A cutting method includes: forming a reformed region in a workpiece; and after forming the reformed region in the workpiece, cutting the workpiece along an intended cut line. In the cutting the workpiece, a dry etching process is performed from a front surface toward a rear surface of the workpiece while the workpiece is fixed on a support member at least under its own weight or by suction, to form a groove from the front surface to reach the rear surface of the workpiece.

Laser cutting systems and methods are described herein. One or more systems include a laser generating component, an optical component, a fixture for holding a support with a part positioned on the support, and a control mechanism for adjusting at least one of the laser generating component, the optical component, and the fixture such that a ratio of a laser energy applied to the part and a part material thickness is maintained within a predetermined acceptable range at each point along a cut path to cut through the part while maintaining the integrity of the support. Other systems and methods are disclosed herein.

A method of processing a wafer to divide the wafer into individual device chips, includes a second modified layer forming step of applying a laser beam to the wafer while positioning a focused spot of the laser beam inside the wafer along the projected dicing lines extending in a second direction intersecting with a first direction, thereby forming second modified layers in the wafer along the projected dicing lines extending in the second direction. In the second modified layer forming step, when the focused spot of the laser beam along the projected dicing lines extending in the second direction reaches first modified layers, the focused spot of the laser beam is shifted along the first modified layers to thereby undulate the laser beam in a staggered pattern to prevent the second modified layers from being formed straight in the wafer along the projected dicing lines extending in the second direction.

A method of processing a substrate is provided. The method includes mounting a substrate on a concave mounting surface of a mounting table and deforming a surface of the substrate into a concave shape; detecting, by a height sensor, a height of the surface of the substrate in a vertical direction; determining positions of a plurality of first focus points based on height data of the surface of the substrate, detected by the height sensor; and forming a first modification layer in the substrate by irradiating the plurality of first focus points with a laser beam.

A laser beam irradiation unit of a laser processing apparatus includes: a laser oscillator in which a repetition frequency is set so as to oscillate a pulsed laser having a pulse width shorter than a time of electronic excitation caused by irradiating the workpiece with a laser beam and oscillate at least two pulsed lasers within the electronic excitation time; a condenser that irradiates the workpiece held on the chuck table with the pulsed laser beams oscillated by the laser oscillator; and a thinning-out unit that is disposed between the laser oscillator and the condenser and guides the pulsed laser beams necessary for processing to the condenser by thinning out and discarding pulsed laser beams in a predetermined cycle.

A laser processing apparatus includes: a chuck table for holding a single-crystal SiC ingot on a holding surface thereof; a laser beam applying unit for applying a laser beam to the single-crystal SiC ingot held on the holding surface of the chuck table; and a camera unit configured to capture an image of the single-crystal SiC ingot held on the holding surface of the chuck table. The chuck table includes a porous material making up the holding surface and a glass frame made of a non-porous material and having a recess defined therein and receiving the porous material fitted therein, and a negative pressure transfer path for transferring a negative pressure to the porous material fitted in the recess.

A wafer producing apparatus detects a facet area from an upper surface of an SiC ingot, sets X and Y coordinates of plural points lying on a boundary between the facet area and a nonfacet area in an XY plane, and sets a focal point of a laser beam having a transmission wavelength to SiC inside the SiC ingot at a predetermined depth from the upper surface of the SiC ingot. The predetermined depth corresponds to the thickness of the SiC wafer to be produced. A control unit increases the energy of the laser beam and raises a position of the focal point in applying the laser beam to the facet area as compared with the energy of the laser beam and a position of the focal point in applying the laser beam to the nonfacet area, according to the X and Y coordinates.

A manufacturing method of a protective film agent for laser dicing that includes a solution preparation step of preparing a solution in which at least a water-soluble resin, an organic solvent, and an ultraviolet absorber are mixed; and an ion-exchange treatment step of carrying out ion exchange of sodium ions in the solution by using a cation-exchange resin.

A process for room temperature substrate bonding employs a first substrate substantially transparent to a laser wavelength is selected. A second substrate for mating at an interface with the first substrate is then selected. A transmissivity change at the interface is created and the first and second substrates are mated at the interface. The first substrate is then irradiated with a laser of the transparency wavelength substantially focused at the interface and a localized high temperature at the interface from energy supplied by the laser is created. The first and second substrates immediately adjacent the interface are softened with diffusion across the interface to fuse the substrates.

A build system is provided with: a build apparatus that performs a build process for forming a build object by supplying build materials to an irradiation area of an energy beam from a supply system while irradiating a target object with the energy beam from an irradiation system; and a change apparatus that is configured to change a relative position between the energy beam and the target object, wherein the build system differentiates a condition of the build process that is performed at a first area of the target object and a condition of the build process that is performed at a second area of the target object.