A method that is capable of preferably segmenting a substrate with a metal film. A method of segmenting a substrate with a metal film includes steps of: scribing a predetermined segment position in a first main surface on which a metal film is not provided to form a scribe line, and extending a vertical crack along the predetermined segment position toward an inner side of the substrate; making a breaking bar have direct contact with the substrate with the metal film from a side of a second main surface on which the metal film is provided to further extend the vertical crack, thereby segmenting a portion other than the metal film in the predetermined segment position; and making the breaking bar have direct contact with the substrate with the metal film from a side of the first main surface, thereby segmenting the metal film in the predetermined segment position.

A method of cleaving includes providing a substrate. Optionally, the substrate includes -gallium oxide, hexagonal zinc sulfide, or magnesium selenide. The substrate includes at least one natural cleave plane and a crystallinity. The substrate is cleaved along a first natural cleave plane of the at least one natural cleave plane. The cleaving the substrate along the first natural cleave plane includes the following. A micro-crack is generated in the substrate while maintaining the crystallinity adjacent to the micro-crack by generating a plurality of phonons in the substrate, the micro-crack comprising a micro-crack direction along the first natural cleave plane. The micro-crack is propagated along the first natural cleave plane while maintaining the crystallinity adjacent to the micro-crack. Optionally, generating a micro-crack in the substrate by generating a plurality of phonons in the substrate includes generating the plurality of phonons by electron-hole recombination. Optionally, the electron-hole recombination includes non-radiative electron-hole recombination.

A method for producing a layer of solid material includes: providing a solid body having opposing first and second surfaces, the second surface being part of the layer of solid material; generating defects by means of multiphoton excitation caused by at least one laser beam penetrating into the solid body via the second surface and acting in an inner structure of the solid body to generate a detachment plane, the detachment plane including regions with different concentrations of defects; providing a polymer layer on the solid body; and subjecting the polymer layer to temperature conditions to generate mechanical stress in the solid body, including cooling of the polymer layer to a temperature below ambient temperature, the cooling taking place such that due to stresses a crack propagates in the solid body along the detachment plane and the layer of solid material separates from the solid body along the crack.

The present invention relates to a method for separating solid-body slices (1) from a donor substrate (2). The method comprises the steps of: producing modifications (10) within the donor substrate (2) by means of laser beams (12), wherein a detachment region is predefined by the modifications (10), along which detachment region the solid-body layer (1) is separated from the donor substrate (2), and removing material from the donor substrate (2), starting from a surface (4) extending in the peripheral direction of the donor substrate (2), in the direction of the centre (Z) of the donor substrate (2), in particular in order to produce a peripheral indentation (6).

Cleave systems for separating bonded wafer structures, mountable cleave monitoring systems and methods for separating bonded wafer structures are disclosed. In some embodiments, the sound emitted from a bonded wafer structure is sensed during cleaving and a metric related to an attribute of the cleave is generated. The generated metric may be used for quality control and/or to adjust a cleave control parameter to improve the quality of the cleave of subsequently cleaved bonded wafer structures.

A wafer processing method includes applying a laser beam of such a wavelength as to be transmitted through a wafer to the wafer from a back surface of the wafer, with a focal point of the laser beam positioned at a predetermined point inside the wafer, to form division start points along streets, the division start point including a modified layer and a crack extending from the modified layer to a front surface of the wafer; and grinding the back surface of the wafer by a grinding wheel having a plurality of grindstones in an annular pattern, to thin the wafer and divide the wafer into individual device chips. In forming the division start points, a chuck table is heated to a predetermined temperature, whereby the cracks formed inside the wafer to extend from the modified layers to the front surface of the wafer are grown.

A method for the production of layers of solid material is contemplated. The method may include the steps of providing a solid body for the separation of at least one layer of solid material, generating defects by means of at least one radiation source, in particular a laser, in the inner structure of the solid body in order to determine a detachment plane along which the layer of solid material is separated from the solid body, and applying heat to a polymer layer disposed on the solid body in order to generate, in particular mechanically, stresses in the solid body, due to the stresses a crack propagating in the solid body along the detachment plane, which crack separates the layer of solid material from the solid body.

A wafer processing method includes: a holding step of holding a wafer on a chuck table through a dicing tape; and a dividing step of cutting the wafer along division lines by a cutting blade. In the dividing step, cleaning water including pure water mixed with carbon dioxide is supplied to the front surface of the wafer, and cutting water including pure water alone or pure water mixed with carbon dioxide in a concentration lower than that of the cleaning water is supplied to the cutting blade. During cutting, therefore, the cleaning water and the cutting water are always shielded by each other. Consequently, the cutting blade can be prevented from being corroded or excessively worn due to the cleaning water, and the cutting water can be prevented from contacting the front surface of the wafer to cause electrostatic discharge damage to the devices.

A crystalline material processing method includes forming subsurface laser damage at a first average depth position to form cracks in the substrate interior propagating outward from at least one subsurface laser damage pattern, followed by imaging the substrate top surface, analyzing the image to identify a condition indicative of presence of uncracked regions within the substrate, and taking one or more actions responsive to the analyzing. One potential action includes changing an instruction set for producing subsequent laser damage formation (at second or subsequent average depth positions), without necessarily forming additional damage at the first depth position. Another potential action includes forming additional subsurface laser damage at the first depth position. The substrate surface is illuminated with a diffuse light source arranged perpendicular to a primary substrate flat and positioned to a first side of the substrate, and imaged with an imaging device positioned to an opposing second side of the substrate.

The controllability of modified spots is improved. A laser processing apparatus 100 comprises a first laser light source 101 for emitting a first pulsed laser light L1, a second laser light source 102 for emitting a second pulsed laser light L2, half-wave plates 104, 105 for respectively changing directions of polarization of the pulsed laser light L1, L2, polarization beam splitters 106, 107 for respectively polarization-separating the pulsed laser light L1, L2 having changed the directions of polarization, and a condenser lens 112 for converging the polarization-separated pulsed laser light L1, L2 at an object to be processed 1. When the directions of polarization of the pulsed laser light L1, L2 changed by the half-wave plates 104, 105 are varied by a light intensity controller 121 in the laser processing apparatus 100, the ratios of the pulsed laser light L1, L2 polarization-separated by the polarization beam splitters 106, 107 are altered, whereby the respective intensities of the pulsed laser light L1, L2 are adjusted.