Patent ID: 8062474

Claim:
A protective tape separation method for separating a protective tape from a surface of a semiconductor wafer integrally with a separation tape, by joining the separation tape to the protective tape joined to the surface of the semiconductor wafer while pressing a non-adhesion surface of the separation tape with a joining member and separating the separation tape, the method comprising: a height detecting step of detecting a separation tape joining start position and a surface height of the protective tape joined to the semiconductor wafer mounted and held on a separation table; a calculating step of calculating a first operation amount of hooking a separation member having a sharp tip to a peripheral edge of the protective tape at the separation tape joining position and moving the separation member until forming a separating site serving as a separation starting point, and a second operation amount of approaching the joining member to the protective tape until the separation tape wound around the joining member contacts the protective tape based on detected information of the surface height of the protective tape; a first separating step of hooking the separation member to the peripheral edge of the protective tape and separating at least one part of a peripheral edge of the protective tape to form the separating site based on the first operation amount; a joining step of joining the separation tape to the protective tape by relatively moving the semiconductor wafer and the joining member along a direction of a surface of the protective tape while pressing the separation tape to the protective tape with the joining member based on the second operation amount after moving backward the separation member which has separated the peripheral edge of the protective tape; and a second separating step of separating the separation tape from the surface of the semiconductor wafer integrally with the protective tape by relatively moving the semiconductor wafer and the joining member along the direction of the surface of the protective tape from the separating site as the starting point, wherein the calculating step has an average value of a plurality of detected values in a predetermined range including a wafer edge on a separation tape joining start side of the semiconductor wafer as the surface height of the protective tape in the height detecting step, wherein the calculating step calculates the second operation amount with which the height of the joining member to be contacted to the separating site is higher than the height of the non-separating portion of the protective tape; and wherein the joining step performs joining with the pressing force for joining the separation tape to the separating site separated in the second separating step weaker than that to the non-separating portion of the protective tape based on the second operation amount.