TWI602229B - Wafer processing methods - Google Patents

Description

Wafer processing method Field of invention

The present invention relates to a method of processing a wafer having a peripheral edge of a wafer by a cutting blade.

Background of the invention

In recent years, with the thinning and miniaturization of electronic equipment, it is desired to thin the wafer. Further, conventionally, in order to prevent cracking or dust generation in a manufacturing process, the outer periphery of the wafer is subjected to chamfering. Therefore, when the thickness of the wafer is finally ground to, for example, 100 μm or less, the outer periphery of the wafer which has been chamfered becomes a blade shape, and there is a problem that the wafer is broken from the outer peripheral side and the wafer is broken. In order to solve this problem, there is a proposal to remove the wafer from the outer peripheral portion of the wafer (trimming) before thinning the wafer before the grinding process (for example, refer to Patent Document 1 ).

In the processing method described in Patent Document 1, the wafer is held on the chuck table, and the outer periphery of the wafer is cut from the surface side of the wafer by a cutter. Then, the chuck table performs one rotation, whereby the outer circumference of the wafer is cut by the cutter, and the outer peripheral corner portion on the upper surface side of the wafer is removed. In this case, the outer circumference of the wafer is cut by the cutter to the finished thickness of the target. Still deep. The grinding process in the latter stage is to grind the wafer from the back side and grind it to the finished finished thickness. Therefore, there is no blade left in the periphery of the wafer after grinding, which prevents the wafer from being defective.

Advanced technical literature Patent literature

Patent Document 1 Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-173961

Summary of invention

However, in the edge trimming, in order to prevent the processing height from being uneven due to the uneven thickness of the tape, the back side of the wafer is not attached with a protective tape, and the wafer is directly placed on the chuck table. Therefore, when foreign matter such as dirt is mixed between the upper surface of the chuck table and the back surface of the wafer to the outer corner of the wafer, not only the portion which is bulged by the intervention of the foreign matter is cut deeper, but in the subsequent In the program, there are also faults such as cracks from the foreign body.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a wafer processing method capable of avoiding a failure such as a crack caused by foreign matter intervening between a chuck table and a wafer in a subsequent process.

The method for processing a wafer of the present invention is a method for processing a wafer having a peripheral dehorn portion of a wafer having a peripheral chamfer portion, the wafer processing method characterized by comprising the following program: a wafer holding program Positioning the center of the wafer at the center of rotation of the rotatable chuck table The circle is held on the upper surface of the chuck table; the peripheral height measuring program, after the wafer holding program, positions the measuring means for measuring the height near the corner of the wafer, while rotating the chuck table The height is measured on the outer corner of the wafer at the periphery of the wafer; the program is notified that the error is notified when the height difference exceeds the predetermined value in the peripheral height measurement program; the removal procedure is performed throughout the circumference in the peripheral height measurement program. When the height difference is below a predetermined value, the outer peripheral corner of the wafer is removed by a cutter.

According to this configuration, the outer peripheral height of the wafer is measured before the outer peripheral corner portion of the wafer is removed. Further, when the height difference of the outer circumference of the wafer is less than or equal to the predetermined value over the entire circumference, it is determined that foreign matter is not mixed between the chuck table and the wafer, and the outer corner removal portion of the wafer is removed. On the other hand, when the height difference of the outer periphery of the wafer exceeds a predetermined value, it is judged that foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table and the wafer, and an error is notified. Therefore, the outer peripheral corner removal processing of the wafer is not performed in a state where foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table and the wafer. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a failure such as a crack or the like from the intervening portion of the foreign matter between the chuck table and the wafer in the subsequent procedure.

According to the present invention, the outer peripheral corner portion of the wafer is removed only when no foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table and the wafer, thereby being able to avoid the work in the chuck in the subsequent procedure. A failure such as a crack caused by the foreign matter between the stage and the wafer.

1‧‧‧Processing device

2‧‧‧Abutment

3‧‧‧ moving into and out of the arm

4‧‧‧Pre-calibration mechanism

5‧‧‧ chuck workbench

6‧‧‧Measurement means

8‧‧‧ cutting means

11‧‧‧Card

12‧‧‧Card

14‧‧‧1st transfer arm

15‧‧‧2nd transfer arm

16‧‧‧3rd transfer arm

17‧‧‧Back cleaning mechanism

18‧‧‧Surface cleaning mechanism

19‧‧‧ chuck workbench cleaning mechanism

21‧‧‧ front

22‧‧‧ Openings

23‧‧‧Waterproof cover

25‧‧‧Mobile agencies

26‧‧‧ base end

27‧‧‧Mobile agencies

29‧‧‧Rotating table

31‧‧‧Multi-section link

32‧‧‧Hands

33‧‧‧Mobile agencies

41‧‧‧ center calibration station

51‧‧‧Control means

52‧‧‧Determining means

53‧‧‧ means of notification

55‧‧‧Rotary axis

61‧‧‧arms

62‧‧‧Detection Department

63‧‧‧ base end

81‧‧‧Knife unit

82‧‧‧ Column Department

83‧‧‧Knife unit moving mechanism

84‧‧‧Y-axis table

85‧‧‧Z-axis table

86‧‧‧ Spindle

87‧‧‧Cutter

91‧‧‧Outer corners

92‧‧‧ mark

93‧‧‧ Segmented ditch

A1‧‧‧ moving into the area

A2‧‧‧Processing area

A3‧‧‧Clean area

C‧‧‧ Center

C1‧‧‧Loading card

C2‧‧‧Without card

S01~S06‧‧‧Steps

P‧‧‧ Foreign objects

T‧‧‧Predetermined value

W‧‧‧ wafer

Fig. 1 is a schematic top view of a processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

2A and 2B are explanatory views of the removal procedure of the outer circumferential corner portion of the wafer according to the embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view showing a measuring means according to the embodiment and a graph showing measured values.

Fig. 4 is a flow chart showing a method of processing a wafer according to the embodiment.

Form for implementing the invention

Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described with reference to the attached drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic top view of a processing apparatus according to the embodiment. Fig. 2 is an explanatory view showing a procedure for removing a peripheral chamfer portion of the wafer according to the embodiment. Incidentally, the processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is not limited to the configuration shown in Fig. 1, and can be appropriately changed.

As shown in Fig. 1, the processing apparatus 1 is a fully automatic type of processing apparatus, and is configured to automatically perform a series of operations such as carry-in processing, cutting processing, cleaning processing, and unloading processing on the wafer W. The wafer W is formed into a disk shape by a semiconductor wafer. A peripheral corner portion 91 for preventing cracking or dust generation in the manufacturing process is formed on the outer periphery of the wafer W. Further, a notch 92 indicating a crystal orientation is formed on the periphery of the wafer W. Incidentally, the wafer W is exemplified by a semiconductor wafer such as germanium or gallium arsenide, but may be a ceramic, glass, or sapphire (Al ₂ O ₃ )-based inorganic material substrate.

The processing apparatus 1 is provided with a loading area A1 in front of the apparatus, a processing area A2 on the rear side of the apparatus, and a cleaning area A3 adjacent to the loading area A1 and the processing area A2. In addition, the front surface 21 of the processing device 1 is provided There are a pair of cassettes 11, 12 protruding from the loading area A1 toward the front. The loading cassette C1 can be placed on the cassette 11, and the loading cassette C1 stores the wafer W before processing. The carry-out cassette C2 can be placed on the cassette 12, and the carry-out cassette C2 can store the processed wafer W. The cassette 11 is played as an entrance of the processing apparatus 1, and the cassette 12 is used as an outlet of the processing apparatus 1.

In the loading area A1, the loading/unloading arm 3 for allowing the wafer W to enter and exit the loading cassette C1 and the carrying cassette C2 is provided. The carry-in/out arm 3 has a multi-joint link portion 31 formed by a plurality of arms, and a hand portion 32 provided at a front end of the multi-joint link portion 31. The multi-joint link portion 31 is configured to move the hand portion 32 in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. Further, the multi-joint link portion 31 is a slide head attached to the linear motor type moving mechanism 33, and is movable in the X-axis direction by electromagnetic force. The loading/unloading arm 3 carries the wafer W before processing into the processing area A2 from the loading cassette C1, and carries the processed wafer W from the cleaning area A3 to the carrying-out cassette C2.

The processing area A2 is provided with a pre-alignment mechanism 4 for pre-aligning the wafer W before processing, and a cutting means 8 for cutting the outer periphery of the surface of the wafer W on the chuck table 5. A central calibration stage 41 is provided in the pre-calibration mechanism 4, and the center position of the wafer W is pre-calibrated on the center calibration stage 41. A chuck table 5 that reciprocates between the loading position of the wafer W and the cutting position of the cutting device 8 is provided on the rear side of the center correction table 41. An opening 22 is formed on the base 2 along the movement locus of the chuck table 5.

The opening portion 22 is covered by the bellows-shaped waterproof cover 23, and a ball for reciprocating the chuck table 5 in the X-axis direction is provided below the waterproof cover 23. Screw type chuck table moving mechanism (not shown). The chuck table 5 is configured to be rotatable about the Z axis by a rotating mechanism (not shown).

A measuring means 6 for confirming the quality of the processed wafer W is provided on the rear side of the pre-alignment mechanism 4 via the chuck table 5. The measuring means 6 is configured by providing a detecting portion 62 such as a reflective laser displacement gauge at the end of the arm portion 61. The detecting unit 62 is rotated around the base end portion 63 of the arm portion 61 and positioned near the outer periphery of the wafer W. At this time, the chuck table 5 is rotated, whereby the height and width of the segmented groove 93 (refer to FIG. 2B) of the processed wafer W are measured by the detecting portion 62. It is confirmed whether or not the height and the width of the segmented groove 93 after the processing are within the allowable value. When the value is within the allowable value, it is determined that the segmented groove 93 is shallow and is reworked. Further, before the processing of the wafer W, the height of the outer circumferential corner portion 91 of the wafer W is measured over the entire circumference by the measuring means 6. Based on the measurement result of the outer peripheral corner portion 91, it is confirmed whether or not foreign matter is mixed between the wafer W before the processing and the chuck table 5, and it is controlled to perform trimming only when no foreign matter is mixed. The measured value of the measuring means 6 is input to a control means 51 to be described later.

The cutting means 8 is configured to alternately use the pair of knife units 81 to cut the outer periphery of the wafer W on the chuck table 5. The processing device 1 has a gate-shaped column portion 82 that is standing on the base 2 so as to stand across the opening portion 22. A ball screw type knife unit moving mechanism 83 that moves the pair of knife units 81 is provided on the surface of the column portion 82. The knife unit moving mechanism 83 has a Y-axis stage 84 that moves in the Y-axis direction and a Z-axis stage 85 that moves in the Z-axis direction with respect to each Y-axis stage 84. The knife unit 81 is moved in the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction by the Y-axis stage 84 and the Z-axis stage 85.

The knife unit 81 has a disk-shaped cutting blade 87 provided at the front end of the main shaft 86 that rotates around the Y-axis, and a nozzle (not shown) that sprays cutting water toward the cutting portion. The cutter unit 81 is configured to remove the peripheral edge of the wafer W by spraying the cutting water from the plurality of nozzles toward the cutting portion while rotating the cutting blade 87 at a high speed. Further, the knife unit 81 is provided with an imaging mechanism (not shown) for calibration. The calibration process is performed by matching the pattern included in the captured image of the photographing mechanism with the reference pattern registered in advance.

In the cutting means 8 configured as described above, as shown in FIG. 2A, the wafer W is held on the chuck table 5 such that the center C of the wafer W coincides with the rotation axis 55 of the chuck table 5. The cutter 87 is positioned on the outer periphery of the wafer W so that the outer peripheral corner portion 91 of the wafer W can be removed. Then, the cutter 87 is rotated at a high speed, and the outer peripheral corner portion 91 is cut from the upper surface side of the wafer W by the cutter 87. The depth of cut of the cutter 87 is set to be deeper than the finished thickness of the wafer W which is the grinding program of the subsequent program.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2B, the outer periphery of the wafer W is cut by rotating the chuck table 5, and the segmented grooves 93 along the outer circumference of the wafer W are formed. In this way, since the segmented groove 93 having a deeper thickness than the processed surface is formed on the outer periphery of the wafer W, even if the wafer W is ground from the back side to the finished thickness in the subsequent grinding process, the peripheral chamfer does not remain. In the portion 91, the blade W does not form a blade shape on the outer circumference. Further, the rotation direction of the cutting blade 87 is set so that the wafer W is cut in the downward direction, and the cutting water containing the chips is prevented from scattering to the wafer W.

Referring back to FIG. 1, in the processing area A2, a moving area such as the chuck table 5 is provided between the loading position of the wafer W and the cutting position. Separate water curtains and air curtains not shown. The water curtain rinsing off the chips attached to the surface of the processed wafer W, and the air curtain blows off the cutting water attached to the surface of the wafer W. Further, in the processing area A2, the wafer W is carried in and out of the chuck table 5 by the first and second transfer arms 14 and 15 of the edge clamping type.

In this case, the wafer W before processing is picked up from the center correction stage 41 by the first transfer arm 14, and is transported to the chuck table 5 by the linear motor type moving mechanism 25. The processed wafer W is picked up from the chuck table 5 by the second transfer arm 15, and is transported toward the cleaning area A3 by the rotation of the base end portion 26 of the second transfer arm 15. Further, a chuck table cleaning mechanism 19 for cleaning the surface of the chuck table 5 after the wafer W is carried out is provided above the loading position. The chuck table cleaning mechanism 19 is washed by rubbing the surface of the chuck table 5 with a brush or the like.

The cleaning area A3 is provided with a back surface cleaning mechanism 17 for cleaning the back surface of the wafer W, and a surface cleaning mechanism 18 for cleaning the surface of the wafer W. In the back surface cleaning mechanism 17, the washing water is sprayed from below and rubbed with a sponge or the like to wash the wafer W. The surface cleaning mechanism 18 is a rotary table 29 having a smaller diameter than the wafer W. In the surface cleaning mechanism 18, the rotary table 29 holding the wafer W is rotated at a high speed, and the washing water is sprayed onto the rotary table 29, thereby washing the surface of the wafer W, and spraying the dry water instead of the washing water. The wafer W is dried.

Further, in the cleaning area A3, the wafer W after the back surface cleaning is picked up from the back surface cleaning mechanism 17 by the edge-carrying type third transfer arm 16, and is moved toward the surface by the linear motor type moving mechanism 27. Washing mechanism 18 give away. The wafer W after the surface cleaning is picked up from the turntable 29 by the loading/unloading arm 3, and is transported to the carry-out cassette C2. Further, in the processing apparatus 1, the processing area A2, the cleaning area A3, and the loading area A1 are separated by a shutter or the like. Compared with the processing area A2 and the cleaning area A3, the loading area A1 is relatively clean.

Further, the processing device 1 is provided with a control means 51 for collectively controlling each part of the processing apparatus 1. Further, the control means 51 determines whether or not foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W in response to the measurement result of the measuring means 6, and controls various operations of the processing apparatus 1 in accordance with the determination result. The control means 51 is constituted by a processor that operates the processing apparatus 1, a memory, and the like. The memory is constituted by one or a plurality of memory media such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) or a RAM (Random Access Memory) depending on the application. The memory memory has a predetermined value as a criterion for judging whether or not foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W. Incidentally, the predetermined value may be determined in accordance with the thickness variation of the wafer W.

The control means 51 has a determination means 52 for determining that foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W, and a notification means 53 for notifying an error when foreign matter is mixed. When the measured value from the measuring means 6 is input to the control means 51, the determination means 52 compares the measured value indicating the height difference of the outer peripheral corner portion 91 with a predetermined value as a determination criterion. Then, when any one of the measured values of the outer peripheral corner portion 91 exceeds a predetermined value, it is determined that foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W, and the notification means 53 informs an error. On the other hand, in the case where the measured value is less than or equal to a predetermined value over the entire circumference of the outer corner removing portion 91, it is determined that the chuck table 5 and the wafer W are Foreign matter is not mixed between them, and the peripheral corner portion 91 of the wafer W is removed.

In the processing apparatus 1 configured as described above, first, the wafer W before processing is taken out from the loading cassette C1 by the loading/unloading arm 3, and the pre-alignment mechanism 4 performs pre-alignment. Next, the wafer W is transported to the chuck table 5 by the first transfer arm 14, and the wafer W is held on the chuck table 5. The height of the outer circumferential corner portion 91 of the wafer W is measured by the measuring means 6, and it is determined whether or not foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W.

If it is determined that foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W, an error is notified and the chuck table 5 and the wafer W are washed separately. The cleaned wafer W is held again on the chuck table 5, and it is determined whether or not foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W. When it is determined that no foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W, the outer circumferential corner portion 91 of the wafer W is removed by the cutting means 8.

Then, the processed wafer W is conveyed to the back surface cleaning mechanism 17 by the second transfer arm 15 to be back-cleaned. The wafer W after the back surface cleaning is transported to the surface cleaning mechanism 18 by the third transfer arm 16 to be surface-washed. The wafer W after the surface cleaning is accommodated in the carry-out cassette C2 by being carried in and out of the arm 3. As described above, in the processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, edge trimming is performed only when no foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a failure such as a crack or the like occurring in the wafer W from the intervening portion of the foreign matter in the subsequent procedure.

Hereinafter, the measurement of the outer circumference height of the outer circumferential corner portion of the wafer will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Figure 3 is a view showing the measurement means according to the embodiment. A schematic diagram showing a measured value, which shows an example of a state in which foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table and the wafer. In addition, in the graph of FIG. 3, the horizontal axis represents the rotation angle of the chuck table 5, and the vertical axis represents the measured value for displaying the height difference. The broken line indicates the predetermined value stored in the control means 51.

As shown in FIG. 3, the wafer W is held on the chuck table 5 such that the center C of the wafer W coincides with the rotation axis 55 of the chuck table 5. Further, above the wafer W, the detecting portion 62 of the measuring means 6 is positioned in the vicinity of the outer peripheral corner portion 91. The detecting unit 62 includes a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element (not shown), and light is irradiated from the light-emitting element to the surface of the wafer W, and the light-receiving element receives the reflected light. The detecting unit 62 measures the outer circumferential height of the wafer W due to a change in the spot position of the light receiving element or the like.

When the light is emitted from the detecting unit 62 to the surface of the wafer W, if the chuck table 5 is rotated, the outer circumference height of the wafer W can be measured over the entire circumference. The measured value is input to the determining means 52 (refer to FIG. 1), and the measured value is compared with the predetermined value T stored in the memory in the determining means 52 as shown in the graph. The position of the foreign matter P is mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W, and the measured value is locally higher than the predetermined value T. As described above, when there is a portion of the outer peripheral corner portion 91 that exceeds the predetermined value T, the determination means 52 determines that foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W. When the measured value is within a predetermined value over the entire circumference of the outer corner removing portion 91, the determining means 52 determines that foreign matter is not mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W.

Next, the processing of the wafer will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4. A series of processes. Fig. 4 is a flow chart showing a method of processing a wafer according to the embodiment. In addition, the following flowchart is only an example, and can be changed suitably.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the wafer holding program is first implemented (step S01). In the wafer holding process, the wafer W is transferred to the chuck table 5, and the wafer W is held on the chuck table 5 such that the center of the wafer W coincides with the rotation axis of the chuck table 5. After the wafer holding program, the wafer W peripheral height measurement program is executed (step S02). In the peripheral height measurement program, the detecting unit 62 of the measuring means 6 is positioned above the outer circumferential corner portion 91 of the wafer W, and the outer circumference height of the wafer W is measured over the entire circumference.

In the outer circumference height measurement program, determination processing for determining whether or not foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W is performed (step S03). In the determination processing, it is determined by the determination means 52 whether or not the measured value for displaying the height of the outer peripheral corner portion 91 is equal to or lower than a predetermined value. When the height difference (measured value) of the outer peripheral corner portion 91 is equal to or less than the predetermined value over the entire circumference (YES in step S03), foreign matter is not mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W. The outer peripheral corner portion 91 is removed in the removal process (step S04). On the other hand, when the height difference (measured value) of the outer peripheral corner portion 91 exceeds a predetermined value (NO in step S03), foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W, and the program is notified. An error is notified (step S05).

After the notification procedure, the cleaning procedure is carried out (step S06). In the cleaning process, the wafer W is transferred from the chuck table 5 to the cleaning area A3, and the chuck table 5 is positioned below the chuck table cleaning mechanism 19. Then, the wafer W is back-cleaned by the backside cleaning mechanism 17 The chuck table 5 is surface-washed by the chuck table cleaning mechanism 19. After the back surface of the chuck table 5 and the surface of the wafer W are washed, the steps S01 to S03 are repeatedly performed until no foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W.

As described above, according to the processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the outer circumference height of the wafer W is measured by the measuring means 6 before the outer corner portion 91 of the wafer W is removed. Then, when the height of the outer circumference of the wafer W is less than or equal to the predetermined value over the entire circumference, it is determined that foreign matter is not mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W, and the peripheral chamfer portion 91 is removed. . On the other hand, when the height difference of the outer circumference of the wafer W exceeds a predetermined value, it is determined that foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W, and an error is notified. Therefore, the outer circumferential corner portion 91 is not removed in a state where foreign matter is mixed between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a failure such as a crack or the like from the intervening portion of the foreign matter between the chuck table 5 and the wafer W in the subsequent procedure.

Incidentally, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made thereto. The size, shape, and the like of the drawings shown in the above embodiments are not limited thereto, and may be appropriately changed within the range in which the effects of the present invention can be exerted. Further, the present invention can be carried out as appropriate without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the non-contact type measuring means 6 is configured to use the optical detecting unit 62, but is not limited to this configuration. As long as the peripheral height of the wafer W can be detected, then It is possible to refer to any type of detecting unit, and for example, it may be a detecting unit such as an ultrasonic type. Further, it is not limited to the non-contact type, and may be a contact type detecting unit.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the outer circumference height measurement program is configured to be performed only before the removal processing, but is not limited to this configuration. It is also possible to perform the peripheral height measurement procedure again after the removal processing. In this case, since the water curtain and the air curtain wash the foreign matter, the depth of the segmented groove 93 along the outer circumference of the processed wafer W can be accurately measured. Further, although the processed wafer W is washed by a water curtain and an air curtain, the wafer W may be washed by one of a water curtain or an air curtain.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the measuring means 6 measures the height of the outer periphery of the wafer W by rotating the chuck table 5 after the detecting portion 62 is positioned above the outer periphery of the wafer W. The configuration is not limited to this configuration. Alternatively, each time the chuck table 5 is rotated, the detecting portion 62 is moved inward in the radial direction, and not only the height of the periphery of the wafer W but also the height of the entire wafer W is measured.

Further, in the above embodiment, the notification means 53 is not particularly limited. For example, at least one of sound notification, display notification, and illuminating notification can be used to inform. Further, in the present embodiment, the configuration having the notification means 53 is employed, but the notification means 53 may not be provided. Therefore, you can move directly to the cleaning process without notice.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the automatic type processing device is taken as an example, but the configuration is not limited thereto. The invention is also applicable to a semi-automatic type of processing device.

Industrial utilization

As described above, the present invention has an effect of avoiding a failure such as a crack caused by foreign matter intervening between the chuck table and the wafer in a subsequent process, particularly in cutting a wafer by a cutter. The processing method of the wafer on the outer periphery is useful.

S01~S06‧‧‧Steps

Claims (1)

A method for processing a wafer is a method for processing a wafer having a peripheral dehorn portion of a wafer having a peripheral chamfer portion, the wafer processing method comprising the following program: a wafer holding program, a wafer The center is positioned at the rotation center of the rotatable chuck table to hold the wafer on the upper surface of the chuck table; the peripheral height measuring program, after the wafer holding program, positions the measuring means for determining the height in the crystal In the vicinity of the corner of the circle, the height of the outer peripheral corner portion on the upper surface side of the wafer is measured over the entire circumference while rotating the chuck table; the program is notified that the height difference exceeds a predetermined value in the peripheral height measurement program. In the case of the error, the program is removed, and when the height difference is less than or equal to the predetermined value over the entire circumference in the peripheral height measurement program, the wafer is removed from the outer corner of the wafer and the cleaning process is performed. After the notification process, the back surface of the wafer and the surface of the chuck table are cleaned, and after the cleaning process, the wafer holding program and the peripheral height measuring program are executed again.