Method of mechanical separation for a double layer transfer

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method for mechanically separating layers, in particular in a double layer transfer process. The present disclosure relates more in particular to a method for mechanically separating layers, comprising the steps of providing a semiconductor compound comprising a layer of a handle substrate and an active layer with a front main side and a back main side opposite the front main side, wherein the layer of the handle substrate is attached to the front main side of the active layer, then providing a layer of a carrier substrate onto the back main side of the active layer, and then initiating mechanical separation of the layer of the handle substrate, wherein the layer of the handle substrate and the layer of the carrier substrate are provided with a substantially symmetrical mechanical structure.

Claims

1. A method for mechanically separating layers, comprising the steps of: providing a first semiconductor compound comprising a layer of a handle substrate and an active layer with a front main side and a back main side opposite the front main side, wherein the layer of the handle substrate is attached to the front main side of the active layer; then providing a layer of a carrier substrate onto the back main side of the active layer; and then initiating mechanical separation of the layer of the handle substrate so as to obtain a second semiconductor compound comprising the layer of the carrier substrate at the back main side of the active layer; and further comprising, before the step of initiating mechanical separation, a step of thinning the layer of the handle substrate; wherein the layer of the handle substrate and the layer of the carrier substrate are provided with a substantially symmetrical mechanical structure after the step of thinning the layer of the handle substrate.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the layer of the carrier substrate and/or the layer of the handle substrate are chosen such that their Et.sup.3 products are similar.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the layer of the carrier substrate and/or the layer of the handle substrate are chosen such that their Et.sup.3 products are within about 20% or less.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the layer of the carrier substrate is provided with a chamfered edge region.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the carrier substrate is provided as a layer of a homogeneous high resistivity material.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the homogeneous high resistivity material has a resistivity of at least 10 k.Math.cm.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the layer of the carrier substrate is provided as a composite layer stack comprising: a mechanical support layer; and at least one layer of a high resistivity material deposited on the mechanical support layer; and wherein an uppermost layer of the at least one layer of the high resistivity material is provided on the back main side of the active layer.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the uppermost layer of the at least one layer of the high resistivity material is attached onto the back main side of the active layer.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising, before the step of initiating mechanical separation, a step of replicating the at least one layer of a high resistivity material onto the handle substrate.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of replicating the at least one layer of the high resistivity material onto the handle substrate comprises replicating the at least one layer of the high resistivity material on a free side of the handle substrate opposite the active layer.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the mechanical support layer is a single-crystal or poly-crystal Si wafer.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein a thickness of the high resistivity material deposited on the mechanical support layer is in a range of from 30 m to 200 m.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the high resistivity material is a ceramic glue, a polymer or a material with a resistivity of at least 10 k.Math.cm.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the carrier substrate is provided with a chamfered edge region.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the carrier substrate is provided as a layer of a homogeneous high resistivity material.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the homogeneous high resistivity material has a resistivity of at least 10 k.Math.cm.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the layer of the carrier substrate is provided as a composite layer stack comprising: a mechanical support layer; and at least one layer of a high resistivity material deposited on the mechanical support layer; and wherein an uppermost layer of the at least one layer of the high resistivity material is provided on the back main side of the active layer.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The disclosure will be described in more detail in the following, based on advantageous embodiments described in combination with the following figures:

(2) FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a known DLT process;

(3) FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a first exemplary embodiment of a method of mechanical separation according to the present disclosure;

(4) FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a second exemplary embodiment of a method of mechanical separation according to the present disclosure; and

(5) FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a third exemplary embodiment of a method of mechanical separation according to the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, a variant of the method for mechanically separating layers according to the present disclosure will be used in a DLT process carried out to replace an original carrier substrate 201 of an existing active layer device 200 with a new, preferably performance-enhancing, carrier substrate 207. The first steps, S200 to S202, of the DLT process illustrated in FIG. 2 can be similar to those of the known DLT process illustrated in FIG. 1.

(7) Thus, in the first embodiment, in step S200, the initial active layer device 200 is provided and comprises a layer of an initial carrier substrate 201 carrying an active device layer 202. In the first embodiment, the initial carrier substrate 201 can be a Si carrier substrate, but in other embodiments, the initial carrier substrate 201 could be glass, sapphire, AsGa, or the like. Optionally, depending on the process used to provide the initial active layer device 200, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the active layer 202 can also comprise a buried oxide (BOX) layer 203 at its backside or interface 211 with the layer of initial carrier substrate 201. Interface 211 will be used to refer to the backside of the BOX layer 203 that is attached to the layer of the carrier substrate 201 while interface 211a will be used to refer to the backside of the active layer 202.

(8) Then, in step S201, as further illustrated in FIG. 2, a layer of a temporary Si handle substrate 204 is attached to a front side 209 of the active layer 202, which is the free side opposite the interface 211 with the layer of initial Si carrier substrate 201, thereby forming an intermediate compound 205. While Si is commonly chosen as the material for the temporary handle substrate 204, it will be clear to the skilled person that other materials could be chosen instead, depending especially on the properties of the initial carrier substrate 201 or of the new carrier substrate 207, as will be explained hereafter.

(9) Then, in step S202, as further illustrated in FIG. 2, the layer of initial Si carrier substrate 201 is detached from the intermediate compound 205. Mechanical separation is achieved using a blade or an edge inserted between the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 204 and the layer of initial Si carrier substrate 201 or at the interface 211 between the layer of initial Si carrier substrate 201 and the BOX layer 203, possibly using the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 204 as fulcrum point for exerting pressure on the layer of initial Si carrier substrate 201. Since the layer of Si handle substrate 204 is only used temporarily, it is not relevant whether it is damaged during this step. With this mechanical separation, the layer of initial Si carrier substrate 201 is detached, thereby forming another intermediate compound 206 in which the backside 211a is now free.

(10) Then, in step S203, as further illustrated in FIG. 2, a homogeneous layer 207 of a high resistivity material, for instance, a polymer such as SU-8, or glass, or a ceramic glue, or a material having a resistivity of at least 10 k.Math.cm is over-molded onto the backside 211a of the active layer 202 and/or the backside 211a of the BOX layer 203. This avoids using complex steps of surface preparation in comparison with the known DLT process illustrated in FIG. 1. In this step, due to the molding, the layer of new carrier substrate 207 and the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 204 adhere to one another at edge regions 212.

(11) In order to avoid wafer breakage when initiating mechanical separation of the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 204, the layer of new carrier substrate 207 should preferably be provided with a similar mechanical structure. In particular, according to an advantageous variant of the present disclosure, the layer of new carrier substrate 207 can be selected with a Young's modulus E.sub.2 and a thickness t.sub.2 such that its E.sub.2.Math.t.sub.2.sup.3 product matches the corresponding E.sub.1.Math.t.sub.1.sup.3 product of the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 204, that is E.sub.2.Math.t.sub.2.sup.3E.sub.1.Math.t.sub.1.sup.3, preferably within about 20% or less. Thus, the material for the layer of new carrier substrate 207 can be chosen accordingly. In fact, in preferred embodiments, depending on which material is selected first between that of the temporary handle substrate 204 or that of the new carrier substrate 207, it is possible to select the layer, in particular the material, of the other layer with appropriate Young's modulus and thickness so as to satisfy the above relationship within the given tolerance range of about 20% or less. In other words, the layer of temporary handle substrate 204 and/or the layer of new carrier substrate 207 can be chosen such that their Et.sup.3 products are similar, in particular within about 20% or less. Conversely, if a predetermined thickness t.sub.2 is desired for the layer of new carrier substrate 207, it is also possible to add an intermediate, optional, thinning step of the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 204 such that its thickness t.sub.1 allows the aforementioned correspondence between the Et.sup.3 products. In this way, it is possible to provide the layer of new carrier substrate 207 and the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 204 with essentially symmetric mechanical structures and properties, thereby favoring a complete subsequent mechanical separation of the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 204.

(12) Then, in step S204, as further illustrated in FIG. 2, alternatively or in addition to adjusting the Et.sup.3 products, according to another advantageous variant of the present disclosure, the edges 213 of the layer of new carrier substrate 207 can be chamfered at the overlapping edge regions 212 with the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 204 such that no or little contact exists between the layer of new carrier substrate 207 and the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 204. This can be done for instance by known methods such as etching, in particular chemical etching, or bevel polishing. In this way, it becomes easier to insert a blade or an edge between the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 204 and the layer of new carrier substrate 207 to initiate the mechanical separation of the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 204.

(13) Furthermore, since it is now the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 204 that needs to be detached, the layer of new carrier substrate 207 can be a fulcrum point for using the blade or edge during the mechanical separation. The chamfered edges 213 can then also advantageously prevent the layer of new carrier substrate 207 from being damaged by the lever action of the blade or edge during the mechanical separation.

(14) Thus, in the first embodiment, the inventive method allows detaching the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 204 without risking wafer breakage and without damaging the layer of new carrier substrate 207 or the active layer 202. Step S205 in FIG. 2 further illustrates that, once the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 204 is detached, a final new active layer device 210 is achieved, wherein the new, performance-enhancing, carrier substrate 207 has replaced the initial Si carrier substrate 201 of the initial active layer device 200.

(15) FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a second exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. In this embodiment, a variant of the method for mechanically separating layers according to the present disclosure will be used in another DLT process, different from that of the first embodiment, carried out to replace the original carrier substrate of an existing active layer device with a new, preferably performance-enhancing, carrier substrate 307.

(16) As illustrated in FIG. 3, in step S302, a semiconductor compound 306 is provided, comprising a layer of a Si handle substrate 304 attached to a front side 309 of an active layer 302. The active layer 302 optionally comprises a layer of an oxide 303 at its backside 311a. In this embodiment, the semiconductor compound 306 can be in all aspects similar to the intermediate compound 206 of the first embodiment. Thus, in the second embodiment, although the first two steps are not illustrated in FIG. 3, the semiconductor compound 306 may have been provided in steps S300 to S302 which correspond to the steps S200 to S202 of the first embodiment, respectively. Thus, it is referred back to the description above in this respect.

(17) In step S303, as illustrated in FIG. 3, a layer of a homogeneous high resistivity material 307, for instance, an RF substrate or a polymer such as SU-8, or glass, or a ceramic glue, or a material having a resistivity of at least 10 k cm, is provided. However, unlike the first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 which relates to a DLT process in which the layer of new carrier substrate 207 is over-molded onto the backside 211a of the active layer 202 or the backside 211 of the BOX layer 203, the second embodiments relates to a DLT process in which the layer of new carrier substrate 307 is provided as an already preformed layer with a side 314 configured for being attached or bonded to the backside 311a of the active layer 302 of the backside 311 of the BOX layer 303.

(18) Then, in step S304, as further illustrated in FIG. 3, according to an advantageous variant of the present disclosure, edge regions 313 of the side 314 can be chamfered. This step can be done by known methods, such as etching, thinning, polishing and the like.

(19) Then, in step S305, as further illustrated in FIG. 3, the layer of new carrier substrate 307 with chamfered edges 313 is attached to the backside 311a of the active layer 302 or the backside 611 of the BOX layer 303, forming an intermediate compound 308, which is analogous to the intermediate compound 208 in step S204 of the first embodiment and presents the same advantages. It is, therefore, referred back to the first embodiment as described with reference to FIG. 2 for more details. For instance, the same advantages regarding the insertion of the blade or edge to initiate the mechanical separation are achieved.

(20) The skilled person will appreciate that, in variants of the second embodiment, the step S304 of chamfering the edge regions 313 of the layer of new carrier substrate 307 could also be realized after the step S305 of attaching the layer of new carrier substrate 307 to the semiconductor compound 306.

(21) Furthermore, depending on the technology used for attaching the layer of new carrier substrate 307 to the active layer 302, optional intermediate steps of surface preparation may be required but are not essential for carrying out the disclosure. In addition, like in the first embodiment, it is also preferable to match the corresponding Et.sup.3 products of the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 304 and of the layer of new carrier substrate 307. Thus, optional additional steps of thinning of the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 304 might also be advantageous.

(22) Thus, in the second embodiment, the inventive method also allows detaching the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 304 without risking wafer breakage and without damaging the layer of new carrier substrate 307 or the active layer 302. Step S306 in FIG. 3 further illustrates that, once the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 304 is detached, a final new active layer device 310 is achieved, wherein the new, performance-enhancing, carrier substrate 307 with chamfered edges 313 has replaced the initial Si carrier substrate of the initial active layer device.

(23) FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a third exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. In this embodiment, a variant of the method for mechanically separating layers according to the present disclosure will be used in yet another type of DLT process carried out to replace the original carrier substrate of an existing active layer device with a new, preferably performance-enhancing, carrier substrate 407.

(24) As illustrated in FIG. 4, in step S402, a first semiconductor compound 406 is provided, comprising a layer of a Si handle substrate 404 attached to a front side 409 of an active layer 402. Like in the previous embodiments, the active layer 402 can optionally comprise a layer of an oxide 403 at its backside 411a. In this embodiment, the first semiconductor compound 406 can be in all aspects similar to the intermediate compounds 206 and 306 of the previous embodiments. Thus, in the third embodiment, although the first two steps are not illustrated in FIG. 4, the first semiconductor compound 406 can have also been provided in steps S400 to S402, which correspond for instance to the steps S200 to S202 described in the first embodiment, respectively. Thus, it is referred back to the description above in this respect.

(25) In the third embodiment, the layer of new carrier substrate 407 is provided as a composite or multi-layer substrate:

(26) In step S403, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a mechanical support layer 415, such as a single-crystal or a poly-crystal Si wafer, is provided. Other materials such as glass, sapphire, AsGa, or the like could also be suitable.

(27) Then, in step S404, as further illustrated in FIG. 4, at least one layer of a high resistivity (HR) material 416, such as a ceramic glue, a polymer, a polysilicon, or a material having a resistivity of at least 10 k.Math.cm, is deposited on the mechanical support layer 415, thereby forming the composite carrier substrate 407. In alternative embodiments, the layer of HR material 416 could also be provided as a stack of layers of HR materials, deposited one on top of the other onto the mechanical support layer 415. For instance, a layer of HR material 416 with a thickness between about 30 m and about 200 m could be deposited.

(28) In the third embodiment, in step S405, as further illustrated in FIG. 4, following an advantageous variant of the present disclosure, the mechanical structure of the composite substrate layer 407, in particular the structure of its one or more layer(s) of HR material 416, is replicated onto the free side 417 opposite the active layer 402 of the first semiconductor compound 406. Thus, essentially the same layer or stack of layers of HR material 416 is also deposited, in the same order as for the layer of new carrier substrate 407, onto the surface of free side 417 of the first semiconductor compound 406, thereby forming another intermediate compound 418, wherein the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 404 and the layer of deposited material HR material 416 form a new temporary handle compound 419 for handling the active layer 402.

(29) Then, in step S406, the free surface 414 of the uppermost layer of the stack or of the single layer of HR material 416 is attached to the backside 411a of the active layer 402 or the backside 411 of the optional oxide layer 403, thereby forming another subsequent intermediate compound 408, which is comparable to the intermediate compounds 208 and 308 of the previous embodiments and present analogous advantages, as the mechanical properties of the layer of composite new carrier substrate 407 and of the intermediate compound 418 are essentially symmetrical, thereby favoring a subsequent mechanical separation step.

(30) The skilled person will appreciate that, in variants of the third embodiment, the step S405 of replicating the mechanical structure of the composite substrate layer 407, in particular the structure of its one or more layer(s) of HR material 416, onto the free side 417 opposite the active layer 402 of the first semiconductor compound 406, could also be realized after the step S406 of attaching the layer of new carrier substrate 407 to the backside 411a of the active layer 402 or the backside 411 of the oxide layer 403.

(31) Other advantageous aspects of the previous embodiments are also compatible with the third embodiment. For instance, in a variant, edge regions of the layer of composite carrier substrate 407 could optionally also be chamfered as described in the second embodiment.

(32) Depending on the technology used for attaching the layer of composite new carrier substrate 407 to the backside 411a of the active layer 402 or the backside 411 of the oxide layer 403, optional intermediate steps of surface preparation may be required but are not essential for carrying out the disclosure. Furthermore, like in the previous embodiment, it is also preferable to match the corresponding Et.sup.3 products as much as possible between the layer of composite new carrier substrate 407 and the temporary handle compound 419. Thus, an additional thinning step of the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 404 could optionally be carried out prior to the step S405 of replicating the mechanical structure of the layer of composite new carrier substrate 407 onto the free side 417 of the first semiconductor compound 406.

(33) In the third embodiment, mechanical separation is then initiated in the intermediate compound 408, for instance by inserting a blade or an edge between the layer of temporary handle compound 419 and the layer of composite new carrier substrate 407, after step S406. The inventive method allows a complete separation of the temporary handle compound 419, comprising the layer of temporary Si handle substrate 404 with the replicated layer(s) of HR material 416, without risking wafer breakage and without damaging the new layer of the carrier substrate 407 or the active layer 402. Step S407 in FIG. 4 further illustrates that, once the temporary handle compound 419 is completely detached, a final new active layer device 410 is achieved, wherein the new, performance-enhancing, composite carrier substrate 407 has replaced the initial carrier substrate of the initial active layer device.

(34) The present disclosure, by providing a method for mechanically separating layers, wherein the mechanical structure of the replacement carrier substrate is replicated onto the temporary handle substrate, avoids the risks of wafer breakage or of damaging of the active layer or of the new carrier substrate during the mechanical separation step of DLT processes.