WARPING REDUCTION IN SILICON WAFERS
First Claim
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1. An integrated circuit wafer, comprising:
- a silicon substrate that includes;
a plurality of integrated circuit chips; and
a plurality of scribe regions situated between ones of the plurality of integrated circuit chips, wherein a particular scribe region of the plurality of scribe regions has a total area and includes a plurality of layers, wherein the particular scribe region includes a stress reduction structure located on at least a particular layer of the plurality of layers, wherein the stress reduction structure includes, at the particular layer, a material, wherein a collective area of the material at the particular layer is at least 40 percent of the total area of the particular scribe region, and wherein the material has a coefficient of thermal expansion that is greater than a coefficient of thermal expansion of the silicon substrate.
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Abstract
Techniques for reducing stress in an integrated circuit wafer are disclosed. A silicon substrate may include multiple integrated circuit chips and multiple scribe regions situated between the one of the multiple integrated circuit chips. A particular scribe region includes a plurality of layers and a stress reduction structure that includes, at a particular layer of the plurality of layers, a material whose coefficient of thermal expansion of materials is greater than a coefficient of thermal expansion of the silicon wafer.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An integrated circuit wafer, comprising:
a silicon substrate that includes; a plurality of integrated circuit chips; and a plurality of scribe regions situated between ones of the plurality of integrated circuit chips, wherein a particular scribe region of the plurality of scribe regions has a total area and includes a plurality of layers, wherein the particular scribe region includes a stress reduction structure located on at least a particular layer of the plurality of layers, wherein the stress reduction structure includes, at the particular layer, a material, wherein a collective area of the material at the particular layer is at least 40 percent of the total area of the particular scribe region, and wherein the material has a coefficient of thermal expansion that is greater than a coefficient of thermal expansion of the silicon substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method, comprising:
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fabricating a plurality of integrated circuit chips on a silicon wafer using mask data and a semiconductor manufacturing process; and fabricating a plurality of scribe regions situated between ones of the plurality of integrated circuit chips on the silicon wafer using the semiconductor manufacturing process, wherein fabricating the plurality of scribe regions includes, depositing a material on a particular layer of a plurality of layers in a particular scribe region of the plurality of scribe regions, wherein a coefficient of thermal expansion of the material is greater than a coefficient of thermal expansion of the silicon wafer, and wherein a collective area of the material at the particular layer is at least 40 percent of an area of the particular scribe region. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus, comprising:
a silicon substrate that includes; a plurality of integrated circuit chips; and a plurality of scribe regions situated between one of the plurality of integrated circuit chips, wherein a particular scribe region of the plurality of scribe regions includes; a plurality of layers; a stress reduction structure located on at least a particular layer of the plurality of layers, wherein the stress reduction structure includes, at the particular layer, a material, wherein a collective area of the material at the particular layer is at least 40 percent of a total area of the particular scribe region, and wherein the material has a coefficient of thermal expansion that is greater than a coefficient of thermal expansion of the silicon substrate; a test circuit; and one or more mask alignment targets. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
Specification