acid, glutaric acid, maleic acid, phthalic acid, fumaric acid, polycarboxylic acids, propane-1,1,2,3-tetracarboxylic acid, butane-1,2,3,4- tetracarboxylic acid, pyromellitic acid, oxycarboxylic acid, β-hydroxypropionic acid, citric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, pyruvic acid, diglycol acid, salicylic acid, gallic acid, polyphenols, pyrogallol, phosphoric acids, polyphosphoric acid, heterocyclic compounds, ethylene glycol, glycerol, diketones, and mixtures thereof.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein
the oxycarboxylic acid is selected from the group consisting of glycolic acid, β-hydroxypropionic acid, citric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, pyruvic acid, diglycol acid, salicylic acid, gallic acid, and mixtures thereof;
the polyphenol is selected from the group consisting of catechol, pyrogallol, phosphoric acids, pyrophosphoric acid, polyphosphoric acid and mixtures thereof; and
the heterocyclic compound is selected from the group consisting of 8-oxyquinoline, diketones, α-dipyridyl acetylacetone, and mixture thereof.

9. The method of claim 2 , wherein the defoaming agent ranges from 0.001 wt % to 5 wt % and is selected from the group consisting of:
silicones, organic phosphates, EO or PO based defoamers containing polyethylene glycol and polypropylene glycol copolymers, alcohols, white oils, vegetable oils, waxes, long chain fatty alcohol, fatty acid soaps, esters and mixtures thereof; and
the dispersing agent ranges from 0.001 wt % to 5 wt % and is selected from the group consisting of: water-soluble anionic dispersing agents, water-soluble nonionic dispersing agents, water-soluble cationic dispersing agents, water-soluble ampholytic dispersing agents; a polymeric dispersing agent containing an acrylic acid salt as a copolymerized component, and mixtures thereof.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the water-soluble anionic dispersing agent is selected from the group consisting of triethanolamine laurylsulfate, ammonium laurylsulfate, polyoxyethylene alkyl ether triethanolamine sulfate, and polycarboxylic acid polymeric dispersing agents; the water-soluble nonionic dispersing agent is selected from the group consisting of polyoxyethylene lauryl ether, polyoxyethylene cetyl ether, polyoxyethylene steary ether, polyoxyethylene oleyl ether, polyoxyethylene higher alcohol ether, polyoxyethylene octyl phenyl ether, polyoxyethylene nonyl phenyl ether, polyoxyethylene derivatives, polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolaurate, polyoxyethylene sorbitan monopalmitate, polyoxyethylene sorbitan monostearate, polyoxyethylene sorbitan tristearate, polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate, polyoxyethylene sorbitan trioleate, polyoxyethylene sorbit tetraoleate, polyethylene glycol

Assignees

• Tamboli Dnyanesh Chandrakant
• Ramamurthi Rajkumar
• Rennie David Barry
• Rao Madhukar Bhaskara
• Banerjee Gautam
• Parris Gene Everad
• Air Prod & Chem

Inventors

• Tamboli Dnyanesh Chandrakant
• Ramamurthi Rajkumar
• Rennie David Barry
• Rao Madhukar Bhaskara
• Banerjee Gautam
• Parris Gene Everad

Classifications

• H10P70/30

  Cleaning after the substrates have been singulated · CPC title

• H10P54/00 Primary

  Cutting or separating of wafers, substrates or parts of devices · CPC title

• H10P72/0422

  for wet etching · CPC title

• H10W72/01971

  Cleaning, e.g. oxide removal · CPC title

• H10W72/952

  comprising metals or metalloids, e.g. PbSn, Ag or Cu · CPC title