Protection of work piece during surface processing
First Claim
1. An arrangement for supporting a work piece having opposed first and second surfaces while operations are carried out on the first, surface, to protect the second surface, comprising:
- a vacuum chuck having a support surface, the vacuum chuck being at least partially porous to allow passage of a vacuum signal therethrough;
a frame;
a porous protective material held by the frame;
said frame and said protective material together comprising a frame assembly;
a frame holder to hold the frame assembly to the vacuum chuck; and
a fastening arrangement to fasten the frame holder to the vacuum chuck adjacent the support surface allowing passage of the vacuum signal from said vacuum chuck through said protective material to said work piece.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides an apparatus and method for protecting a work piece during surface processing. The apparatus employs a protective material to protect a wafer during backside grinding. The apparatus can further include a vacuum chuck that allows the passage of a vacuum signal, a frame holding the protective material, a frame holder to hold the frame, and a fastening arrangement to fasten the frame holder to the chuck adjacent a support surface. The method provided by the invention can include providing a vacuum chuck, placing a protective material in contact with the chuck, placing a wafer in contact with the protective material, applying a vacuum signal securing the wafer with the chuck, and grinding the backside surface of the wafer.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. An arrangement for supporting a work piece having opposed first and second surfaces while operations are carried out on the first, surface, to protect the second surface, comprising:
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a vacuum chuck having a support surface, the vacuum chuck being at least partially porous to allow passage of a vacuum signal therethrough; a frame; a porous protective material held by the frame; said frame and said protective material together comprising a frame assembly; a frame holder to hold the frame assembly to the vacuum chuck; and a fastening arrangement to fasten the frame holder to the vacuum chuck adjacent the support surface allowing passage of the vacuum signal from said vacuum chuck through said protective material to said work piece. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of back grinding a semiconductor wafer having an initial thickness, a front side surface with circuitry and an opposed backside surface, comprising the steps of:
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providing a protective material having a first surface for contact with the front side surface of said wafer; providing a vacuum chuck having a support surface, the vacuum chuck being at least partially porous to allow passage of the vacuum signal therethrough; placing said protective material in contact with said support surface; placing the front side surface of said wafer in contact with the first surface of said protective material wherein the protective material extends at least over an entire surface area of the front side surface of the wafer; applying the vacuum signal through said protective material with said vacuum chuck to thereby communicate the vacuum signal with the front side surface of said wafer securing the wafer with the vacuum chuck; processing the backside surface of said wafer; removing the vacuum signal to release said wafer; and removing said wafer from said protective material. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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19. A method of back grinding a semiconductor wafer having an initial thickness, a front side surface with circuitry and an opposed backside surface, comprising the steps of:
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providing a protective material having a first surface for contact with the front side surface of said wafer; providing a vacuum chuck having a support surface, the vacuum chuck being at least partially porous to allow passage of the vacuum signal therethrough; placing said protective material in contact with said support surface; placing the front side surface of said wafer in contact with the first surface of said protective material; applying the vacuum signal through said protective material with said vacuum chuck to thereby communicate the vacuum signal with the front side surface of said wafer securing the wafer with the vacuum chuck; processing the backside surface of said wafer; removing the vacuum signal to release said wafer; removing said wafer from said protective material; providing a frame; securing the protective material to the frame; and securing the frame to the vacuum chuck. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method of back grinding a semiconductor wafer having an initial thickness, a front side surface with circuitry and an opposed backside surface, comprising the steps of:
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providing a protective material having a first surface for contact with the front side surface of said wafer; providing a vacuum chuck having a support surface, the vacuum chuck being at least partially porous to allow passage of the vacuum signal therethrough; placing said protective material in contact with said support surface; placing the front side surface of said wafer in contact with the first surface of said protective material; applying the vacuum signal through said protective material with said vacuum chuck to thereby communicate the vacuum signal with the front side surface of said wafer securing the wafer with the vacuum chuck; processing the backside surface of said wafer; removing the vacuum signal to release said wafer; and removing said wafer from said protective material; wherein the step of providing said protective material comprises the steps of providing a fabric having warp and weft fibers, and defining a series of vacuum holes with the warp and weft fibers. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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27. A method for use in assembling a frame assembly capable of use in protecting a wafer during processing, comprising:
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applying a tensile force to a protective material, positioning the protective material over a frame, wherein the frame has an area greater than an area of a wafer; securing the protective material with the frame; and applying an adhesive about a surface of the frame, wherein the securing the protective material with the frame includes securing the protective material with the adhesive; wherein the applying the tensile force includes applying the tensile force at a predefined level to achieve pores within the protective material with an average pore size being of at least a predefined pore size limit.
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28. An apparatus for use in protecting a semiconductor wafer during processing, comprising:
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a frame; a porous protection material secured across the frame, wherein the protection material has an area greater than an area of a first surface of the semiconductor wafer; and a frame holder comprising a plurality of pins extending from said frame holder defining positioning of said frame with said frame holder, and fasteners extending from said frame holder to secure said frame holder with a housing; wherein the protective material is perforated such that the protective material is porous and the protective material is non-porous prior to being perforated.
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Specification