A method of producing a wafer includes forming a peel-off layer in a hexagonal single-crystal ingot by applying a laser beam having a wavelength transmittable through the ingot while positioning a focal point of the laser beam in the ingot at a depth corresponding to the thickness of a wafer to be produced from an end face of the ingot, generating ultrasonic waves from an ultrasonic wave generating unit positioned in facing relation to the wafer to be produced across a water layer interposed therebetween, thereby to break the peel-off layer, and detecting when the wafer to be produced is peeled off the ingot based on a change that is detected in the height of an upper surface of the wafer to be produced by a height detecting unit positioned above the upper surface of the wafer to be produced across the water wafer interposed therebetween.

A laser processing device includes a height measurement unit configured to measure a vertical direction position of an irradiation point of a processing laser beam on an upper surface of a substrate; and a controller configured to control a vertical direction position of a light condensing unit based on the vertical direction position of the irradiation point while moving the irradiation point along multiple dividing target lines. The height measurement unit includes a coaxial laser displacement meter and a separate-axis laser displacement meter. The controller controls the vertical direction position of the light condensing unit by using only one of the coaxial or the separate-axis laser displacement meter for each of the multiple dividing target lines while the substrate is processed and performs a switchover of a laser displacement meter for controlling the vertical direction position of the light condensing unit between the coaxial and the separate-axis laser displacement meters.

An element chip cleaning method including: an element chip preparation step of preparing at least one element chip having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, the first surface covered with a resin film; a first cleaning step of bringing a first cleaning liquid into contact with the resin film, the first cleaning liquid including a solvent that dissolves at least part of a resin component contained in the resin film; and a second cleaning step of spraying a second cleaning liquid against the resin film from the first surface side of the element chip, after the first cleaning step.

A wafer processing method includes: a wafer providing step of providing a wafer by placing a thermoplastic polymer sheet on an upper surface of a substrate on which the wafer is supported and positioning a back surface of the wafer on an upper surface of the polymer sheet; a sheet thermocompression bonding step of evacuating an enclosing environment in which the wafer is provided through the polymer sheet on the substrate, heating the polymer sheet, and pressing the wafer toward the polymer sheet to pressure-bond the wafer through the polymer sheet to the substrate; and a dividing step of positioning a cutting blade on the front surface of the wafer and cutting the wafer along the division lines to divide the wafer into individual device chips.

Multi-operation tools for photovoltaic cell processing are described. In an example, a multi-operation tool includes a conveyor system to move a photovoltaic (PV) cell continuously along a conveyor path through a laser scribing station and an adhesive printing station. Furthermore, the PV cell may be aligned to a laser head of the laser scribing station and a printer head of the adhesive printing station in a single alignment operation prior to being laser scribed and printed with an adhesive in a continuous process.

Disclosed is a plasma processing device that provides an object to be treated with plasma treatment. A wafer as an object to be treated, which is attached on the upper surface of adhesive sheet held by a holder frame, is mounted on a stage. In a vacuum chamber that covers the stage therein, plasma is generated, by which the wafer mounted on the stage undergoes plasma treatment. The plasma processing device contains a cover member made of dielectric material. During the plasma treatment on the wafer, the holder frame is covered with a cover member placed at a predetermined position above the stage, at the same time, the wafer is exposed from an opening formed in the center of the cover member.

An anti-ejection apparatus for wafer units includes a lock bar and a guide pin. The lock bar alternately has a plurality of lock portions and a plurality of unlock portions. The lock portions are located at heights corresponding to those of insertion slots of a side plate of a cassette, and enable blocking of the insertion slots. The unlock portions enable unblocking of the insertion slots. The guide pin is connected to the lock bar and is disposed protruding downward from a bottom portion of the side plate of the cassette. When the guide pin is pressed upward at its lower end portion, the unlock portions and the insertion slots are communicated with each other. When the pressing of the lower end portion of the guide pin is cancelled, on the other hand, the insertion slots are blocked by lock portions.

A cutting apparatus includes a mount flange having a mount land that has a surface for holding a cutting blade as a consumable part, a changing apparatus for changing cutting blades, and a moving unit for moving the changing apparatus between a changing position for changing cutting blades and a retracted position. The changing apparatus includes a rotational shaft, a first holder for holding a used cutting blade, the first holder having a first holding surface facing in an outward direction from the rotational shaft perpendicularly to the rotational shaft, and a second holder for holding a replacement cutting blade, the second holder being disposed in a position angularly spaced a predetermined angle from the first holder around the rotational shaft, the second holder having a second holding surface facing in an outward direction from the rotational shaft perpendicularly to the rotational shaft.

A chuck table having a holding portion for holding a workpiece and a frame for supporting the holding portion. The holding portion includes a substrate having a plurality of fine holes arranged like a matrix at given intervals and a plurality of acoustic emission sensors arranged like a matrix on the substrate and spaced from each other so that each fine hole of the substrate is located between any adjacent ones of the acoustic emission sensors. The plurality of fine holes are connected through the frame to a vacuum source, thereby holding the workpiece on the acoustic emission sensors under suction. An elastic wave generated from the workpiece in processing the workpiece is collected at a plurality of positions by the plurality of acoustic emission sensors.

A wafer processing method includes a polyolefin sheet providing step of positioning a wafer in an inside opening of a ring frame and providing a polyolefin sheet on a back side or a front side of the wafer and on a back side of the ring frame, a uniting step of heating the polyolefin sheet as applying a pressure to the polyolefin sheet to thereby unite the wafer and the ring frame through the polyolefin sheet by thermocompression bonding, a dividing step of applying a laser beam to the wafer to form modified layers in the wafer, thereby dividing the wafer into individual device chips, and a pickup step of cooling the polyolefin sheet in each of the plurality of separate regions corresponding to each device chip, pushing up each device chip through the polyolefin sheet, then picking up each device chip from the polyolefin sheet.