Apparatus for use in preparing heterostructures having a reduced concentration of defects including apparatus for stressing semiconductor substrates to allow them to conform to a crystal having a different crystal lattice constant.

A processing apparatus includes a wafer conveying-out mechanism; a wafer table; a frame conveying-out mechanism; a frame table; a tape attaching mechanism that attaches a tape to a frame; a tape-attached frame conveying mechanism that conveys the tape-attached frame; a tape pressure bonding mechanism that pressure bonds the tape of the tape-attached frame to a back surface of a wafer; a frame unit conveying-out mechanism that conveys out a frame unit in which the tape of the tape-attached frame and the back surface of the wafer are pressure bonded; a reinforcement section removing mechanism that cuts and removes a ring-shaped reinforcement section from the wafer; a ringless unit conveying-out mechanism that conveys out a ringless unit from which the reinforcement section has been removed; and a frame cassette table on which a frame cassette accommodating the ringless unit is to be placed.

When picking a die from an adhesive tape, a collet of a pick arm is positioned at a distance over the die, the die being mounted on a first surface of the adhesive tape. A flow of air is then generated onto a second surface of the adhesive surface opposite to the first surface for blowing the adhesive tape to displace the die towards a die-holding surface of the collet. Thereafter, the die is retained on the die-holding surface of the collet while the adhesive tape separates from the die.

A wafer manufacturing method includes a wafer preparing step of preparing a wafer including a semiconductor device formed in each of a plurality of regions demarcated by a plurality of streets intersecting each other, a support substrate fixing step of fixing the wafer to a support substrate, a removing step of removing, from the wafer, a defective device region including a semiconductor device determined to be a defective product among a plurality of the semiconductor devices formed in the wafer, and a fitting step of fitting, into a removed region formed by removing the defective device region from the wafer, a device chip including a semiconductor device as a non-defective product having same functions as those of the semiconductor device determined to be a defective product and having a size capable of being fitted into the removed region, and fixing the device chip to the support substrate.

A wafer manufacturing method includes a wafer preparing step of preparing a wafer including a semiconductor device formed in each of a plurality of regions demarcated by a plurality of streets intersecting each other, a removing step of removing, from the wafer, a defective device region including a semiconductor device determined to be a defective product among a plurality of the semiconductor devices formed in the wafer, and a fitting step of fitting, into a removed region formed by removing the defective device region from the wafer, a device chip including a semiconductor device as a non-defective product having same functions as those of the semiconductor device determined to be a defective product and having a size capable of being fitted into the removed region.

A holding arrangement for holding a substrate is described. The holding arrangement includes a body having a first wall of flexible material; an adhesive arrangement configured for attaching the substrate, wherein the adhesive arrangement is provided on a first side of the first wall, and a force transmission arrangement configured for applying a force to a second side of the first wall opposing the first side of the first wall.

Various embodiments of the present application are directed towards a method for workpiece-level alignment with low alignment error and high throughput. In some embodiments, the method comprises aligning a first alignment mark on a first workpiece to a field of view (FOV) of an imaging device based on feedback from the imaging device, and further aligning a second alignment mark on a second workpiece to the first alignment mark based on feedback from the imaging device. The second workpiece is outside the FOV during the aligning of the first alignment mark. The aligning of the second alignment mark is performed without moving the first alignment mark out of the FOV. Further, the imaging device views the second alignment mark, and further views the first alignment mark through the second workpiece, during the aligning of the second alignment mark. The imaging device may, for example, perform imaging with reflected infrared radiation.

A material processing apparatus includes a processing chamber having an internal space, an external pressure source, a vacuum generator, a temperature regulator and a controller. The external pressure source is connected to the processing chamber for positive pressure action on the internal space. The vacuum generator is connected to the processing chamber for negative pressure action on the internal space. The temperature regulator is arranged in the processing chamber to adjust the temperature in the internal space. The controller is configured to control the external pressure source to increase the pressure in the processing chamber from a normal pressure to a first predetermined pressure, and configured to control the vacuum generator to reduce the pressure in the processing chamber to a second predetermined pressure less than the normal pressure after the pressure rises to the first predetermined pressure. An operating method of a material processing apparatus is also provided.

There is provided a carrier plate removing method for removing a carrier plate from a workpiece disposed on a top surface of a carrier plate via a provisional bonding layer. The carrier plate removing method includes a stepped portion forming step of forming a stepped portion in which the workpiece projects sideward as compared with the carrier plate by processing the carrier plate so as to remove a peripheral portion of the carrier plate along a peripheral edge of the carrier plate from an undersurface side opposite from the top surface of the carrier plate, a carrier plate holding step of holding the carrier plate by a carrier plate holding unit, and a removing step of removing the carrier plate from the workpiece by applying a force from the carrier plate side to the stepped portion, and moving the workpiece in a direction of separating from the carrier plate.

A manufacturing method of chips from a workpiece including plural planned dividing lines on a front surface includes a cutting step of causing a cutting blade to cut into the workpiece for which a side of the front surface of the workpiece is held by a holding table in such a manner that a side of a back surface of the workpiece is exposed and forming a cut groove that does not reach the front surface of the workpiece on the side of the back surface of the workpiece along each planned dividing line, a sticking step of sticking an expanding sheet to the workpiece, and a dividing step of dividing the workpiece along each planned dividing line by expanding the expanding sheet to form the chips from the workpiece after the sticking step and the cutting step.