Abstract: In order to efficiently divide the wafer into individual devices in dicing the wafer without deteriorating the quality of the devices, the front surface of the wafer is coated with a resist film except the regions corresponding to the streets, grooves of a depth corresponding to the finished thickness of the devices are formed by plasma etching in the regions corresponding to the streets, and the back surface of the wafer is ground so that the grooves are exposed from the side of the back surface and that the wafer is divided into individual devices.

Abstract: A method for dividing a semiconductor wafer along a plurality of streets, the semiconductor wafer having a face on which a plurality of rectangular regions are defined by the streets arranged in a lattice pattern, and a semiconductor device is formed in each of the rectangular regions. This method comprises a protective member coating step of coating the face of the semiconductor wafer with a protective member, a resist film coating step of coating the back of the semiconductor wafer, except sites corresponding to the streets, with a resist film, and a plasma etching step of applying plasma etching to the back of the semiconductor wafer to divide the semiconductor wafer along the streets.