Systems and methods for bonding semiconductor elements

Abstract

A bonding machine for bonding semiconductor elements, the bonding machine including: a support structure for supporting a substrate; a bond head assembly, the bond head assembly including a bonding tool configured to bond a plurality of semiconductor elements to the substrate; an alignment structure including first alignment markings; an alignment element configured to be placed on the alignment structure using the bonding tool, the alignment element including second alignment markings; an imaging system configured to image relative positions of the first alignment markings and corresponding ones of the second alignment markings; and a computer system configured to provide an adjustment to a position of at least one of the bonding tool and the support structure during bonding of ones of the plurality of semiconductor elements to the substrate, the computer being configured to provide the adjustment at least partially based on the relative positions of the first alignment markings and the corresponding ones of the second alignment markings, the adjustment being specific to bonding of the ones of the plurality of semiconductor elements to a corresponding region of the substrate.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A bonding machine for bonding semiconductor elements, the bonding machine comprising:
 a support structure for supporting a substrate;   a bond head assembly, the bond head assembly including a bonding tool configured to bond a plurality of semiconductor elements to the substrate;   an alignment structure including first alignment markings;   an alignment element configured to be placed on the alignment structure using the bonding tool, the alignment element including second alignment markings;   an imaging system configured to image relative positions of the first alignment markings and corresponding ones of the second alignment markings; and   a computer system configured to provide an adjustment to a position of at least one of the bonding tool and the support structure during bonding of ones of the plurality of semiconductor elements to the substrate, the computer being configured to provide the adjustment at least partially based on the relative positions of the first alignment markings and the corresponding ones of the second alignment markings, the adjustment being specific to bonding of the ones of the plurality of semiconductor elements to a corresponding region of the substrate.   
     
     
         2 . The bonding machine of  claim 1  wherein the adjustment is specific to a y-axis position of the substrate. 
     
     
         3 . The bonding machine of  claim 1  wherein the adjustment is specific to an x-axis position of the substrate. 
     
     
         4 . The bonding machine of  claim 1  wherein the alignment element is at least partially transparent such that the first alignment markings of the alignment structure are visible to the imaging system when the alignment element is positioned above the first alignment markings. 
     
     
         5 . The bonding machine of  claim 1  wherein the alignment structure is secured to the support structure. 
     
     
         6 . The bonding machine of  claim 1  further comprising a motion system for moving the support structure along a horizontal axis of the bonding machine, the alignment structure being secured to the support structure such that the alignment structure is moved along the horizontal axis with the support structure. 
     
     
         7 . The bonding machine of  claim 1  wherein a separation is defined between a portion of the alignment element and the alignment structure. 
     
     
         8 . The bonding machine of  claim 1  wherein the alignment element is configured to be held on the alignment structure using a holding force. 
     
     
         9 . The bonding machine of  claim 8  where the holding force is provided by at least one of a vacuum force and a magnetic force. 
     
     
         10 . The bonding machine of  claim 1  wherein the second alignment markings of the alignment element are configured to be aligned with the first alignment markings of the alignment structure. 
     
     
         11 . The bonding machine of  claim 1  wherein the corresponding ones of the second alignment markings include groups of markings, each of the groups of markings being configured for alignment with a corresponding portion of the first alignment markings. 
     
     
         12 . The bonding machine of  claim 1  wherein a portion of the second alignment markings are selected to be aligned with a corresponding portion of the first alignment markings based upon a size of bonding areas of the substrate. 
     
     
         13 . The bonding machine of  claim 1  wherein the corresponding region of the substrate is a row of bonding areas of the substrate. 
     
     
         14 . The bonding machine of  claim 1  wherein the corresponding region of the substrate is a column of bonding areas of the substrate. 
     
     
         15 . The bonding machine of  claim 1  wherein the alignment element comprises glass. 
     
     
         16 . The bonding machine of  claim 14  wherein after placement of the alignment element on the alignment structure, the first alignment markings are provided on a top surface of the alignment structure, and the second alignment markings are provided on a bottom surface of the alignment element. 
     
     
         17 . A method of operating a bonding machine, the bonding machine including a bonding tool configured to bond a semiconductor element to a substrate, the method comprising the steps of:
 (a) providing an alignment structure on the bonding machine, the alignment structure including a plurality of first alignment markings;   (b) selecting an area of the alignment structure based on a region of the substrate to be bonded with the semiconductor element, the substrate configured to be supported by a support structure of the bonding machine;   (c) imaging ones of second alignment markings on an alignment element along with ones of the first alignment markings on the area of the alignment structure; and   (d) adjusting a position of at least one of the bonding tool and the support structure during a subsequent bonding process using information provided from step (c).   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17  further comprising the step of placing the alignment element on the alignment structure using the bonding tool. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the region of the substrate includes a row or column of bonding locations configured to be bonded with ones of the semiconductor element. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the alignment element is at least partially transparent such that during step (c) the ones of the first alignment markings are imaged with the alignment element being positioned above the area of the alignment structure. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the alignment structure is secured to the support structure. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 17  further comprising the step of holding the alignment element on the area of the alignment structure using a holding force. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22  wherein the holding force is provided by at least one of a vacuum force and a magnetic force. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 17  further comprising the step of determining an adjustment of the position for use in step (d) with an algorithm using the information provided from step (c), the information including relative positions of the ones of the first alignment markings and the ones of the second alignment markings. 
     
     
         25 . A method of bonding a plurality of semiconductor elements to a substrate with a bonding tool, the method comprising the steps of:
 (a) placing an alignment element over each of a plurality of areas of an alignment structure, each of the plurality of areas corresponding to one of a plurality of regions of a substrate supported by the alignment structure;   (b) determining an offset of the alignment element with respect to each of the plurality of areas; and   (c) adjusting a position of at least one of (1) the bonding tool and (2) the support structure during bonding of a plurality of semiconductor elements to each of the plurality of regions of the substrate, the position adjustment for each of the plurality of regions being related to the offset determined for the area corresponding to each of the plurality of regions.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25  wherein each of the plurality of regions corresponds to at least one row of bonding locations of the substrate. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 25  wherein each of the plurality of regions corresponds to at least one column of bonding locations of the substrate. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 25  wherein step (b) includes imaging the alignment element over each of the plurality of areas. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the alignment structure includes first alignment markings and the alignment element includes second alignment markings. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29  wherein the alignment element is at least partially transparent such that ones of the first alignment markings of the alignment structure are visible to an imaging system when the alignment element is positioned over the first alignment markings. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 29  wherein the offset of the alignment element is determined using relative positions of the second alignment markings from a corresponding portion of the first alignment markings. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 29  wherein the second alignment markings of the alignment element are configured to be aligned with a portion of the first alignment markings of the alignment structure. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 29  wherein ones of the second alignment markings include groups of markings, each of the groups of markings being configured for alignment with a portion of the first alignment markings. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 29  including the step of aligning a portion of the second alignment markings with a corresponding portion of the first alignment markings based upon a size of a bonding area of each of the plurality of regions of the substrate. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 29  wherein the first alignment markings are provided on a top surface of the alignment structure, and the second alignment markings are provided on a bottom surface of the alignment element. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 25  further comprising the step of providing a separation between a portion of the alignment element and the alignment structure. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 25  further comprising the step of applying a holding force to hold the alignment element on each of the plurality of areas of the alignment structure. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37  wherein the holding force is provided by at least one of a vacuum and a magnetic force. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the alignment element comprises glass.