Patent ID: 8802470

Claim:
An optical device processing method for processing an optical device wafer having a plurality of optical devices formed on a front side and a plurality of crossing division lines for partitioning the optical devices, each of the optical devices having electrodes formed on the front side, the optical device processing method comprising: a protective layer forming step of forming a protective layer of an insulator on the front side of the optical device wafer so as to insulate at least the electrodes from each other; a groove forming step of forming a groove on the front side of the optical device wafer along each division line after performing the protective layer forming step, the groove having a depth reaching a finished thickness; a reflective film forming step of forming a reflective film on the front side of the optical device wafer after performing the groove forming step, thereby forming the reflective film on at least side surfaces of the groove; an electrode exposing step of removing the protective layer formed on the electrodes on the front side of the optical device wafer after performing the reflective film forming step, thereby exposing the electrodes; and a grinding step of grinding a back side of the optical device wafer before or after performing the electrode exposing step, thereby reducing the thickness of the optical device wafer to the finished thickness until the groove is exposed to the back side of the optical device wafer to divide the optical device wafer into individual optical device chips.