Replacing semiconductor chips in a full-width chip array
US5753959A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 6, 1997 |
| Grant date | May 19, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 6, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH10D62/117
- WIPO fieldTextile and paper machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
Semiconductor chips, such as photosensor arrays for a full-page-width scanner or printhead chips for a full-page-width ink-jet printer, are mounted on a substrate to maintain reasonably consistent spacing among adjacent chips. To remove a defective chip from the array, the substrate is urged evenly against a work surface defining a convex bow. Alternately, back-cuts are provided along abutting edges of the chips, and the silicon around these back-cuts can be sawed away to space defective chips from neighboring good chips. By increasing the spacing of a defective chip from neighboring chips, the defective chip can be removed while minimizing the risk of damage to neighboring chips. Also, batches of chips can be originally manfactured on a single wafer as either "regular" chips or "replacement" chips, with the replacement chips being slightly shorter in a critical dimension.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.