Patent ID: 9379016
Filing Date: 2016-06-28
CPC Classification: H01L

Claim Text:
1. A wafer processing method of dividing a wafer into a plurality of devices along a plurality of division lines, said devices being formed on a front side of said wafer and partitioned by said division lines, said wafer processing method comprising: a wafer supporting step of attaching a front side of a dicing tape formed of synthetic resin to a back side of said wafer and supporting a peripheral portion of said dicing tape to an annular frame; a dicing tape heating step of heating a back side of said dicing tape attached to said wafer to soften said dicing tape after performing said wafer supporting step, thereby flattening the back side of said dicing tape; and a modified layer forming step of applying a laser beam having a transmission wavelength to said wafer through said dicing tape from the back side thereof along said division lines in a condition where the focal point of said laser beam is set inside said wafer, thereby forming a modified layer inside said wafer along each division line, wherein said modified layer forming step is performed after performing said dicing tape heating step.