Abstract: A manufacturing method of a gallium nitride (GaN) substrate includes a peeling layer forming step of forming a peeling layer at a depth, which corresponds to a thickness of the gallium nitride substrate to be manufactured, by relatively moving a GaN ingot and a focal point of a laser beam of a wavelength, which transmits through GaN, along a direction of a crystal orientation of the GaN ingot as represented by the below-described formula (1) with the focal point positioned inside the GaN ingot, and a peeling step of peeling the GaN substrate from the GaN ingot using the peeling layer as a start point. The peeling layer forming step is set such that the laser beam is split to form a plurality of focal points and straight lines connecting the individual split focal points each extend along a direction parallel to the direction of the crystal orientation represented by the below-described formula (1).

Abstract: A wafer having a first surface, an opposite second surface, and an outer circumferential surface that includes a curved part curved outward in a protruding manner is separated into two wafers. Part of the wafer is removed along the curved part, and a separation origin is formed inside the wafer by positioning the focal point of a laser beam with a wavelength having transmissibility with respect to the wafer inside the wafer and executing irradiation with the laser beam while the focal point and the wafer are relatively moved in such a manner that the focal point is kept inside the wafer. The wafer is separated into two wafers by an external force.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a chip formation wafer includes: forming an epitaxial film on a first main surface of a silicon carbide wafer to provide a processed wafer having one side adjacent to the epitaxial film and the other side; irradiating a laser beam into the processed wafer from the other side of the processed wafer so as to form an altered layer along a surface direction of the processed wafer; and separating the processed wafer with the altered layer as a boundary into a chip formation wafer having the one side of the processed wafer and a recycle wafer having the other side of the processed wafer. The processed wafer has a beveling portion at an outer edge portion of the processed wafer, and an area of the other side is larger than an area of the one side in the beveling portion.

Abstract: In the state in which a laser beam is split in such a manner that multiple focal points that line up along a first direction parallel to a specific crystal plane of a single-crystal material that configures an ingot are formed, the ingot and the multiple focal points are relatively moved along a second direction parallel to this specific crystal plane to form a separation layer. In this case, modified parts are formed with each of the multiple focal points being the center of the modified part. In addition, it becomes easier for cracks to extend from these modified parts along the specific crystal plane. Thus, in this case, the cracks formed inside the ingot can be made longer without setting the output power of the laser beam higher. As a result, it becomes possible to improve the throughput in manufacturing a substrate from the ingot.

Abstract: A manufacturing method of a wafer from a workpiece, the workpiece being an ingot of gallium nitride or a single-crystal substrate of gallium nitride having both a first surface and a second surface. The method includes a separation layer forming step of applying a pulsed laser beam with such a wavelength as to be transmitted through the workpiece to the first surface, and with a focal point of the laser beam positioned at a predetermined depth level in the workpiece, relatively moving the workpiece and the focal point along a predetermined direction, thereby forming a separation layer in the workpiece, and a separation step of separating the wafer from the workpiece using the separation layer as a start point. The predetermined direction forms, in a (0001) plane, an angle of 5° or smaller with respect to crystal orientations represented by the following Miller-Bravais indices (1). [Math.

Abstract: A wafer manufacturing method includes a peeling start point forming step of applying, to an ingot, a laser beam of such a wavelength as to be transmitted through the ingot, with a focal point of the laser beam positioned at a depth corresponding to the thickness of a wafer to be manufactured, from an end face of the ingot, to form a peeling start point, and a peeling step of peeling off, from the peeling start point, the wafer to be manufactured from the ingot. In the peeling step, degassed water is supplied to the end face of the ingot to generate a degassed water layer, and an ultrasonic wave is applied to break the peeling start point.

Abstract: An ingot is processed by applying exciting light, and detecting fluorescence occurring from an upper surface of the ingot. A distribution of the number of photons of the fluorescence on the upper surface of the ingot is stored as two-dimensional data in association with XY coordinate positions, and a Z-coordinate position at which the two-dimensional data is obtained is also stored. A laser beam forms a peeling layer by irradiating the ingot while positioning the condensing point of the laser beam at a depth corresponding to the thickness of a wafer from the upper surface of the ingot. A wafer is separated from the ingot with the peeling layer as a starting point, and three-dimensional data is generated representing the distribution of the number of photons of the fluorescence in the whole of the ingot on the basis of two-dimensional data at each Z-coordinate position of the ingot.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a chip formation wafer includes: forming an epitaxial film on a first main surface of a silicon carbide wafer to provide a processed wafer having one side adjacent to the epitaxial film and the other side; irradiating a laser beam into the processed wafer from the other side of the processed wafer so as to form an altered layer along a surface direction of the processed wafer; and separating the processed wafer with the altered layer as a boundary into a chip formation wafer having the one side of the processed wafer and a recycle wafer having the other side of the processed wafer. The processed wafer has a beveling portion at an outer edge portion of the processed wafer, and an area of the other side is larger than an area of the one side in the beveling portion.

Abstract: A wafer having a first surface, an opposite second surface, and an outer circumferential surface that includes a curved part curved outward in a protruding manner is separated into two wafers. Part of the wafer is removed along the curved part, and a separation origin is formed inside the wafer by positioning the focal point of a laser beam with a wavelength having transmissibility with respect to the wafer inside the wafer and executing irradiation with the laser beam while the focal point and the wafer are relatively moved in such a manner that the focal point is kept inside the wafer. The wafer is separated into two wafers by an external force.

Abstract: A wafer production method includes a separation layer forming step of positioning, from an end surface, the focal point of a laser beam with a wavelength having transmissibility with respect to a semiconductor ingot, at a depth corresponding to the thickness of a wafer to be produced, and irradiating the ingot with the laser beam to form a separation layer, a manufacturing history forming step of positioning the focal point of a laser beam with such a characteristic as not giving damage to a wafer to be produced next, to the upper surface of a region in which a device is not formed in the wafer to be produced, and irradiating the ingot with the laser beam to form a manufacturing history by ablation processing, and separating the wafer to be produced from the ingot using the separation layer as the point of origin, to produce the wafer.

Abstract: A diamond substrate producing method includes a belt-shaped separation layer forming step of applying a laser beam to a diamond ingot as relatively moving the ingot and a focal point of the laser beam in a [110]-direction perpendicular to a (110)-plane, thereby forming a belt-shaped separation layer extending in the [110]-direction inside the ingot, an indexing step of relatively moving the ingot and the focal point in an indexing direction parallel to a (001)-plane and perpendicular to the [110]-direction, a planar separation layer forming step of repeating the belt-shaped separation layer forming step and the indexing step to thereby form a planar separation layer parallel to the (001)-plane inside the ingot, the planar separation layer being composed of a plurality of belt-shaped separation layers arranged side by side in the indexing direction, and a separating step of separating a substrate from the diamond ingot along the planar separation layer.

Abstract: A diamond substrate producing method includes a belt-shaped separation layer forming step of applying a laser beam to a diamond ingot as relatively moving the ingot and a focal point of the laser beam in a [110]-direction perpendicular to a (110)-plane, thereby forming a belt-shaped separation layer extending in the [110]-direction inside the ingot, an indexing step of relatively moving the ingot and the focal point in an indexing direction parallel to a (001)-plane and perpendicular to the [110]-direction, a planar separation layer forming step of repeating the belt-shaped separation layer forming step and the indexing step to thereby form a planar separation layer parallel to the (001)-plane inside the ingot, the planar separation layer being composed of a plurality of belt-shaped separation layers arranged side by side in the indexing direction, and a separating step of separating a substrate from the diamond ingot along the planar separation layer.