A method of manufacturing electronic dies by separating a wafer into electronic dies, wherein the method comprises forming a groove in the wafer with a first material removal tool having a first thickness, enlarging the groove by a second material removal tool having a second thickness larger than the first thickness, and subsequently increasing a depth of the groove by a third material removal tool having a third thickness smaller than the second thickness until the wafer is separated.

A method of processing a plate-shaped workpiece that includes layered bodies containing metal which are formed in superposed relation to projected dicing lines, includes the steps of holding the workpiece on a holding table, and thereafter, cutting the workpiece along the projected dicing lines with an annular cutting blade, thereby separating the layered bodies. The cutting blade has a groove defined in a face side or a reverse side of an outer peripheral portion thereof that cuts into the workpiece in the step of cutting the workpiece. The step of cutting the workpiece includes the step of cutting the workpiece while supplying a cutting fluid containing an organic acid and an oxidizing agent to the workpiece.

A controller of a cutting apparatus includes: a storage section configured to preliminarily store as a threshold an arbitrary value based on a load current value of a motor detected when a cutting blade is rotated at a predetermined rotational speed while supplying a predetermined quantity of cutting water in a state in which a cutting water supply nozzle is positioned in an appropriate position; and a judgment section configured to judge normality or abnormality according to the result of comparison between a load current value detected when the cutting blade is rotated at the predetermined rotational speed while supplying the predetermined quantity of cutting water and the threshold stored in the storage section.

A cutting blade mounting mechanism for mounting a cutting blade to a tip portion of a spindle includes: a blade mount mounted to the tip portion of the spindle; and an air supply unit supplying air to the blade mount. The blade mount includes: a columnar boss section inserted into a through-hole provided in an annular base of the cutting blade; a flange section projecting in a radial direction from a side of a base end of the boss section and having a support surface supporting the cutting blade; and an ejector type blade suction section having a first air passage connecting a supply port supplied with air from the air supply unit and a discharge port discharging air, and a second air passage connecting a suction port opening to a side of the support surface of the flange section and the first air passage.

A processing system includes a processing apparatus having functional units including a holding unit that holds a workpiece by a holding surface, a processing unit that processes the workpiece held by the holding unit, and a feed unit that moves the holding unit and the processing unit relatively. The processing system further includes a detecting unit that is provided for part or all of the functional units and detects any of vibration, current, voltage, load, speed, torque, pressure, temperature, flow rate, change in a taken image, and the thickness of the workpiece, and a data accumulating unit that accumulates information included in a signal output from the detecting unit as data.

A blade mounting and dismounting jig is provided for mounting a blade on and dismounting a blade from a flange of a cutting apparatus which includes a boss, a blade mount for mounting the blade fitted thereover, the flange having an annular end face for supporting the blade thereon and being fixed to a distal end of a spindle, and a holder that cooperates with the flange in gripping and securing the blade in position. The blade mounting and dismounting jig includes a cylindrical jig body, a grip coupled to the jig body and having a diameter larger than the jig body, a plurality of first air ejection ports defined in a distal end portion of the jig body, a plurality of second air ejection ports defined in the jig body at a juncture between the jig body and the grip.

A wafer processing method for processing a wafer having devices on the front side is provided. The wafer processing method includes a back grinding step of grinding the wafer to form a recess and an annular reinforcing portion surrounding the recess on the back side of the wafer, and a dividing step of cutting the wafer along division lines formed on the front side of the wafer. In the back grinding step, a taper surface is formed between the bottom surface of the recess and the annular reinforcing portion. The taper surface is inclined with respect to a direction perpendicular to the bottom surface of the recess. In the dividing step, a cutting blade is lowered to start cutting at a position radially inside the outer circumference of the wafer and is subsequently raised to stop cutting at another position radially inside the outer circumference of the wafer.

A cutting blade mounting method of sandwiching both side surfaces of an annular cutting blade by a first flange and a second flange, the first flange being mounted on an end of a spindle and having a suction hole sucking and holding a side surface of the cutting blade to a sandwiching surface of the first flange, includes: a cutting blade provisional holding step of sucking and holding the cutting blade to the first flange by making the cutting blade abut against the sandwiching surface of the first flange at a perfect circle position at which a center of the cutting blade coincides with an axis of the spindle, and making a suction force act on the suction hole; and a fixing step of fixing the cutting blade maintaining the perfect circle position in the cutting blade provisional holding step to the first flange by the second flange.

The invention relates to a method of producing a substrate. The method comprises providing a workpiece having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, and providing a carrier having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface. The method further comprises attaching the carrier to the workpiece, wherein at least a peripheral portion of the first surface of the carrier is attached to the first surface of the workpiece, and forming a modified layer inside the workpiece. Moreover, the method comprises dividing the workpiece along the modified layer, thereby obtaining the substrate, wherein the substrate has the carrier attached thereto, and removing carrier material from the side of the second surface of the carrier in a central portion of the carrier so as to form a recess in the carrier. The invention further relates to a substrate producing system for performing this method.

A method of making an inkjet print head may include forming, by sawing with a rotary saw blade, first discontinuous slotted recesses in a first surface of a wafer. The first discontinuous slotted recesses may be arranged in parallel, spaced apart relation. The method may further include forming, by sawing with the rotary saw blade, second discontinuous slotted recesses in a second surface of the wafer aligned and coupled in communication with the first continuous slotted recesses to define through-wafer channels. In another embodiment, the first and second plurality of discontinuous recesses may be formed by respective first and second rotary saw blades.