Semiconductor device manufacturing: process – Bonding of plural semiconductor substrates – Subsequent separation into plural bodies
Reexamination Certificate
2002-10-09
2004-09-14
Zaineke, David A. (Department: 2829)
Semiconductor device manufacturing: process
Bonding of plural semiconductor substrates
Subsequent separation into plural bodies
C438S515000, C438S690000, C438S800000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06790747
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the manufacture of substrates. More particularly, the invention provides a technique including a method and device for cleaving a substrate in the fabrication of a silicon-on-insulator substrate for semiconductor integrated circuits using a pressurized fluid, for example. But it will be recognized that the invention has a wider range of applicability; it can also be applied to other substrates for multi-layered integrated circuit devices, three-dimensional packaging of integrated semiconductor devices, photonic devices, piezoelectronic devices, microelectromechanical systems (“MEMS”), sensors, actuators, solar cells, flat panel displays (e.g., LCD, AMLCD), biological and biomedical devices, and the like.
Craftsmen or more properly crafts-people have been building useful articles, tools, or devices using less useful materials for numerous years. In some cases, articles are assembled by way of smaller elements or building blocks. Alternatively, less useful articles are separated into smaller pieces to improve their utility. A common example of these articles to be separated include substrate structures such as a glass plate, a diamond, a semiconductor substrate, and others.
These substrate structures are often cleaved or separated using a variety of techniques. In some cases, the substrates can be cleaved using a saw operation. The saw operation generally relies upon a rotating blade or tool, which cuts through the substrate material to separate the substrate material into two pieces. This technique, however, is often extremely “rough” and cannot generally be used for providing precision separations in the substrate for the manufacture of fine tools and assemblies. Additionally, the saw operation often has difficulty separating or cutting extremely hard and/or brittle materials such as diamond or glass.
Accordingly, techniques have been developed to separate these hard and/or brittle materials using cleaving approaches. In diamond cutting, for example, an intense directional thermal/mechanical impulse is directed preferentially along a crystallographic plane of a diamond material. This thermal/mechanical impulse generally causes a cleave front to propagate along major crystallographic planes, where cleaving occurs when an energy level from the thermal/mechanical impulse exceeds the fracture energy level along the chosen crystallographic plane.
In glass cutting, a scribe line using a tool is often impressed in a preferred direction on the glass material, which is generally amorphous in character. The scribe line causes a higher stress area surrounding the amorphous glass material. Mechanical force is placed on each side of the scribe line, which increases stress along the scribe line until the glass material fractures, preferably along the scribe line. This fracture completes the cleaving process of the glass, which can be used in a variety of applications including households.
Although the techniques described above are satisfactory, for the most part, as applied to cutting diamonds or household glass, they have severe limitations in the fabrication of small complex structures or precision workpieces. For instance, the above techniques are often “rough” and cannot be used with great precision in fabrication of small and delicate machine tools, electronic devices, or the like. Additionally, the above techniques may be useful for separating one large plane of glass from another, but are often ineffective for splitting off, shaving, or stripping a thin film of material from a larger substrate. Furthermore, the above techniques may often cause more than one cleave front, which join along slightly different planes, which is highly undesirable for precision cutting applications. Other processing techniques such as the use of a release layer have also had limited success. Such release layer techniques often require wet chemical etching, which is often undesirable in many state of art applications.
From the above, it is seen that a technique for separating a thin film of material from a substrate which is cost effective and efficient is often desirable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, an improved technique for removing a thin film of material from a substrate using a controlled cleaving action is provided. This technique allows an initiation of a cleaving process on a substrate using a single or multiple cleave region(s) through the use of controlled energy (e.g., spatial distribution) and selected conditions to allow an initiation of a cleave front(s) and to allow it to propagate through the substrate to remove a thin film of material from the substrate.
In a specific embodiment, the present invention provides a process for forming a film of material from substrates. The process includes providing a bulk substrate (e.g., silicon) comprising an upper surface. The process also includes forming a compressive layer (e.g., silicon germanium) overlying the upper surface. The method also includes forming a material layer (e.g., epitaxial silicon) overlying the compressive layer. Energy is provided using a fluid to a selected region of the compressive layer to initiate and maintain a controlled cleaving action at the compressive layer, whereupon the cleaving action is made using a propagating cleave front to free the material layer from the bulk substrate. Preferably, the bulk substrate structure is bonded to a handle wafer, where the device layer overlies the handle wafer, before the energy is provided.
In an alternative embodiment, the present invention provides a process for forming a film of material from substrates. The process includes providing a bulk substrate (e.g., silicon) comprising an upper surface. The process also includes forming a cleaving layer overlying the upper surface. The process also includes forming a material layer (e.g., epitaxial silicon) overlying the cleaving layer. Next, particles (e.g., hydrogen, helium, deuterium, or any other light atomic mass particles and the like) are introduced into the cleaving layer. These particles enhance the present cleaving action, which is described below. Energy is provided using a fluid to a selected region of the cleaving layer to initiate and maintain a controlled cleaving action at the cleaving layer, whereupon the cleaving action is made using a propagating cleave front to free the material layer from the bulk substrate. In a specific embodiment, cleaving occurs at or within the cleaving layer.
In most of the embodiments, a cleave is initiated by subjecting the material with sufficient energy to fracture the material in one region or more, causing a cleave front, without uncontrolled shattering or cracking. The cleave front formation energy (E
c
) must often be made lower than the bulk material fracture energy (E
mat
) at each region to avoid shattering or cracking the material. The directional energy impulse vector in diamond cutting or the scribe line in glass cutting are, for example, the means in which the cleave energy is reduced to allow the controlled creation and propagation of a cleave front. The cleave front is in itself a higher stress region and once created, its propagation requires a lower energy to further cleave the material from this initial region of fracture. The energy required to propagate the cleave front is called the cleave front propagation energy (E
p
). The relationship can be expressed as:
E
c
=E
p
+[cleave front stress energy]
A controlled cleaving process is realized by reducing E
p
along a favored direction(s) above all others and limiting the available energy to be below the E
p
of other undesired directions. In any cleave process, a better cleave surface finish occurs when the cleave process occurs through only one expanding cleave front, although multiple cleave fronts do work.
Numerous benefits are achieved over pre-existing techniques using the present invention. In particular, the present invention uses controlled energy and selected conditions to preferentially cleave a thin f
Cheung Nathan W.
Henley Francois J.
Sarkar Asok Kumar
Silicon Genesis Corporation
Townsend and Townsend / and Crew LLP
Zaineke David A.
LandOfFree
Method and device for controlled cleaving process does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method and device for controlled cleaving process, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method and device for controlled cleaving process will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3193971