JP4594786B2 - Cutting equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a switching-cutting apparatus for cutting a wafer such as a semiconductor wafer.

  In the semiconductor device manufacturing process, a plurality of regions are partitioned by dividing lines called streets arranged in a lattice pattern on the surface of a substantially disc-shaped semiconductor wafer, and circuits such as ICs, LSIs, etc. are partitioned in these partitioned regions. Form. Then, by cutting the semiconductor wafer along the planned dividing line, the region where the circuit is formed is divided to manufacture individual semiconductor chips. In addition, optical device wafers with gallium nitride compound semiconductors laminated on the surface of sapphire substrates are also divided into individual optical devices such as light-emitting diodes and laser diodes by cutting along the planned division lines, and are widely used in electrical equipment. It's being used.

Cutting along the streets of the above-described semiconductor wafer, optical device wafer, or the like is usually performed by a cutting device called a dicer. This cutting apparatus includes a chuck table for holding a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer, a cutting means having a cutting blade for cutting the workpiece held on the chuck table, and a chuck table and the cutting means. And a cutting feed means for moving them. The cutting means includes a spindle unit having a rotary spindle, a cutting blade mounted on the spindle, and a drive mechanism that rotationally drives the rotary spindle. During cutting, cutting is performed while supplying cutting water to a cutting portion by the cutting blade. . (For example, refer to Patent Document 1.)
JP-A-7-106284

  Thus, in the above-described cutting apparatus, the cutting waste generated when the wafer is cut by the cutting blade is mixed with the cutting water and drifts on the surface of the wafer, and the cutting waste adheres to the surface of the wafer and is contaminated. There's a problem. In other words, the cutting waste generated by the cutting of the wafer is mixed with the cutting water and adheres to the surface of the wafer when drifting on the surface of the wafer, and when the cutting water repels and dries, it firmly adheres to the surface of the wafer. Adhere to.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, the principal technical problem is to provide a switching cutting apparatus capable of preventing the cutting chips generated during the cutting adheres to the surface of the wafer.

In order to solve the above main technical problems, according to the present invention, a chuck table for holding a wafer, a cutting means for cutting a wafer while supplying cutting water to a cutting surface of the wafer held by the chuck table, and a wafer A cassette mounting mechanism including a cassette mounting table for mounting a cassette storing the cassette, unloading means for unloading a wafer stored in the cassette mounted on the cassette mounting table to a temporary storage area, In a cutting apparatus comprising a conveying means that conveys the wafer carried to the temporary placement area to the chuck table,
UV irradiation means for imparting hydrophilicity to the cut surface by generating active oxygen and generating ozone by irradiating the cut surface of the wafer carried out by the carry-out means with ultraviolet rays,
The ultraviolet irradiating means includes an upper chamber and a lower chamber partitioned by a transparent wafer support member, and a first ultraviolet irradiator that irradiates ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 184 nm and an ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 254 nm. A second ultraviolet irradiator for irradiating UV light, and a third ultraviolet irradiator for irradiating ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 300 to 400 nm is disposed in the lower chamber.
A cutting device is provided.

It is desirable that the ultraviolet irradiation means is disposed on the lower side of the cassette mounting table. The upper SL ultraviolet illumination means, it is desirable to provide an ozone treatment chamber communicating with said chamber. Furthermore, it is desirable that the ultraviolet irradiation means includes an inert gas supply means for supplying an inert gas to the lower chamber.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an ultraviolet irradiation unit equipped in a cutting apparatus comprising a chuck table for holding a wafer and a cutting means for cutting the wafer held by the chuck table,
A housing, a transparent wafer support member for partitioning the inside of the housing into an upper chamber and a lower chamber, a first ultraviolet irradiator disposed in the upper chamber and irradiating ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 184 nm, and irradiating ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 254 nm; A second ultraviolet irradiator that is disposed in the lower chamber and irradiates ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 300 to 400 nm.
An ultraviolet irradiation unit is provided.

  It is desirable to include an inert gas supply means for supplying an inert gas to the lower chamber, and it is desirable to include an ozone treatment chamber communicating with the upper chamber.

In the cutting apparatus according to the present invention, the cutting surface of the wafer carried out by the carrying-out means is irradiated with ultraviolet rays to generate ozone and generate active oxygen to impart hydrophilicity to the cutting surface, and includes ultraviolet irradiation means. The ultraviolet irradiation means includes an upper chamber and a lower chamber partitioned by a transparent wafer support member. The first chamber irradiates ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 184 nm and ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 254 nm. The second ultraviolet irradiator is disposed, and the lower chamber is provided with the third ultraviolet irradiator for irradiating ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 300 to 400 nm, so that the cassette mounted on the cassette mounting table It is possible to efficiently impart hydrophilicity to the cut surface of the wafer carried out from the wafer.

Preferred embodiments of thus configured cutting machine of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a cutting apparatus constructed according to the present invention.
The cutting device in the illustrated embodiment includes a device housing 2 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. In the apparatus housing 2, a chuck table 3 that holds a workpiece is disposed so as to be movable in a cutting feed direction indicated by an arrow X that is a cutting feed direction. The chuck table 3 includes a suction chuck support 31 and a suction chuck 32 mounted on the suction chuck support 31, and is a workpiece on a mounting surface that is a surface of the suction chuck 32. For example, a disk-shaped wafer is held by suction means (not shown). The chuck table 3 is configured to be rotatable by a rotation mechanism (not shown).

  The cutting apparatus in the illustrated embodiment includes a spindle unit 4 as cutting means. The spindle unit 4 is mounted on a moving base (not shown) and is adjusted to move in a direction indicated by an arrow Y that is an indexing direction and a direction indicated by an arrow Z that is a cutting direction. A rotary spindle 42 supported and rotated by a rotary drive mechanism (not shown) is provided, and a cutting blade 43 attached to the rotary spindle 42 is provided. Cutting water supply nozzles 44 are disposed on both sides of the cutting blade 43. The cutting water supply nozzle 44 is connected to a cutting water supply source (not shown), and is supplied with cutting water to which a high molecular weight polycarboxylic acid alkali salt is added. For cutting water to which a high molecular weight polycarboxylic acid alkali salt is added, see Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-347209 filed by the present applicant.

  The cutting apparatus in the illustrated embodiment images the surface of a wafer that is a workpiece held on the surface of the suction chuck 32 that constitutes the chuck table 3, and detects an area to be cut by the cutting blade 43. The imaging means 5 for confirming the state of the cutting groove is provided. The imaging means 5 is composed of optical means such as a microscope and a CCD camera. In addition, the cutting apparatus in the illustrated embodiment includes a display unit 6 that displays an image captured by the imaging unit 5.

  The cutting apparatus in the illustrated embodiment includes a cassette 10 that houses a wafer as a workpiece. The cassette 10 is provided with a workpiece loading / unloading opening 101 for loading / unloading a wafer as a workpiece, and a plurality of rack shelves 102 for loading the wafer are vertically arranged on the inner surfaces of both side walls. It is provided facing. A wafer 11 which is a workpiece to be stored in the cassette 10 is formed in a disk shape as shown in FIG. 1, and ICs are formed in a large number of areas partitioned by streets 111 formed in a lattice shape on the surface thereof. A device 112 such as an LSI is formed. The wafer 11 formed in this manner is attached to the surface of the adhesive tape 13 attached to the annular frame 12. The adhesive layer of the adhesive tape 13 is a so-called UV tape whose adhesive strength is reduced by irradiating ultraviolet rays of a predetermined wavelength. The cassette 10 containing the wafer 11 is placed on the cassette placing table 71 of the cassette placing mechanism 7 with the workpiece loading / unloading opening 101 facing the workpiece placing region 14. On the upper surface of the cassette mounting table 71, a positioning member 711 for positioning when the cassette 10 is mounted is provided. The cassette mounting mechanism 7 will be described in detail later.

  The cutting apparatus in the illustrated embodiment includes a carry-in / out means 15 for carrying out the wafer 11 as a workpiece housed in the cassette 10 to the temporary placement region 14 and carrying the wafer 11 after the cutting into the cassette 10; The conveying means 16 that conveys the wafer 11 carried out by the carry-in / out means 15 onto the chuck table 3, the cleaning means 17 that cleans the wafer 11 cut by the chuck table 3, and the chuck table 3. A cleaning transport unit 18 for transporting the wafer 11 to the cleaning unit 17 is provided.

Next, the cassette mounting mechanism 7 will be described with reference to FIGS.
The cassette mounting mechanism 7 in the illustrated embodiment includes an ultraviolet irradiation means 8 disposed on the lower side of the cassette mounting table 71 and an elevating means 72 for moving the cassette mounting table 71 in the vertical direction. Yes.

  The ultraviolet irradiation means 8 includes a housing 81 in which a cassette mounting table 71 forms an upper wall. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the housing 81 includes an upper chamber 811 formed on the upper side and a lower chamber 812 formed on the lower side of the upper chamber 811. The upper chamber 811 and the lower chamber 812 are partitioned by a wafer support member 82 made of a transparent glass plate. In the upper part of the upper chamber 811, a first UV irradiator 83 for irradiating UV light having a wavelength of 184 nm and a second UV irradiator 84 for irradiating UV light having a wavelength of 254 nm are alternately arranged. The lower chamber 812 is provided with a third ultraviolet irradiator 85 that irradiates ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 300 to 400 nm. The housing 81 has an opening 811a on the right side of the upper chamber 811 in FIG. 2, that is, on the workpiece loading / unloading mechanism side. The housing 81 of the ultraviolet irradiation means 8 in the illustrated embodiment includes an ozone processing chamber 813 formed below the lower chamber 812 and an inert gas storage chamber 814 that stores an inert gas such as nitrogen gas. . The ozone treatment chamber 813 communicates with the upper chamber 811 through a passage 815 formed in the housing 81. The ozone treatment chamber 813 is provided with an ozone treatment filter 86 made of iron powder or the like so as to face the opening of the passage 815 and a discharge fan 87. The housing 81 is provided with a discharge port 816 at a position facing the discharge fan 87. On the other hand, a hole 88a is formed in the partition wall 88 that partitions the lower chamber 812 and the inert gas storage chamber 814, and an electromagnetic opening / closing valve 89 is disposed in the hole 88a. The electromagnetic on-off valve 89 is controlled by control means (not shown). The inert gas storage chamber 814 and the electromagnetic on-off valve 89 function as an inert gas supply unit that supplies the inert gas to the second chamber 812.

  The ultraviolet irradiation means 8 configured as described above is fixed on a support base 73 on which the bottom wall 817 of the housing 81 is lifted and lowered by the lifting means 72 as shown in FIGS.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the elevating means 72 in the illustrated embodiment includes a male screw rod 721 disposed in the vertical direction along the side wall 21 of the apparatus housing 2 and rotatably supported, and the male screw rod 721. A pulse motor 722 that can be rotated forward and backward, and a guide rail 723 that is disposed in parallel to both sides of the male screw rod 721 and extends in the vertical direction are provided, and the male screw rod 721 is provided at one end of the support base 73. The provided female screw hole 731 is screwed and the guided rail 732 is fitted to the guide rail 723. Accordingly, when the pulse motor 722 is rotationally driven in one direction, the support base 73 is raised along the male screw rod 721 and the guide rail 723, and when the pulse motor 722 is rotationally driven in the other direction, the support base 73 is supported by the male screw rod 721 and the guide rail. 723 is lowered. As shown in FIG. 2, the support base 73 that is lifted and lowered in this way is an upper part formed in the housing 81 of the ultraviolet irradiation means 8 with the cassette 10 placed on the cassette placement base 71 facing the carry-in / out means 15. A first carry-in / out position where the opening 811a of the chamber 811 is closed by the closing plate 22 disposed in the apparatus housing 2, and an upper chamber 811 formed in the housing 81 of the ultraviolet irradiation means 8 as shown in FIG. The opening 811a is positioned at a second loading / unloading position facing the loading / unloading means 15. In the first loading / unloading position, the lifting / lowering means 72 adjusts the position corresponding to the accommodation position of the wafer accommodated in the cassette 10 placed on the cassette placement table 71.

The cutting apparatus in the illustrated embodiment is configured as described above, and the operation thereof will be described below.
When cutting the wafer 11, the cassette 10 containing the wafer 11 is placed at a predetermined position on the cassette placement table 71 of the cassette placement mechanism 7. When the cassette 10 is placed on the cassette placement table 71, the cassette placement table 71 is positioned at the first loading / unloading position as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the cassette 10 is placed at a predetermined position on the cassette placing table 71 at the first carry-in / out position, whereby the preparation for the cutting work of the wafer 11 accommodated in the cassette 10 is completed.

  As described above, when preparation for the cutting operation is completed, when a cutting start switch (not shown) is turned on, the lifting / lowering means 72 of the cassette mounting mechanism 7 is operated to be mounted on the cassette mounting table 71. The cassette 10 is positioned at the first loading / unloading position shown in FIG. When the cassette 10 is positioned at the first loading / unloading position shown in FIG. 2, the loading / unloading means 15 is operated to hold the annular frame 12 that supports the wafer 11 placed on a predetermined shelf of the cassette 10. . In this way, when the annular frame 12 that supports the wafer 11 is gripped by the loading / unloading means 15, the loading / unloading means 15 is positioned at a position indicated by a two-dotted line in FIG.

  Next, the raising / lowering means 72 of the cassette mounting mechanism 7 is operated to position the ultraviolet irradiation means 8 disposed on the lower side of the cassette mounting table 71 at the second carry-in / out position shown in FIG. When the ultraviolet irradiation means 8 is positioned at the second carry-in / out position shown in FIG. 3, the opening 811 a of the upper chamber 811 formed in the housing 81 and the carry-in / out means 15 holding the annular frame 12 supporting the wafer 11. It becomes the position to face. When the ultraviolet irradiation means 8 is positioned at the second loading / unloading position shown in FIG. 3, the loading / unloading means 15 is operated to insert the annular frame 12 supporting the wafer 11 into the upper chamber 811 through the opening 811a. Place on the support member 82. Thus, when the annular frame 12 supporting the wafer 11 is placed on the wafer support member 82, the carry-in / out mechanism 15 is positioned at a position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG.

Next, the raising / lowering means 72 of the cassette mounting mechanism 7 is operated to position the ultraviolet irradiation means 8 disposed below the cassette mounting table 71 at the first carry-in / out position shown in FIG. As a result, the opening 811 a of the upper chamber 811 formed in the housing 81 of the ultraviolet irradiation means 8 is closed by the closing plate 22. Thus, if the opening 811a of the upper chamber 811 formed in the housing 81 is closed by the closing plate 22, the first ultraviolet irradiator 83 and the second ultraviolet irradiator 84 disposed in the upper chamber 811. The wafer 11 placed on the wafer support member 82 is irradiated with ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 184 nm and ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 254 nm. As a result, wavelength ozone decomposes oxygen molecules (O ₃₎ is generated by ultraviolet rays of 184 nm, high-energy active oxygen wavelengths is decomposed ozone (O ₃₎ by UV light of 254nm is produced. The active oxygen generated in this manner acts on the upper surface (cutting surface) of the wafer 11 so that the hydrophilicity of the upper surface (cutting surface) of the wafer 11 is improved (hydrophilicity imparting step).

  As described above, when hydrophilicity is imparted to the upper surface (cut surface) of the wafer 11, the first ultraviolet irradiator 83 and the second ultraviolet irradiator 84 are deenergized and the exhaust fan 87 is energized. . As a result, the gas containing ozone and active oxygen generated in the upper chamber 811 is sucked into the ozone treatment chamber 813 through the passage 815. At this time, ozone and active oxygen are absorbed by passing through the ozone treatment filter 86, and the gas is discharged from the discharge port 816.

  Next, the raising / lowering means 72 of the cassette mounting mechanism 7 is operated to position the ultraviolet irradiation means 8 disposed on the lower side of the cassette mounting table 71 at the second carry-in / out position shown in FIG. When the ultraviolet irradiation means 8 is positioned at the second loading / unloading position shown in FIG. 3, the opening 811 a of the upper chamber 811 formed in the housing 81 is positioned to face the loading / unloading mechanism 15. Then, the workpiece carrying-in / out mechanism 15 is operated to hold the annular frame 12 that supports the wafer 11 having hydrophilicity. As described above, the carry-in / out mechanism 15 that holds the annular frame 12 that supports the wafer 11 is simply referred to as the wafer 11 (hereinafter, the wafer 11 that is supported by the annular frame 12 via the adhesive tape 13). ) To the temporary storage area 14. The wafer 11 carried out to the temporary placement area 14 is transported to the mounting surface of the suction chuck 32 constituting the chuck table 3 by the turning operation of the transport means 16 and is sucked and held by the suction chuck 32. The chuck table 3 that sucks and holds the wafer 11 in this way is moved to a position immediately below the image pickup means 5. When the chuck table 3 is positioned immediately below the image pickup means 5, the street 111 formed on the wafer 11 is detected by the image pickup means 5, and is moved and adjusted in the direction of the arrow Y which is the indexing direction of the spindle unit 4 for precise alignment. Work is done.

  Thereafter, the wafer 11 held on the chuck table 3 is moved by moving the chuck table 3 holding the wafer 11 in the direction indicated by the arrow X which is the cutting feed direction (direction orthogonal to the rotation axis of the cutting blade 43). The cutting blade 43 cuts along a predetermined street 111 (cutting process). That is, the cutting blade 43 is mounted on the spindle unit 4 that is moved and adjusted in the direction indicated by the arrow Y that is the indexing direction and the direction indicated by the arrow Z that is the cutting direction, and is rotationally driven. Is moved along the lower side of the cutting blade 43 in the cutting feed direction indicated by the arrow X, the wafer 11 held on the chuck table 3 is cut along the predetermined street 111 by the cutting blade 43. In this manner, the wafer 11 is cut along the streets 111 to be divided into individual chips. The divided chips do not fall apart due to the action of the adhesive tape 13, and the state of the wafer 11 supported by the annular frame 12 via the adhesive tape 13 is maintained.

  In the cutting process described above, cutting water is supplied from the cutting water supply nozzle 44 to the cutting portion of the wafer 11 by the cutting blade 43. Therefore, cutting waste generated by cutting with the cutting blade 43 is mixed with the cutting water and drifts to the cutting surface which is the upper surface of the wafer 11. However, the cutting surface that is the upper surface of the wafer 11 is improved in hydrophilicity and maintained in a wet state by the hydrophilicity imparting step described above, so that the cutting waste adheres firmly to the cutting surface that is the upper surface of the wafer 11. There is no. In the illustrated embodiment, the cutting water is added with a high molecular weight polycarboxylic acid alkali salt, so that it is possible to further prevent cutting chips from adhering to the cutting surface.

  When the cutting process is completed as described above, the divided chips supported by the annular frame 12 via the adhesive tape 13 (hereinafter referred to as the wafer 11 after the cutting process) first hold the wafer 11 by suction. In this state, the suction holding of the wafer 11 after cutting is released. Next, the wafer 11 after the cutting is transported to the cleaning unit 17 by the cleaning transport unit 18, where the cutting waste generated during the cutting is cleaned and removed (cleaning step). In this cleaning process, as described above, the cutting surface, which is the upper surface of the wafer 11, is imparted with hydrophilicity and the cutting waste generated during cutting is not firmly attached, so that the cutting waste is easily removed. The wafer 11 after cutting that has been cleaned in this manner is transported to the temporary placement region 14 by the transport means 16.

  On the other hand, the cassette mounting mechanism 7 positions the ultraviolet irradiation means 8 at the second loading / unloading position shown in FIG. Then, the wafer 11 after being cut and conveyed to the temporary placement area 14 as described above by operating the carry-in / out means 15 is formed in the housing 81 of the ultraviolet irradiation means 8 positioned at the second carry-in / out position. The upper chamber 811 is inserted into the first chamber 811 through the opening 811 a and placed on the wafer support member 82. As described above, when the wafer 11 is placed on the wafer support member 82, the loading / unloading means 15 is positioned at a position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. When the cut wafer 11 is conveyed to the ultraviolet irradiation means 8 in this way, the cassette mounting mechanism 7 operates the elevating means 72 to be positioned at the first loading / unloading position shown in FIG. Next, the electromagnetic on-off valve 89 of the ultraviolet irradiation means 8 is energized to connect the inert gas storage chamber 814 and the second chamber 812, and the inert gas in the inert gas storage chamber 814 is passed through the second chamber. At the same time, the third ultraviolet irradiator 85 is energized. As a result, the ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 300 to 400 nm irradiated from the third ultraviolet irradiator 85 is irradiated to the adhesive tape 13 to which the back surface of the wafer 11 after cutting is attached through the transparent wafer support member 82. The adhesive strength of the adhesive tape 13 is reduced (adhesive strength reduction step). In the illustrated embodiment, since the inert gas is supplied to the second chamber 812 when the third ultraviolet irradiator 85 is energized, the ultraviolet light is efficiently irradiated onto the adhesive tape. By carrying out the adhesive strength lowering process in this way, in the pickup process as the next process, it becomes easy to pick up the individually divided chips from the adhesive tape 13.

  As described above, when ultraviolet light is applied to the adhesive tape 13 to which the wafer 11 after cutting that has been conveyed to the ultraviolet irradiation means 8 is adhered, the third ultraviolet irradiation device 85 is de-energized and the electromagnetic opening / closing valve 89. Be de-energized. Then, the cassette mounting mechanism 7 operates the lifting / lowering means 72 to be positioned at the second carry-in / out position shown in FIG. Next, the carry-in / out means 15 is actuated to carry out the wafer 11 after the cutting, which is stuck to the adhesive tape 13 whose adhesive force has been lowered by the ultraviolet irradiation means 8. Then, after the lifting / lowering means 72 of the cassette mounting mechanism 7 is actuated to position the cassette 10 at the first carry-in / out position shown in FIG. 2, the carry-in / out means 15 is actuated again to remove the wafer 11 after cutting. 1 is accommodated in a predetermined position of the cassette 10 positioned at the carry-in / out position. Thus, when the wafer 11 after cutting is stored in a predetermined position of the cassette 10, the loading / unloading means 15 is operated to carry out the wafer to be cut next from the cassette 10, and the above-described cutting operation is repeated. carry out.

  In the above-described cutting operation, the wafer 11 to be cut next is carried out from the cassette 10 while the hydrophilic step is performed on the wafer 11 on which the hydrophilic step has been performed, and the hydrophilic step is performed. The working efficiency can be improved by performing the above and returning the wafer 11 to which hydrophilicity is imparted to the cassette 10 and preparing it.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on embodiment of illustration, this invention is not limited only to embodiment. In the illustrated embodiment, the example in which the hydrophilicity imparting step is performed by the ultraviolet irradiation means 8 provided in the cutting device has been shown. However, the hydrophilicity imparting step is performed by the ultraviolet irradiation means arranged adjacent to the cutting device. May be.

The perspective view of the cutting device which is a cutting device comprised according to this invention. Explanatory drawing which shows the 1st operation state of the cassette mounting mechanism with which the cutting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is equipped. Explanatory drawing which shows the 2nd operation state of the cassette mounting mechanism with which the cutting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is equipped.

Explanation of symbols

2: Device housing 3: Chuck table 4: Spindle unit 43: Cutting blade 44: Cutting water supply nozzle 5: Imaging means 6: Display means 7: Cassette placing mechanism 71: Cassette placing table 8: Ultraviolet irradiation means 81: Housing 811 : Upper chamber 812: Lower chamber 813: Ozone processing chamber 814: Inert gas storage chamber 82: Wafer support member 83: First UV irradiator 84: Second UV irradiator 85: Third UV irradiator 82 : Lifting means 10: Cassette 11: Wafer 12: Ring frame 13: Adhesive tape 15: Loading / unloading means 16: Conveying means 17: Cleaning means 18: Cleaning conveying means

Claims (7)

A cassette having a chuck table for holding a wafer, a cutting means for cutting the wafer while supplying cutting water to the cutting surface of the wafer held by the chuck table, and a cassette mounting table for mounting a cassette containing the wafer A loading mechanism; unloading means for unloading the wafer housed in the cassette mounted on the cassette mounting table to a temporary placement region; and transporting the wafer unloaded to the temporary placement region to the chuck table. A cutting device comprising a conveying means;
UV irradiation means for imparting hydrophilicity to the cut surface by generating active oxygen and generating ozone by irradiating the cut surface of the wafer carried out by the carry-out means with ultraviolet rays ,
The ultraviolet irradiating means includes an upper chamber and a lower chamber partitioned by a transparent wafer support member, and a first ultraviolet irradiator that irradiates ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 184 nm and an ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 254 nm. A second ultraviolet irradiator for irradiating UV light, and a third ultraviolet irradiator for irradiating ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 300 to 400 nm is disposed in the lower chamber.
The cutting device characterized by the above. The ultraviolet light irradiation means is arranged on the lower side of the cassette mounting table, the cutting apparatus according to claim 1. The cutting apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the ultraviolet irradiation means includes an ozone treatment chamber communicating with the chamber. The cutting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the ultraviolet irradiation means includes an inert gas supply means for supplying an inert gas to the lower chamber. An ultraviolet irradiation unit equipped in a cutting apparatus comprising a chuck table for holding a wafer and a cutting means for cutting a wafer held on the chuck table,
A housing, a transparent wafer support member for partitioning the inside of the housing into an upper chamber and a lower chamber, a first ultraviolet irradiator disposed in the upper chamber and irradiating ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 184 nm, and irradiating ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 254 nm; A second ultraviolet irradiator that is disposed in the lower chamber and irradiates ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 300 to 400 nm.
An ultraviolet irradiation unit characterized by that. 6. The ultraviolet irradiation unit according to claim 5 , further comprising an inert gas supply means for supplying an inert gas to the lower chamber. And a ozone treatment chamber communicating with said upper chamber, UV irradiation unit according to claim 5 or 6, wherein.

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