A method for determining a temperature achieved on a substrate by a heating process includes receiving the substrate including a metal containing layer disposed over a first layer, the metal containing layer including a metal, the first layer including a first material different from the metal containing layer, and performing the heating process to heat the substrate using a pulsed laser. The method further includes, after performing the heating process, determining a phase composition of the metal containing layer and a material composition of the metal containing layer using a diffraction technique. And the method further includes, using the phase composition and the material composition of the metal containing layer, determining the temperature of the substrate achieved by the heating process.

In order to have uniform dot holes even when a deep laser mark of approximately 100 m depth is formed, a silicon wafer having a crystal plane orientation of (100) has an identification mark configured by a plurality of dot holes on a surface with a surface roughness of 0.15 to 0.60 nm. A ratio between a length in a <100> direction and a length in a <110> direction of an opening of the dot hole on a wafer surface is 1 to 1.10, the length in the <100> direction of the opening is 80 m to 110 m, a depth of the dot hole in a cross-section is 80 m to 110 m, and a bottom surface of the dot hole is a flat surface of a (100) plane.

In order to have uniform dot holes even when a deep laser mark of approximately 100 m depth is formed, a silicon wafer having a crystal plane orientation of (100) has an identification mark configured by a plurality of dot holes on a surface with a surface roughness of 0.15 to 0.60 nm. A ratio between a length in a <100> direction and a length in a <110> direction of an opening of the dot hole on a wafer surface is 1 to 1.10, the length in the <100> direction of the opening is 80 m to 110 m, a depth of the dot hole in a cross-section is 80 m to 110 m, and a bottom surface of the dot hole is a flat surface of a (100) plane.

A method of separating electronic components from a wafer is disclosed. In one example, the method comprises providing the wafer with a semiconductor substrate having a front side with an active region and having a back side covered by a functional layer. The wafer comprises a plurality of integrally connected electronic components arranged side-by-side, forming a back side groove extending through the functional layer into the semiconductor substrate between adjacent electronic components, and forming a groove extension connecting to the back side groove. The back side groove is formed with a maximum horizontal width larger than a maximum horizontal width of said groove extension.

A device wafer processing method includes a protective film coating step of coating a face side of a device wafer with a protective film, a laser processing step of applying a laser beam having a wavelength absorbable by the device wafer to the device wafer along streets and forming laser processing grooves that divide a device layer, a tape affixing step of affixing a tape to the protective film on the device wafer, a holding step of holding the face side of the device wafer by a holding table via the tape and exposing a reverse side of the device wafer, and a cutting step of cutting the device wafer held on the holding table, by a cutting blade from the reverse side along the streets, and dividing the device wafer into individual devices.

A method of processing a wafer includes forming a bonded wafer assembly by bonding one of opposite surfaces of a first wafer to a second wafer, the first wafer having a device region and an outer circumferential excessive region, applying a laser beam to the first wafer while positioning a focused spot of the laser beam radially inwardly from the outer circumferential edge of the first wafer, on an inclined plane that is progressively closer to the one of the opposite surfaces of the first wafer toward the outer circumferential edge, thereby forming a separation layer shaped as a side surface of a truncated cone, grinding the first wafer from the other one of the opposite surfaces thereof to thin down the first wafer to a predetermined thickness, and detecting whether or not the outer circumferential excessive region has been removed from the first wafer.

A method of processing a wafer includes forming a bonded wafer assembly by bonding one of opposite surfaces of a first wafer to a second wafer, the first wafer having a device region and an outer circumferential excessive region, applying a laser beam to the first wafer while positioning a focused spot of the laser beam radially inwardly from the outer circumferential edge of the first wafer, on an inclined plane that is progressively closer to the one of the opposite surfaces of the first wafer toward the outer circumferential edge, thereby forming a separation layer shaped as a side surface of a truncated cone, grinding the first wafer from the other one of the opposite surfaces thereof to thin down the first wafer to a predetermined thickness, and detecting whether or not the outer circumferential excessive region has been removed from the first wafer.

A chip production method in which a workpiece having a plurality of planned dividing lines set on a side of a front surface of a substrate and a functional layer formed on the front surface is divided along the planned dividing lines to produce chips, includes: applying a laser beam along the planned dividing lines to remove respective parts of the functional layer and form, in the substrate, respective processed grooves having a depth smaller than a finished thickness; processing a side of a back surface of the substrate to thin the substrate to the finished thickness; and after the processing, imparting an external force to the workpiece to divide the workpiece into a plurality of chips along the processed grooves.

A processing apparatus configured to process a processing target object includes a modifying device configured to radiate laser light to an inside of the processing target object to form multiple modification layers along a plane direction; and a controller configured to control an operation of the modifying device at least. The controller controls the modifying device to form, in the forming of the modification layers, a first modification layer formation region in which cracks that develop from neighboring modification layers along the plane direction are not connected, and also controls the modifying device to form, in the forming of the modification layers, a second modification layer formation region in which cracks that develop from neighboring modification layers along the plane direction are connected.

A semiconductor chip includes a semiconductor substrate, a semiconductor device layer, and an insulation layer. The semiconductor substrate extends from first and second surfaces that are spaced apart and includes first and second regions with distinct single crystal structures. The semiconductor device layer is positioned on one surface of the semiconductor substrate, and the insulation layer envelops at least the upper and side surfaces of the semiconductor device layer. A plurality of penetration holes may be formed in the insulation layer. A laser may irradiate the semiconductor substrate to form the crystal structures. The laser may irradiate through the plurality of penetration holes.