PACKAGING A SEMICONDUCTOR WAFER

• US 20090096589A1
• Filed: 10/09/2008
• Published: 04/16/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alsephina Innovations Inc. (Quarterhill Inc. (f/k/a Wi-LAN Inc.))
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kuehl, Hartmut, Windeln, Johannes, Weyerhaeuser, Joerg
• Granted Patent: US 8,368,519 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.52
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67248 Temperature monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67294 using identification means, e.g. labels on substrates or labels on containers
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2223/54446 Wireless electrical read out
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/544 Marks applied to semiconductor devices or parts, e.g. registration marks, alignment structures, wafer maps test patterns for characterising or monitoring manufacturing processes H01L22/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00 Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/0002 Not covered by any one of groups H01L24/00, H01L24/00 and H01L2224/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13095 PIN / Access code, authentication

Abstract

Embodiments embed at least one Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag into the mold. The mold may comprise a cavity adapted to the geometrical form of the RFID tag. In some embodiments, the cavity is marginally bigger than the RFID tag. In many embodiments, the cavity with the embedded the RFID tag is covered by glue. Thus, the mold, the RFID tag and the glue may be suitable for temperatures up to, e.g., 400° C. Further the mold and the glue may be resistant to concentrated sulfuric acid and formic acid. The serial number of the mold may be stored in the RFID tag. The RFID tag may detect characteristic data during the transfer of the solder from the mold to the wafer. In one embodiment, the RFID tag may detect the temperature. In another embodiment, a plurality of RFID tags may detect various temperatures for controlling the packaging process.

Claims

1. A method for packaging a wafer, the method comprising:

filling a mold with a solder, wherein the mold comprises at least one integrated Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag;

loading the mold with the wafer into a solder transfer tool in response to filling the mold with the solder;

heating the wafer and the mold to transfer the solder from the mold to the wafer; and

detecting, by the RFID tag, characteristic data during transference of the solder from the mold to the wafer to control packaging the wafer.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing a serial number of the mold in the RFID tag during manufacturing of the RFID tag.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising stocking the mold in response to filling the mold with the solder and identifying the mold via the RFID tag in response to stocking the mold.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising cooling the wafer and the mold, after heating up the wafer and the mold, and detecting the characteristic data via the RFID tag during the cooling of the wafer and the mold.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein filling the mold comprises filling the mold that comprises a plurality of integrated RFID tags.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting, by the RFID tag, the characteristic data comprises detecting temperature values of the mold, the RFID tag, the wafer or a glue, wherein the glue couples the wafer and the mold.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising controlling the packaging of the wafer based upon the temperature values.

8. A system for packaging a wafer, the system comprising:

a mold for receiving a solder and a wafer;

an Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag inserted in a cavity within the mold, wherein the RFID tag is provided to detect characteristic data during transference of the solder from the mold to the wafer to control packaging the wafer; and

a glue coupled with the mold and the RFID tag.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the mold comprises a cavity created via a sandblast process.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the mold comprises a borofloat glass.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the borofloat glass comprises a borosilicate glass.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the RFID tag comprises passive electronic elements.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the RFID tag detects temperature values to transmit to control packaging the wafer.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the glue comprises alkali-hexa-fluorosilicates.

15. The system of claim 8, wherein the glue comprises waterglass.

16. The system of claim 8, comprising hardware or a combination of hardware and software.

17. A computer program product for packaging a wafer, the computer program product comprising;

a computer usable medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising;

computer usable program code configured to perform operations comprising;

filling a mold with a solder, wherein the mold comprises at least one integrated Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag;

loading the mold with the wafer into a solder transfer tool in response to filling the mold with the solder;

heating the wafer and the mold to transfer the solder from the mold to the wafer; and

recording characteristic data, detected by the RFID tag during transference of the solder from the mold to the wafer, to control packaging the wafer.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise controlling the packaging of the wafer based upon the characteristic data, wherein the characteristic data comprises temperature values of the mold, the RFID tag, the wafer and/or a glue, wherein the glue bonds the wafer to the mold and/or covers the wafer in the mold.

19. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise stocking the mold in response to filling the mold with the solder and identifying the mold via the RFID tag in response to stocking the mold.

20. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise cooling the wafer and the mold, after heating the wafer and the mold, and recording the characteristic data from the RFID tag while cooling the wafer and the mold.