A wafer grooving apparatus (100) for forming an elongate recess (103) in a semiconductor wafer surface, the apparatus comprising:

a wafer table (110) for receiving and holding a semiconductor wafer;
a radiation device (120) for generating a radiation beam (121);
a beam directing device (130) for directing the radiation beam to a top surface (102) of the wafer so as to create a beam spot (142) where the radiation beam ablates wafer material on the wafer surface to form a recess;
a wafer table displacement drive (170) for effecting a mutual displacement between the radiation beam and the wafer surface in a radiation beam displacement direction;
a recess profile measuring device (180) arranged at a predetermined distance behind the beam directing device in the radiation beam displacement direction effected by the wafer table displacement drive for measuring a depth profile of the recess that has been formed by the radiation beam.

An apparatus for separating a wafer from a carrier includes a platform having an upper surface, a tape feeding unit, a first robot arm, and a controller coupled to the platform. The controller is configured to mount a wafer frame, by using the tape feeding unit, on a wafer of a wafer assembly on the upper surface of the platform. The wafer assembly includes the wafer, a carrier, and a layer of wax between the wafer and the carrier. The controller is also configured to heat the upper surface of the platform to a predetermined temperature and separate, by the first robot arm, the wafer and the wafer frame mounted thereon from the carrier.

A protective sheet sticking apparatus includes a cutting unit that cuts a protective sheet stuck to a wafer along an outer circumference of the wafer while bringing a cutting part of a cutting blade into contact with the outer circumference of the wafer. The cutting unit has a cutting blade support part that supports the cutting blade rotatably in such a manner that the direction of a cutting edge of the cutting part is adjustable from the outside in the radial direction of the wafer to the inside. The cutting blade support part includes a first biasing spring that makes biasing to cause the cutting part to be oriented toward the inside and a second biasing spring that makes biasing to cause the cutting part to be oriented toward the outside in order to prevent the cutting part from being oriented toward the inside by a predetermined angle or larger.

A laser processing apparatus includes a main imaging unit configured to image a region to be laser-processed and an auxiliary imaging unit. The auxiliary imaging unit includes an objective lens, a camera configured to generate an image via the objective lens, a half-silvered mirror disposed between the camera and the objective lens, a light source configured to illuminate a wafer held on a chuck table via the half-silvered mirror and the objective lens, a first polarizing plate disposed between the camera and the half-silvered mirror, and a second polarizing plate disposed between the light source and the half-silvered mirror. The second polarizing plate is disposed such that a polarization plane of light applied from the light source, passed through the second polarizing plate, and reflected by the half-silvered mirror is rotated by a required angle with respect to a polarization axis of the first polarizing plate.

A photolithography alignment method includes: performing alignment measurement of a surface condition of a wafer to obtain alignment information of the wafer; and sectioning the wafer into a plurality of areas to be processed according to the alignment information, and determining photolithography alignment parameters corresponding to each area to be processed.

A device and method for alignment of a first contact surface of a first substrate with a second contact surface of a second substrate which can be held on a second platform includes first X-Y positions of first alignment keys located along the first contact surface, and second X-Y positions of second alignment keys which correspond to the first alignment keys and which are located along the second contact surface. The first contact surface can be aligned based on the first X-Y positions in the first alignment position and the second contact surface can be aligned based on the second X-Y positions in the second alignment position.

A delamination method for delaminating a laminated substrate which includes a first and a second substrates bonded to each other, includes: adjusting a position of the laminated substrate at a holding unit by a position adjusting unit and disposing the holding unit at a predetermined height position; disposing a sharp member of a delamination inducing unit at a predetermined height position; detecting a contact of the sharp member by bringing the sharp member into contact with a side surface of one end portion of the laminated substrate; inserting the sharp member into the side surface of the one end portion of the laminated substrate; and delaminating the second substrate from the first substrate by a plurality of suction movement units which sucks the second substrate of the laminated substrate to move the second substrate away from the first substrate.

A laser beam irradiation unit of a laser processing apparatus includes a pulse laser oscillator, a condenser which converges and irradiates a pulse laser beam upon a workpiece held on a chuck table, a dichroic mirror disposed between the pulse laser oscillator and the condenser, a strobo flash irradiation unit which irradiates light on a route of the dichroic mirror and the condenser, a beam splitter disposed between the strobo flash irradiation unit and the dichroic mirror, and an image pickup unit disposed on the route of the light split by the beam splitter. A control unit renders the strobo flash irradiation unit and the image pickup unit operative in a timed relationship with the pulse laser beam oscillated from the pulse laser beam oscillator and irradiated upon the workpiece and detects a processed state on the basis of an image signal from the image pickup unit.

A substrate polishing apparatus is disclosed that includes a polishing platform having two or more zones, each zone adapted to receive a different slurry component. A substrate polishing system is provided having a holder to hold a substrate, a polishing platform having a polishing pad, and a distribution system adapted to dispense, in a timed sequence, at least two different slurry components selected from a group consisting of an oxidation slurry component, a material removal slurry component, and a corrosion inhibiting slurry component. Polishing methods and systems adapted to polish substrates are provided, as are numerous other aspects.

A process head for processing a substrate using a laser beam, comprising: an optical unit including at least one optical element for directing the laser beam; a plurality of Bernoulli air bearings arranged to surround an optical axis of the optical element and configured to eject a first fluid flow for producing an attractive force between said Bernoulli air bearing and said substrate by the Bernoulli principle, so as to maintain a substantially constant spacing between said optical element and said substrate.