Provided is a wafer processing method including a back surface film processing step of removing or roughening a back surface film that is applied to the back surface of the wafer, a protective member providing step of providing a protective member to a front surface of the wafer before or after the back surface film processing step is carried out, and a back surface grinding step of holding the protective member side on a chuck table and grinding the back surface of the wafer with grinding stones to thin the back surface of the wafer to a desired thickness.

A CMP slurry composition for polishing a tungsten pattern wafer and a method of polishing a tungsten pattern wafer, the composition including a solvent; and an abrasive agent, wherein the abrasive agent includes silica modified with polyethyleneimine-derived aminosilane, and the composition has a pH of about 4 to about 7.

A method for forming semiconductor devices from a semiconductor wafer includes cutting a first surface of a semiconductor wafer to form a first region that extends partially through the semiconductor wafer and the first region has a bottom portion. The method further includes directing a beam of laser light to the semiconductor wafer such that the beam of laser light is focused within the semiconductor wafer between the first surface and the second surface thereof and the beam of laser light further cuts the semiconductor wafer by material ablation to form a second region aligned with the first region. A resulting semiconductor device is disclosed as well.

A wafer processing method is disclosed. A second wafer is bonded to a first wafer. An undercut region is formed along the periphery of a front surface of the second wafer. A grinding process is performed on a back surface of the second wafer, thereby thinning the second wafer to a predetermined thickness.

A chip manufacturing method includes: preparing a wafer unit having a protective member fixed to one surface of a wafer and having a recess and a loop-shaped protrusion surrounding the recess on the other surface side of the wafer, the protective member including a first sheet in contact with the wafer, a resin layer stacked on the first sheet, and a second sheet stacked on the resin layer; processing the wafer and the protective member along a boundary between the recess and the loop-shaped protrusion to separate the recess and the loop-shaped protrusion from each other; and after separating of the recess and the loop-shaped protrusion, holding the protective member side of the wafer on a holding table and dividing the wafer from the other surface side to manufacture a plurality of chips.

Provided is a polishing composition that can reduce the friction force against an object to be polished while maintaining a favorable polishing removal rate. The polishing composition provided by the present invention contains water, an abrasive, and a composite metal oxide as an oxidant. The polishing composition further contains an anionic polymer. In some preferred embodiments, the polishing composition contains a permanganate as the composite metal oxide. The polishing composition is suitable for polishing a material having a Vickers hardness of 1500 Hv or higher.

A surface processing method for forming a plating film on a metal layer in manufacturing a semiconductor device. The method includes: as a first precipitation process, immersing the metal layer in a first solution containing a second metal that is more noble than a first metal of the metal layer, to thereby precipitate a metal film containing the second metal on the metal layer; and as a second precipitation process, performing an electroless plating treatment to replace the second metal in the metal film with a third metal contained in a second solution and to precipitate the plating film containing the third metal on the metal layer. The metal layer includes a first portion and a second portion mutually exclusive of each other. In the first precipitation process, a concentration of the first solution is lower at a surface of the second portion than at that of the first portion.

Methods for substrate processing include attaching a plurality of dies to a first carrier, wherein each die has a first side and a second side opposite the first side, wherein the first side is attached to the first carrier and wherein the plurality of dies are spaced horizontally from one another on the first carrier; filling spaces between the plurality of dies and covering the second sides of the plurality of dies with a dielectric or metal; grinding or polishing the dielectric or metal covering the second sides and grinding or polishing the second sides until the second sides are exposed and the plurality of dies have a substantially uniform thickness; and after grinding or polishing, dishing die faces of the plurality of dies to a desired dishing profile.

A semiconductor device includes a substrate, a dielectric layer on the substrate, a first epitaxial layer on the dielectric layer, and a second epitaxial layer on the first epitaxial layer.

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor element includes: a first process that includes forming a first modified portion in the substrate, and forming a second modified portion at a position next to the first modified portion in a first direction, and a process of forming a plurality of third modified portions arranged in a thickness direction of the substrate at positions that are closer to the first face of the substrate than is the first modified portion and overlapping the first modified portion in a plan view. No modified portions are formed at positions that are next to the third modified portions in the first direction to overlap the second modified portions in a plan view. The number of the first modified portions arranged in the thickness direction is equal to or less than the number of the third modified portions arranged in the thickness direction.