Method for aligning a biochip

• US 9,048,141 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2013
• Issued: 06/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Lang, Christoph, Hassibi, Arjang, Kavusi, Sam
• Primary Examiner(s): Feeney, Brett
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, SOPHIA T
• Application Number:
  US13/780,241
• Publication Number:
  US 20140242735A1
• Time in Patent Office: 824 Days
• Field of Search: 422/50, 422/62, 422/63, 435/4, 435/286.2, 435/287.1, 435/288.7, 204/461, 204/472, 204/470, 204/556, 204/192.13, 204/192.25, 204/192.26, 204/192.33, 204/400, 204/403.01, 204/403.03, 204/229.8, 204/230.8
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/68 for positioning, orientation or alignment
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 22/12 for structural parameters, e.g. thickness, line width, refractive index, temperature, warp, bond strength, defects, optical inspection, electrical measurement of structural dimensions, metallurgic measurement of diffusions electrical measurement of diffusions H01L22/14
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2223/54426 for alignment
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2223/5448 Located on chip prior to dicing and remaining on chip after dicing
• 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

Abstract

A method of aligning a semiconductor chip includes forming a semiconductor chip with a light-activated circuit including at least one photosite, positioning the semiconductor chip relative to a device, and illuminating the positioned semiconductor chip. The method further includes generating an RF signal with an RF circuit based upon illumination of the at least one photosite, and determining the position of the photosite with respect to the device based upon the generated RF signal.

Claims

1. A method of aligning a semiconductor chip comprising:

forming a semiconductor chip with a light-activated circuit including an RF circuit and at least one photosite;

positioning the semiconductor chip relative to a device;

illuminating the at least one photosite of the positioned semiconductor chip;

generating an RF signal with the RF circuit based upon illumination of the at least one photosite, wherein the RF signal includes data indicative of an intensity of the illumination as the intensity of the illumination of the at least one photosite varies over non-zero values; and

determining the position of the photosite with respect to the device based upon the variation in intensity as indicated by the data of the generated RF signal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the position comprises determining a two-dimensional orientation of the photosite with respect to the device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

forming a semiconductor chip comprises forming a first photosite of the at least one photosite with a first shape; and

illuminating the positioned semiconductor chip comprises illuminating the positioned semiconductor chip with a first light beam having a second shape complementary to the first shape.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first shape is generally cross-shaped.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein:

forming a semiconductor chip comprises forming a second photosite of the at least one photosite with the first shape; and

illuminating the positioned semiconductor chip comprises illuminating the positioned semiconductor chip with a second light beam having the second shape.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein:

the first photosite has first orientation with respect to a substrate of the semiconductor chip;

the second photosite has second orientation with respect to the substrate of the semiconductor chip; and

the first orientation is different from the second orientation.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein:

forming a semiconductor chip comprises forming a second photosite of the at least one photosite with a third shape;

illuminating the positioned semiconductor chip comprises illuminating the positioned semiconductor chip with a third light beam having the third shape; and

the third shape is different from the first shape.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein forming a semiconductor chip comprises:

forming a waveguide associated with the at least one photosite.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein forming a waveguide comprises:

forming a waveguide configured to pass a shaped beam of light.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein forming a semiconductor chip comprises:

forming a first ring oscillator operatively connected to at least one of the at least one photosite.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein:

forming a semiconductor chip comprises forming a second ring oscillator and a third ring oscillator; and

generating an RF signal comprises generating a frequency shift keyed signal.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the device is a printing machine.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the device is a label reader.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the light activated circuit includes an optical filter.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the optical filter is a color filter.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

matching an illuminator special pattern to the at least one photosite.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the RF signal comprises:

shifting an oscillator frequency based upon a voltage produced by the at least one photosite.