A substrate bonding apparatus for bonding a first substrate to a second substrate includes: a first bonding chuck including: a first base; a first deformable plate provided on the first base to support the first substrate; and a first pneumatic adjustor configured to deform the first deformable plate by adjusting a first pressure in a first cavity formed between the first deformable plate and the first base; and a second bonding chuck including: a second base; a second deformable plate provided on the second base to support the second substrate; and a second pneumatic adjustor configured to deform the second deformable plate by adjusting a second pressure in a second cavity formed between the second deformable plate and the second base. The first deformable plate is deformed such that a first distance between the first base and the first deformable plate is varied based on the first pressure, and the second deformable plate is deformed such that a second distance between the second base the second deformable plate is varied based on the second pressure.

A plasma etching apparatus for processing a workpiece of a frame unit including the workpiece formed with division start points or division grooves along a plurality of mutually intersecting streets, and a frame that has an opening and that supports the workpiece on inside of the opening through an expanding tape includes a plasma etching unit that has a chuck table for holding the workpiece on a holding surface through the expanding tape and that supplies a plasmatized gas to the workpiece held by the chuck table, and an expanding unit that expands the expanding tape to divide the workpiece along the division start points or to widen a width of the division grooves.

An element chip smoothing method including: an element chip preparation step of preparing at least one element chip including a first surface covered with a resin film, a second surface opposite the first surface, and a sidewall connecting the first surface to the second surface and having ruggedness; a sidewall cleaning step of exposing the element chip to a first plasma, to remove deposits adhering to the sidewall, with the resin film allowed to continue to exist; a sidewall oxidation step of exposing the element chip to a second plasma, after the sidewall cleaning step, to oxidize a surface of the sidewall, with the resin film allowed to continue to exist; and a sidewall etching step of exposing the element chip to a third plasma, after the sidewall oxidation step, to etch the sidewall, with the resin film allowed to continue to exist.

A recognition method of a kerf includes a bonding step of bonding a workpiece to a dicing tape greater in size than the workpiece, a pre-machining imaging step of imaging an optimal region of the dicing tape where the workpiece is not bonded, a kerf forming step of forming a kerf in the optimal region by a cutting machine, a post-machining imaging step of imaging the optimal region with the kerf formed therein, and a recognition step of comparing intensities of light received at each two corresponding pixels in respective images of the optimal region as acquired by the pre-machining imaging step and the post-machining imaging step, subtracting the each two pixels where intensities of received light are the same, and recognizing as the kerf a region formed by the remaining pixels.

An expanding machine for expanding a sheet having a workpiece bonded on the sheet. The expanding machine includes an expansion mechanism configured to expand the sheet, a cooling unit that cools the workpiece bonded on the sheet, and a temperature distribution detection unit that, before expanding the sheet by the expansion mechanism, detects a temperature distribution of the workpiece cooled by the cooling unit. A method for expanding a sheet having a workpiece bonded on the sheet is also disclosed.

A clamp assembly includes at least one clamp which is provided to clamp a workpiece in electroless plating, etching, electroplating or cleaning process. The clamp includes a base, a clamping element and a limiting element. The base is mounted on a carrier and includes a guide hole and a first limiting hole which are communicated with each other. The clamping element includes a guide rod and a second limiting hole, the guide rod is inserted into the guide hole to allow the second limiting hole located on the guide hole to be communicated with the first limiting hole. The limiting element is inserted into the first and second limiting holes to integrate the base with the clamping element for clamping the workpiece.

A substrate processing apparatus includes a holder having thereon an attraction surface configured to attract a substrate and including an outer attracting member configured to attract a peripheral portion of the substrate and an inner attracting member configured to attract a portion of the substrate inside the peripheral portion of the substrate attracted by the outer attracting member in a diametrical direction of the attraction surface; a moving device configured to move the outer attracting member with respect to the inner attracting member; and a controller configured to control a distortion, which is caused at the substrate attracted to the attraction surface, by controlling a movement of the outer attracting member with respect to the inner attracting member.

A processing device forms, in an object to be processed, a modified spot constituting a modified region. The processing device includes a first irradiation unit configured to irradiate the object with first light to temporarily increase absorptivity in a partial region of the object as compared with the absorptivity before irradiation of the first light, and a second irradiation unit configured to irradiate the partial region with second light in an absorptivity increase period in which the absorptivity of the partial region is temporarily increased.

A processing apparatus includes a chuck table for holding a workpiece thereon, a processing unit for processing the workpiece held on the chuck table, a touch panel for entering processing conditions, and a control unit for controlling the touch panel. The control unit controls the touch panel to display a plurality of input fields corresponding to a plurality of items included in the processing conditions, and controls the touch panel to display a copy processing key and a paste processing key when one of the input fields is selected. The control unit copies information entered in the selected one of the input fields when the copy processing key is selected, and enters information that has been copied in advance into the selected one of the input fields when the paste processing key is selected.

A control unit of a laser processing apparatus includes: a reference image storage section that images streets before formation of modified layers by an imaging unit and stores the captured image as a reference image; a calculation section that compares the reference image stored in the reference image storage section with an image of a wafer held by a chuck table that is captured by the imaging unit, and calculates the degree of agreement of the two images; and a decision section that decides whether the wafer is an unprocessed wafer not formed with the modified layers in the case where the degree of agreement calculated by the calculation section is more than a first predetermined value, and decides whether the wafer is a processed wafer formed with the modified layers in the case where the degree of agreement is equal to or less than a second predetermined value.