A carrier for a double-side polishing apparatus configured to double-side polish providing a semiconductor silicon wafer. The carrier being disposed between upper and lower turn tables have a polishing pad attached, and includes a holding hole formed to hold the semiconductor silicon wafer between the upper and lower turn tables during polishing. The carrier for a double-side polishing apparatus is made of a resin. An average contact angle with pure water of front and back surfaces of the carrier, which come into contact with the polishing pads, is 45° or more and 60° or less, and a difference in average contact angles between the front surface and the back surface is 5° or less, which provides a carrier for a double-side polishing apparatus capable of enhancing the polishing rate for a semiconductor silicon wafer by using a resinous carrier; and a double-side polishing apparatus and method which employ the carrier.

A production of voids between substrates is prevented when the substrates are bonded together, and the substrates are bonded together at a high positional precision while suppressing a strain. A method for bonding a first substrate and a second substrate includes a step of performing hydrophilization treatment to cause water or an OH containing substance to adhere to bonding surface of the first substrate and the bonding surface of the second substrate, a step of disposing the first substrate and the second substrate with the respective bonding surfaces facing each other, and bowing the first substrate in such a way that a central portion of the bonding surface protrudes toward the second substrate side relative to an outer circumferential portion of the bonding surface, a step of abutting the bonding surface of the first substrate with the bonding surface of the second substrate at the respective central portions, and a step of abutting the bonding surface of the first substrate with the bonding surface of the second substrate across the entirety of the bonding surfaces, decreasing a distance between the outer circumferential portion of the first substrate and an outer circumferential portion of the second substrate with the respective central portions abutting each other at a pressure that maintains a non-bonded condition.

A separating apparatus configured to separate a processing target object into a first separation body and a second separation body includes a first holder configured to hold the first separation body; a second holder configured to hold the second separation body; a moving unit configured to move the first holder and the second holder relatively to each other; and a rotation unit configured to rotate at least one of the first separation body or the second separation body to allow a separation surface of the first separation body or a separation surface of the second separation body to face upwards.

Aspects include a method of fabricating a semiconductor structure including providing a semiconductor layer, scribing the semiconductor layer to provide one or more scribe lines, disposing a flexible support layer on the semiconductor layer, and applying a force to the scribed semiconductor layer so as to induce cracks along the scribe lines.

The invention relates to a method of processing a substrate, having a first surface with a device area and a second surface opposite the first surface, wherein the device area has a plurality of devices formed therein. The method comprises applying a pulsed laser beam to the substrate from the side of the second surface, in a plurality of positions along the second surface, so as to form a plurality of hole regions in the substrate, each hole region extending from the second surface towards the first surface. Each hole region is composed of a modified region and a space in the modified region open to the second surface. The method further comprises grinding the second surface of the substrate, where the plurality of hole regions has been formed, to adjust the substrate thickness.

A substrate processing method includes preparing a stacked substrate including a first substrate divided into multiple chips, a protective film divided for each of the multiple chips to protect the chip, a second substrate supporting the first substrate, and an adhesive film configured to attach the protective film and the second substrate; reducing adhesive strength of the adhesive film with a light beam configured to penetrate the second substrate; and picking-up, from the adhesive film by a pick-up device, the chip and the protective film with the reduced adhesive strength to the adhesive film.

An imprint apparatus for forming a pattern in an imprint material on a substrate using an original as a mold, comprises an ultraviolet light generation device which irradiates with ultraviolet light which is curing light for curing the imprint material, and a control unit which controls a light amount of the ultraviolet light which is curing light. The control unit configured to perform a control of the light amount of the ultraviolet light acquires data of a defect distribution of the pattern formed on the substrate by the mold, and performs the control of the light amount of the ultraviolet light in a plurality of shot areas on the substrate based on the acquired data of the defect distribution.

A packaged wafer processing method includes a processing step of processing each division line formed on a packaged wafer by using a laser beam applying unit and a feeding mechanism, and indexing the wafer by a preset index amount “a” corresponding to the pitch of the division lines by using an indexing mechanism, thereby forming a laser processed groove along each division line. A correcting step images the next division line to be processed in an exposed peripheral portion of the wafer and the laser processed groove just formed along the present division line, at any arbitrary time during the processing step. The distance “b” between the next division line and the laser processed groove just formed is determined, and then a correction index amount “c” is calculated by using the deviation corresponding to the difference (a−b) between the preset index amount “a” and the distance “b”.

A polishing module includes a chuck having a substrate receiving surface and a perimeter, and one or more polishing pad assemblies positioned about the perimeter of the chuck, wherein each of the one or more polishing pad assemblies are coupled to an actuator that provides movement of the respective polishing pad assemblies in a sweep direction, a radial direction, and a oscillating mode relative to the substrate receiving surface and are limited in radial movement to about less than one-half of the radius of the chuck as measured from the perimeter of the chuck.

A processing method for a wafer having a chamfered portion at a peripheral edge includes a holding step of holding the wafer by a holding table, and a chamfer removing step of rotating the holding table while causing a first cutting blade to cut into the peripheral edge of the wafer while supplying a cutting liquid from a first cutting liquid supply nozzle to cut the peripheral edge of the wafer. In the chamfer removing step, a second cutting unit is positioned at a position adjacent to the first cutting unit at such a height that a second cutting blade does not make contact with the wafer and on the side of the center of the wafer as compared to the first cutting unit, and the cutting liquid is supplied from a second cutting liquid supply nozzle.