Appeal No. 2001-1700 Page 2
Application No. 09/160,964
substantially vertical sidewalls meeting the device surface
and sharp edges. The sharp edges are rounded, such as by an
isotropic etch, so that the removal of a subsequently applied
grinding tape is carried out while avoiding a residue of
adhesive being left on the device surface. Exemplary claim 1
is reproduced below.
1. A method for processing a semiconductor wafer having
a device surface and a back surface, the method
comprising,
etching the device surface with an anisotropic etch
to form a groove with substantially vertical side walls
and sharp edges where the side walls meet the device
surface of the wafer,
etching the device surface with an isotropic etch to
form rounded edges where the edges were previously sharp,
and after the etching steps, applying a grinding
tape to the device surface of the wafer to protect the
device side of the wafer during a subsequent step of
grinding the back of the wafer, the grinding tape having
an adhesive layer formed on a backing layer, and then
grinding the back surface of the wafer to give the wafer
a selected thickness,
and removing the grinding tape and avoiding a
residue of adhesive that would otherwise occur when sharp
etched edges of the passivation layer cut into the
adhesive layer of the grinding tape.
The prior art references of record relied upon by the
examiner in rejecting the appealed claims are:
Farnworth et al. (Farnworth) 5,593,927 Jan.
14, 1997
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