Back side wafer dicing

Abstract

Systems and methods for scribing a semiconductor wafer with reduced or no damage or debris to or on individual integrated circuits caused by the scribing process. The semiconductor wafer is scribed from a back side thereof. In one embodiment, the back side of the wafer is scribed following a back side grinding process but prior to removal of back side grinding tape. Thus, debris generated from the scribing process is prevented from being deposited on a top surface of the wafer. To determine the location of dicing lanes or streets relative to the back side of the wafer, the top side of the wafer is illuminated with a light configured to pass through the grinding tape and the wafer. The light is detected from the back side of the wafer, and the streets are mapped relative to the back side. The back side of the wafer is then cut with a saw or laser.

1 . A method of manufacturing integrated circuits, the method comprising:
 forming multiple electronic circuit components on or in a top surface of a semiconductor wafer, the electronic circuit components being separated by one or more streets;   covering the electronic circuit components with a protective layer;   removing a portion of the semiconductor wafer from a first bottom surface thereof to form a second bottom surface of the semiconductor wafer;   imaging the second bottom surface of the semiconductor wafer to determine a location of the one or more streets relative to the second bottom surface; and   cutting, from the second bottom surface toward the top surface, a portion of the second bottom surface corresponding to the location of the one or more streets.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein imaging the second bottom surface comprises:
 illuminating the top surface of the semiconductor wafer with a light, a portion of the light passing through the protective layer and the semiconductor wafer; and   detecting the portion of the light passing through the second bottom surface of the semiconductor wafer.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising performing pattern recognition on an image of the portion of the light to detect a line corresponding to a street. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein performing the pattern recognition comprises performing a Hough transform. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the protective layer comprises grinding tape. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein removing the portion of the semiconductor wafer from the first bottom surface comprises grinding the first bottom surface to expose the second bottom surface. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein cutting the portion of the second bottom surface comprises scribing a line on the second bottom surface. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising breaking the semiconductor wafer into separate pieces along the scribed line. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein cutting the portion of the second bottom surface comprises cutting through the semiconductor wafer to the protective layer. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein cutting the portion of the second bottom surface comprises scribing the second bottom surface with a saw. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein cutting the portion of the second bottom surface comprises scribing the second bottom surface with a laser. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the semiconductor wafer comprises a silicon wafer. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the light comprises infrared light. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the wavelength of the light is in a range between approximately 1.2 μm and approximately 1.3 μm.