A laser processing method is provided, which, when cutting a substrate
formed with a laminate part including a plurality of functional devices
into a plurality of chips, each chip including at least one of the
functional devices, can cut the laminate part with a high precision
together with the substrate.In this laser processing method, modified
regions differing from each other in terms of easiness to cause the
substrate 4 to fracture are formed along respective lines to cut 5a to
5d. Therefore, when an expandable tape is attached to the rear face of a
substrate 4 and expanded, an object to be processed 1 is cut stepwise
into a plurality of chips. Such stepwise cutting allows uniform tensile
stresses to act on respective parts extending along the lines to cut 5a
to 5d, whereby interlayer insulating films on the lines to cut 5a to 5d
are cut with a high precision together with the substrate 4.