Patent ID: 7384858

Claim:
A wafer dividing method for dividing a wafer along a first set of plural streets extending parallel to each other, and a second set of plural streets extending parallel to each other and extending perpendicularly to the first set of the streets, the wafer having a plurality of rectangular regions defined on a face thereof by the first set of streets and the second set of streets, the wafer dividing method including: a groove forming step of forming grooves along the streets on the face of the wafer, and a grinding step of grinding a back of the wafer after the groove forming step, wherein the grooves formed by the groove forming step include grooves having a first depth D 1 , and grooves having a second depth D 2 which is greater than the first depth D 1 (D 2 >D 1 ), the thickness of the wafer is decreased to D 2 or less by the grinding step so that the rectangular regions are individually separated, and the grooves formed along the first set of streets include grooves of the first depth D 1 and grooves of the second depth D 2 arranged alternately, and the grooves formed along the second set of streets similarly include grooves of the first depth D 1 and grooves of the second depth D 2 arranged alternately.