Method of lapping semiconductor wafer and semiconductor wafer

Abstract

Provided is a method of lapping a semiconductor wafer, which can suppress the formation of a ring-shaped pattern in a nanotopography map. The method of lapping a semiconductor wafer includes: a stopping step of stopping lapping of a semiconductor wafer; a reversing step of reversing surfaces of the semiconductor wafer facing a upper plate and a lower plate after the stopping step; and a resuming step of resuming lapping of the semiconductor wafer after the reversing step while maintaining the reversal of the surfaces facing the plates.

Claims

1. A method of lapping a semiconductor wafer, in which while a solution containing abrasive grains is supplied to a gap between an upper plate and an lower plate placed to face each other, a carrier plate on which a semiconductor wafer is loaded is made to perform a planetary motion, thereby lapping a front surface and a back surface of the semiconductor wafer directly in contact with the upper plate and the lower plate, the method comprising: starting lapping of the semiconductor wafer by supplying the solution, wherein no polishing pad is present between the upper plate and the lower plate; stopping lapping of the semiconductor wafer; reversing surfaces of the semiconductor wafer facing the upper plate and the lower plate after the stopping; and resuming lapping of the semiconductor wafer after the reversing while maintaining the reversal of the surfaces facing the upper plate and the lower plate.

2. The method of lapping a semiconductor wafer, according to claim 1, wherein the reversing is performed when a lapping amount is 40% or more and 60% or less with respect to a target lapping amount.

3. The method of lapping a semiconductor wafer, according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor wafer is a silicon wafer.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the solution including the abrasive grains comprises abrasive grains of alumina-zirconium and a surfactant.

5. A method of lapping a semiconductor wafer, in which a carrier plate on which a semiconductor wafer loaded between an upper plate and a lower plate is made to perform a planetary motion, the method comprising: starting lapping of a front surface and a back surface of the semiconductor wafer by supplying a solution including abrasive grains to a gap between the upper plate and the lower plate, and the solution being in contact with both the front surface and the back surface during lapping; stopping lapping of the semiconductor wafer; reversing surfaces of the semiconductor wafer facing the upper plate and the lower plate after the stopping; and resuming lapping of the semiconductor wafer after the reversing while maintaining the reversal of the surfaces facing the upper plate and the lower plate.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In the accompanying drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a method of lapping a semiconductor wafer in accordance with conventional techniques;

(3) FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating an example of a nanotopography map of a silicon wafer observed by the inventors, and FIG. 2B is a schematic cross-sectional view corresponding to the nanotopography map presented in FIG. 2A, taken in the radial direction of the silicon wafer;

(4) FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic views illustrating the arrangement of upper and lower plates, carrier plates, and semiconductor wafers when the semiconductor wafers are lapped, which arrangement has been studied by the inventors, in which FIG. 3A is a top view and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view thereof taken along line I-I;

(5) FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic views illustrating the arrangement of upper and lower plates, carrier plates, and semiconductor wafers when the semiconductor wafers are lapped, which arrangement has been studied by the inventors, in which FIG. 4A is a top view and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view thereof taken along line II-II;

(6) FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram illustrating a method of lapping a semiconductor wafer according to one embodiment of this disclosure;

(7) FIG. 6 presents graphs depicting the wafer geometric profile and the nanotopography profile, and nanotopography maps of Conventional Example 1, Examples 1 and 2 in EXAMPLES; and

(8) FIG. 7 presents graphs depicting the wafer geometric profile and the nanotopography profile, and nanotopography maps of Examples 3 to 5 in EXAMPLES.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(9) A method of lapping a semiconductor water according to one embodiment of this disclosure will now be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the thickness of each component in the drawings is exaggerated for convenience of description, and the thickness ratio of the illustrated components does not conform to the actual thickness ratio.

(10) (Method of Lapping Semiconductor Wafer)

(11) In a method of lapping a semiconductor wafer according to one embodiment of this disclosure, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 1, while a solution containing abrasive grains (not shown) is supplied to a gap between the upper plate 10A and the lower plate 103 placed to face each other, the carrier plates 20 on which the semiconductor wafers W are loaded are made to perform planetary motion thereby lapping the front and back surfaces of each semiconductor wafer W. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the method of lapping a semiconductor wafer according to this embodiment includes a starting step of starting lapping of the semiconductor wafer W (Step 5A of FIG. 5); a stopping step of stopping lapping of the semiconductor wafer W (Step 5B of FIG. 5); a reversing step of reversing surfaces of the semiconductor wafer W facing the upper plate 10A and the lower plate 103 after the stopping step (Step 5C of FIG. 5); and a resuming step of resuming lapping of the semiconductor wafer W after the reversing step as the reversal of the surfaces facing the plates is maintained (Step 5D of FIG. 5). Thus, the formation of a ring-shaped pattern in a nanotopography map can be suppressed. Note that FIG. 5 only depicts the upper plate 10A, the lower plate 10B, and the semiconductor wafer W in the above steps. These steps will be sequentially described in detail below.

(12) First, the starting step of starting lapping of the semiconductor wafer W (Step 5A of FIG. 5) is performed. In this starting step, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 1, the semiconductor wafer W is loaded in the retainer opening 20a of each carrier plate 20 as in the conventional techniques. The carrier plates 20 on which the semiconductor wafers W are loaded are placed between the upper plate 10A and the lower plate 10B which are placed to face each other. The upper plate 10A and the lower plate 10B are rotated in opposite directions, and when the external gear 20b of the carrier plate is meshed with the sun gear 11 and the internal gear 12, while the carrier plate 20 revolves about the center of the carrier plate 20 (hereinafter referred to as “revolution”), the carrier plate 20 is rotated about the center of the upper plate 10A and the lower plate 10B around the sun gear 11 (hereinafter referred to as “rotation”). Such revolution and rotation motion of the carrier plate 20 is referred to as planetary motion. In this step, while the carrier plate 20 itself is made to perform planetary motion, a solution containing abrasive grains (not shown) is supplied, and the semiconductor wafer W is pressed by the upper plate 10A and the lower plate 10B to start lapping of the front and back surfaces of the semiconductor wafer W. Note that the amount of material removed by lapping increases with the lapping time after the start of lapping.

(13) Next, the stopping step of stopping lapping of the semiconductor wafer W (Step 5B of FIG. 5) is performed. For example, the rotation of the upper plate 10A and the lower plate 10B may be stopped when the supply of the solution containing abrasive grains is stopped in the same manner as in the stopping of lapping in the conventional lapping method. The time from the foregoing starting step (Step 5A of FIG. 5) to the stopping of lapping in this step (Step 5B of FIG. 5) can be determined arbitrarily, and the stopping step, reversing step, and resuming step of this embodiment are sequentially performed, thus the advantageous effects of this disclosure can be obtained.

(14) In this embodiment, the reversing step is preferably performed when the amount of material removed by lapping (hereinafter also referred to as “lapping amount”) is 40% or more and 60% or less with respect to a target lapping amount. Note that the “target lapping amount” here corresponds to the total amount of material to be removed by the lapping method of this embodiment. Here, the stopping step after the starting step is preferably performed when a lapping amount of 40% or more and 60% or less with respect to the target lapping amount is achieved, more preferably when a lapping amount of 45% or more and 55% or less with respect to the target lapping amount is achieved. In this manner, the reversing step immediately after the stopping step can be performed when a desired lapping amount is achieved. When the target lapping amount is controlled by lapping time, the stopping step may be performed after a lapse of 40% or more and 60% or less of the total lapping time, or the stopping step may be performed after a lapse of 45% or more and 55% or less of the total lapping time. Thus, as described with reference to FIGS. 3A to 4B, machining effects caused due to the shape of the upper plate 10A and the lower plate 10B, and the planetary motion of the semiconductor wafers W loaded on the carrier plates 20 can be reduced more reliably. Accordingly, in a state after lapping before performing polishing, a peak-to-valley (P-V) value of the wafer shape in the radial direction of the semiconductor wafer W can be 0.51 μm or less, or the P-V value can even be 0.26 μm or less. The P-V value of the wafer shape in the radial direction means the difference between the maximum value (peak) and the minimum value (valley) of the geometric profile of the semiconductor wafer W, which is obtained when the semiconductor wafer W is scanned from one end in the diameter direction to the other end.

(15) After stopping lapping of the semiconductor wafer NV, the reversing step of reversing the surfaces of the semiconductor wafer W (surfaces Wa and Wb) facing the upper plate 10A and the lower plate 10B (Step 5C of FIG. 5) is performed as described above. This reversing step is described more specifically with reference to FIGS. 5A to 5C. As illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B, after starting lapping until stopping lapping, the surface of the semiconductor wafer W facing the upper plate 10A is the surface Wa, and the surface of the semiconductor wafer W facing the lower plate 10B is the surface Wb. In this step, the surface Wa and the surface Wb are reversed with respect to the upper plate 10A and the lower plate 10B. Accordingly, this step makes the surface of semiconductor wafer W facing the upper plate 10A the surface Wb and makes the surface of the semiconductor wafer W facing the lower plate 10B the surface Wa.

(16) In this reversing step, the surfaces of the semiconductor wafer W facing the plates can be reversed by a given method. For example, the semiconductor wafer W loaded on the carrier plate 20 may be lifted using a known holding means such as a suction pad or a vacuum pad, the surfaces facing the plates may be reversed as described above, and the semiconductor wafer W may be reloaded on the carrier plate 20.

(17) Finally, the resuming step of resuming lapping of the semiconductor wafer W while maintaining the reversal of the surfaces facing the plates (FIG. 5) is performed. In resuming lapping, lapping may be performed in the same manner as in the starting step. The lapping may be terminated after the total of the lapping amount after the resumption in this step and the lapping amount previously obtained through the starting step and the stopping step reaches a target lapping amount. Further, when the target lapping amount of material removed by lapping is controlled by lapping time, lapping may be terminated after a lapse of remaining time determined from the total lapping time after resuming lapping.

(18) As described above, for the resultant semiconductor wafer W, effects of the pressing force due to the shape of the upper plate 10A and the lower plate 10B are reduced. Accordingly, machining effects of lapping on semiconductor wafer surfaces can be reduced. Further, when a polishing step is performed on a semiconductor wafer subjected to lapping of this embodiment, a ring-shaped pattern is prevented from being formed when a nanotopography map is obtained.

(19) Note that the nanotopographies can be measured using a measurement system commercially available from KLA-Tencor Corporation, RAYTEX CORPORATION, ADE Corporation, etc. in accordance with SEMI Standards M43 and M78. Further, in measuring the nanotopographies, the polishing conditions for the polishing step performed after lapping can be typical conditions. Further, in measuring the nanotopographies, one or both of cleaning and etching of semiconductor wafer surfaces, and any other given steps may be performed between lapping and polishing. Moreover, in this embodiment, after the starting step, the stopping step, reversing step, and resuming step may be repeated in this order a plurality of times and lapping may be terminated after that. In this case, the timing with which lapping is terminated may be appropriately set depending on a target lapping amount.

(20) Specific aspects of this embodiment will be described below; however, this disclosure is not limited to the specific examples described below.

(21) The lapping method of this embodiment can be applied to any given semiconductor wafer W, and can be applied to a thin disk-shaped wafer obtained by slicing a single crystal ingot of for example silicon or a compound semiconductor such as GaAs using a wire saw. The lapping method of this embodiment is preferably applied to a silicon wafer for which excellent topography is required as the semiconductor wafer W.

(22) Although the size of the semiconductor wafer W is not limited, the lapping method of this embodiment is preferably applied to a large diameter wafer. For example, the lapping method is preferably applied to a silicon wafer having a diameter of 300 mm or more, and more preferably applied to a silicon wafer having a diameter of 450 mm or more. Even for such a large diameter silicon wafer, a ring-shaped pattern can be prevented from being formed in a nanotopography map after polishing by applying the lapping method of this embodiment.

(23) For the upper plate 10A, the lower plate 10B, and the carrier plates 20, ones typically used for lapping can be used. For a solution containing abrasive grains used for lapping, for example, a water-soluble solution obtained by mixing small particle free abrasive grains of alumina-zirconium etc. and a liquid such as water that contains a surfactant can be used.

(24) Further, although examples using five carrier plates are illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4B, the number of the carrier plates is not limited in particular. In FIGS. 1 to 4B, one semiconductor wafer W is loaded on one carrier plate; alternatively, a plurality of semiconductor wafers W may be loaded on one carrier plate.

(25) In addition, a driving units such as a motor and control units which are not shown can of course be used.

(26) (Semiconductor Wafer)

(27) A semiconductor wafer according to this disclosure is a mirror polished semiconductor wafer, and neither of a ring-shaped recessed pattern nor a ring-shaped raised pattern is observed on a surface of the semiconductor wafer by nanotopography map evaluation. A semiconductor wafer according to this disclosure can be produced by the above embodiment of a lapping method, followed by mirror polishing using an ordinary method. For a semiconductor wafer according to conventional techniques, when nanotopography map evaluation is performed after mirror polishing, a ring-shaped recessed pattern or raised pattern is observed in a surface of the semiconductor wafer. However, using the lapping method of the above embodiment, a semiconductor wafer for which no ring-shaped pattern is observed by nanotopography map evaluation can be produced.

(28) Further, in a cross section of a nanotopography map of a mirror polished semiconductor wafer, the difference between the average height of a surface center area of a semiconductor wafer and the average height of a surface peripheral area of the semiconductor wafer, which surrounds the surface center area is preferably 1 nm or less, in which case it is ensured that no ring pattern is observed. Here, the areas of the surface center area and the surface peripheral area are described more particularly by way of illustration. When the diameter of a semiconductor wafer is 450 mm (radius: 225 mm), a region extending 160 mm from the center of the semiconductor wafer is regarded as a surface center area, and a region of 160 mm to 200 mm from the center of the semiconductor wafer is regarded as a surface peripheral area of the semiconductor wafer.

(29) Further, the semiconductor wafer preferably has a diameter of 300 mm or more, and more preferably has a diameter of 450 mm or more. Moreover, the semiconductor wafer is preferably a silicon wafer. Even in the case of a large diameter silicon wafer, a silicon wafer for which no ring-shaped pattern is observed by nanotopography map evaluation can be obtained using the lapping method of the above embodiment.

EXAMPLES

(30) Next, in order to clarify the effects of this disclosure, examples are given below; however, this disclosure is not limited to those examples in any way.

Example 1

(31) A silicon wafer with a diameter of 450 mm was lapped in accordance with the above-described structure of FIG. 1 and the process flow diagram presented in FIG. 5. Specifically, silicon wafers with a diameter of 450 mm obtained by slicing a single crystal silicon ingot were loaded on each carrier plates, and the carrier plates were placed between an upper plate and a lower plate of a lapping apparatus. The total lapping time through which a target lapping amount should be achieved was previously determined.

(32) First, lapping on the silicon wafer was started, and the lapping was stopped after a lapse of 35% of the total lapping time. After stopping the lapping, the silicon wafer was removed from the carrier plate using a suction pad, the surfaces of the silicon wafer facing the upper plate and the lower plate were reversed, and the silicon wafer was loaded on the carrier plate. In other words, the reversing step was performed when the lapping amount was 35% with respect to the target lapping amount. Next, lapping was resumed, and the lapping was terminated after a lapse of remaining time determined from the total lapping time (i.e., 65% of the total lapping time).

Examples 2 to 5

(33) Silicon wafers with a diameter of 450 mm were lapped in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the lapping time from the start of lapping until the lapping should be stopped was changed to 40%, 50%, 60%, and 65% of the total lapping time. Accordingly, in Examples 2 to 5, a reversing step was performed when the lapping amount reached 40%, 50%, 60%, and 65%, respectively, with respect to the target lapping amount.

Conventional Example 1

(34) A silicon wafer with a diameter of 450 mm was lapped in the same manner as in Example 1 except that lapping was terminated after a lapse of the total lapping time without stopping the lapping. Accordingly, inversion of the silicon wafer and resumption of lapping were not performed in Conventional Example 1.

(35) <Evaluation 1: Geometric Evaluation>

(36) Silicon wafers subjected to lapping according to Examples 1 to 5 and Conventional Example 1 were subjected to alkali etching (hereinafter abbreviated as “alkali ET”) under the same conditions. After that, graphs of the geographic profile in the radial direction of the silicon wafers (the direction indicated by the arrow in each nanotopography map, corresponding to a cross section in the wire running direction, which prevents the effects of undulations caused by slicing) were obtained using a capacitive profile measurement system (SBW-451/R manufactured by KOBELCO RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INC.). The results are presented in FIGS. 6 and 7. The P-V values of the geometric profiles are given in Table 1. In the graphs in FIGS. 6 and 7, the horizontal axis corresponds to the distance from the center of the wafer, and the height represents the relative values (a.u.). Note that the alkali ET is mainly aimed at cleaning the silicon wafers subjected to lapping, and does not affect the P-V values of the geometric profile of the silicon wafers subjected to measurements using the capacitive profile measurement system.

(37) <Evaluation 2: Nanotopography Evaluation>

(38) The silicon wafers subjected to the lapping of Examples 1 to 5 and Conventional Example 1 were subjected to alkali ET performed in Evaluation 1 above under the same conditions and then subjected to double-side polishing followed by mirror polishing under the same conditions. The silicon wafers subjected to mirror polishing were subjected to measurement using a nanotopography measurement system (WaferSight 3 manufactured by KLA-Tencor Corporation) to obtain nanotopography maps of the wafer surfaces. Further, the nanotopography profiles in the radial direction (the direction indicated by the arrow in each nanotopography map, corresponding to a cross section in the wire running direction, which prevents the effects of undulations caused by slicing) were obtained as well. The results are presented in FIGS. 6 and 7. In the graphs in FIGS. 6 and 7, the horizontal axis corresponds to the distance from the center of the wafer. The height difference in the nanotopography (NT) in the radial direction (the difference between the average height of a surface center area and the average height of a surface peripheral area) is given in Table 1. Here, the surface center area refers to a region extending 160 mm from the center of each silicon wafer, and the surface peripheral area is a region of 160 mm to 200 mm from the center of each semiconductor wafer.

(39) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 P-V value of Height geometric profile difference of NT after alkali etching after polishing (μm) (nm) Notes Conventional 0.82 3.88 No stopping and No reversing Example 1 Example 1 0.51 2.61 Stopping and reversing after 35% of total lapping time Example 2 0.26 0.80 Stopping and reversing after 40% of total lapping time Example 3 0.19 0.39 Stopping and reversing after 50% of total lapping time Example 4 0.21 0.43 Stopping and reversing after 60% of total lapping time Example 5 0.34 1.92 Stopping and reversing after 65% of total lapping time

(40) FIGS. 6 and 7 indicate that the formation of a ring-shaped pattern in the nanotopography map was suppressed in Examples 1 to 5 as compared with Conventional Example 1. In particular, no ring-shaped pattern was observed by nanotopography map evaluation in Examples 2 to 4. Further, the formation of a ring-shaped pattern in the nanotopography map was confirmed to be more reliably suppressed when the P-V value of the geometric profile after alkali ET was 0.3 μm or less (specifically, 0.26 μm or less). In other words, it is ensured that no ring-shaped pattern is observed in the nanotopography map when the height difference of NT in the cross section after polishing is 1 nm or less (specifically, 0.80 nm or less).

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

(41) This disclosure provides a method of lapping a semiconductor wafer, which can suppress the formation of a ring-shaped pattern in a nanotopography map, which is useful in the semiconductor industry.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

(42) 10A: Upper plate

(43) 10B: Lower plate

(44) 11: Sun gear

(45) 12: Internal gear

(46) 20: Carrier plate

(47) W: Semiconductor wafer