In a peeling starting portion preparing method of a laminate, for the laminate including a first substrate and a second substrate peelably attached via an adsorption layer, a knife is inserted with a predetermined amount from an end surface of the laminate into an interface between the first substrate and the adsorption layer so as to prepare the peeling starting portion at the interface. The knife includes a main body portion, a cutting edge portion continuous with the main body portion and tapered in a side view, and a ridge line which is a boundary between the main body portion and the cutting edge portion, and at least a part of the adsorption layer is scraped off by a ridge line portion including the ridge line.

A method for disassembling a stack of at least three substrates. The invention relates to the techniques for transferring thin films in the microelectronics field. It proposes a method for disassembling a stack of at least three substrates having between them two interfaces, one interface of which has an adhesion energy and an interface of which has an adhesion energy, with less than, the method comprising: 1) implementing a removal of material on the first substrate, in order to expose a surface of the second substrate, 2) transferring the stack onto a flexible adhesive film so that the surface has, with an adhesive layer of the film, an adhesion energy greater than, and 3) disassembling the third substrate at the interface between the second substrate and the third substrate. The method makes it possible to open the stack via the interface thereof with the highest adhesion energy.

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.

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 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.

A label assembly including a face sheet, a back sheet, and a layer of an adhesive positioned between the face sheet and the back sheet. A separation line divides the label assembly into at least two portions. The separation line is formed by a first tearable line of separation extending across the back sheet and a second tearable line of separation extending across the face sheet. The first tearable line of separation is offset with respect to the second tearable line of separation, and at least one of the first and second tearable lines of separation includes a non-linear portion directed toward and/or an angled portion extending at an angle to an other of the at least one of the first and second tearable lines of separation.

Apparatuses and methods for decoupling an element that is bonded to a surface by an adhesive are provided. In one example, the apparatus includes a body, a first spool that is rotationally coupled to the body, and a cable having a first cable end portion that is coupled to the first spool, a second cable end portion that is coupled to the body, and a cable intermediate portion that is disposed between the first cable end portion and the second cable end portion. The apparatus is configured to be positioned adjacent to at least one of the element and the surface with the cable intermediate portion disposed adjacent to the adhesive such that when the first spool is rotated, the cable wraps about the first spool, thereby pulling the cable intermediate portion through the adhesive.

Disclosed is a thin subject assisted debonding method for separating temporarily bonded workpiece-carrier pair. The thin subject can be a thin wire, or thin filament, or thin blade. The thin subject can be applied between the workpiece and carrier pair in association with laser debonding or mechanical debonding to provide well controlled and targeted wedging function to the delaminating temporary adhesive and its adjacent substrate to which it is separating from. The workpiece can be a semiconductor wafer that has been thinned and processed, and the carrier can be a semiconductor non-device wafer or any other rigid substrate such as a glass wafer or panel. The application of a thin subject between the workpiece and carrier during debonding provides the advantage of high throughput and low defect rate.

A method of removing a carrier plate is used to peel off and remove the carrier plate from a workpiece of a disk-shaped composite substrate in which the workpiece is disposed on a face side of the carrier plate with a temporary adhesive layer interposed therebetween. The method includes a step forming step of forming a step protruding laterally from the carrier plate more on a reverse side of the carrier plate than on the face side of the carrier plate, by removing an outer circumferential portion of the workpiece, an outer circumferential portion of the temporary adhesive layer, and a face-side side of an outer circumferential edge of the carrier plate, a starting point region forming step of forming a starting point region that acts as a starting point in peeling off the carrier plate from the workpiece.

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.