A chuck table holding a frame unit including a workpiece is securely placed in an opening of an annular frame by a tape. A transparent holder having a holding surface holds the workpiece with the tape interposed therebetween. A frame body is erected around and surrounding the holder, the frame body having a plurality of suction holes that are open in an inner circumferential surface of the frame body. The frame body has an inside diameter equal to or smaller than an inside diameter of the annular frame. While an opening of the frame body is being covered by the tape, a suction force is transmitted through the suction holes into the frame body, discharging air from between the tape and the holding surface to bring the tape into intimate contact with the holding surface thereby securing the workpiece of the frame unit to the holding surface.

An apparatus and method for bonding alignment are provided. The apparatus for bonding alignment includes a press assembly and an objective lens group (105) disposed on one side of the press assembly. The press assembly includes a first chuck (103) and a rotatable second chuck (104). When support surfaces of the first and second chucks are not parallel to each other, the second chuck is rotated to make the two support surfaces parallel. A first substrate (301) is then loaded on the first chuck, and alignment marks (302) on the first substrate are observed using the objective lens group disposed on one side of the press assembly. A second substrate (501) is loaded on the second chuck, and alignment marks (502) on the second substrate are also observed with the objective lens group. Based on an observation result by the objective lens group, the two substrates are moved so that the alignment marks thereon are aligned and hence the two substrates themselves are aligned. In this method, the chucks are adjusted, prior to the alignment of the substrates. This dispenses with the need for employment of high-precision components and reduces the complexity of the apparatus. Moreover, adjusting the chucks first can ensure control of a global alignment accuracy between the substrates, and in particular, can reduce wedge-shaped errors between the substrates that may result from deformations of the substrates during bonding.

A cutting blade supplying apparatus includes a cutting blade stocker that stocks a plurality of cutting blades; a carrying unit that carries out the cutting blade from the cutting blade stocker and carries the cutting blade to a cutting apparatus, a transferring unit that transfers the cutting blade carried by the carrying unit to a cutting blade replacing unit of the cutting apparatus, and a control unit. The cutting blade stocker includes a cutting blade case that accommodates the cutting blades each of which includes a mounting port formed in a center thereof to be mounted to a spindle and a cutting edge formed at an outer periphery of the mounting port, and a cutting blade case mounting unit on which to mount the cutting blade case.

A carrier film according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a base film; and a first adhesive layer formed on a surface of the base film such that an element to be transferred is attached to the first adhesive layer, wherein the magnitude of force of adhesion between the element and the first adhesive layer is in proportion to the depth of press-fitting at which the element is press-fitted into the first adhesive layer.

A method of an embodiment separates a bonded substrate including first and second substrates. The bonded substrate includes a carbon film on a first surface of the first substrate, a memory cell on the carbon film, a first connection terminal on the memory cell, a transistor on a first surface of the second substrate, and a second connection terminal on the transistor. In opposing direction of the first surfaces of the first and second substrates, a side of the first substrate on which the memory cell is located and a side of the second substrate on which the transistor is located are joined together, and the first and second connection terminals are mutually connected. The method includes removing the carbon film, and separating the bonded substrate into the first substrate with the first surface exposed and the second substrate on which the memory cell and the transistor are located.

This substrate bonding device (100) includes: a stage (401), a head (402), an electrostatic chuck that holds a peripheral portion of a substrate (301) while the stage (401) supports the substrate (301), a holder driver that drives the electrostatic chuck, and a controller (700). The electrostatic chuck is disposed in a first area on the stage (401) facing the peripheral portion of the substrate (301), and the holder driver drives the electrostatic chuck by applying voltage to the electrostatic chuck. The controller (700) controls the holder driver in such a manner that a peripheral portion of the substrate (301) is released from the electrostatic chuck when a peripheral portion of the substrate (301) is made to come into contact with a peripheral portion of the substrate (302) while a central portion of a bonding surface of the substrate (301) and a central portion of a bonding surface of the substrate (302) are in contact with each other.

A cutting apparatus includes a chuck table having a holding surface used for holding either a workpiece unit that includes a plate-shaped workpiece supported on an annular frame by a tape or a tray shaped similarly to the annular frame, a rest area used for placing a receptacle that houses the workpiece unit or the tray, a transport unit configured to transport the workpiece unit or the tray between the rest area and the chuck table, the transport unit having a holding pad that holds the workpiece unit or the tray, a sub-chuck table that is disposed sideways of the chuck table and has a holding surface used for holding a board for use in adjusting a cutting unit, and a board transport unit configured to transport the board between the tray held on the chuck table and the sub-chuck table.

A blade holding jig for holding a washer-type cutting blade via an annular retainer flange includes an annular flange holding portion configured to hold a first annular surface of the retainer flange under suction, and an annular non-contact suction portion arranged on an outer peripheral portion of the flange holding portion and configured to produce a negative pressure by ejection of a fluid toward the outer peripheral portion of the retainer flange held by the flange holding portion and to draw up the cutting blade toward the retainer flange. The cutting blade drawn up toward the retainer flange by the non-contact suction portion is held on the retainer flange by a suction force acting from the flange holding portion via a plurality of through holes disposed extending from a second annular surface to the first annular surface of the retainer flange.

A method of expanding a sheet includes the steps of gripping the sheet with a first gripping unit and a second griping unit and gripping the sheet with a third gripping unit and a fourth gripping unit, and expanding the sheet by moving the first gripping unit and the second griping unit away from each other in first directions relatively and moving the third gripping unit and the fourth gripping unit away from each other in second directions relatively. In the step of expanding the sheet, the states of the sheet that is under tension are detected, and movement of the first gripping unit, the second griping unit, the third gripping unit, and the fourth gripping unit is controlled based on the detected states of the sheet.

A cutting apparatus includes a table including a support plate transparent in a visible region, a cutting unit, a first feeding mechanism that includes a first moving section for supporting the table and a first motor, a second feeding mechanism that includes a second moving section for supporting the cutting unit and a second motor, a first camera disposed on the side of a first surface of the support plate, a second camera disposed on the side of a second surface opposite to the first surface of the support plate, and a storage section that stores positional deviation amounts in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction between an imaging region at a reference position of the first camera and an imaging region at a reference position of the second camera.