Tape pressure bonding apparatus

A tape pressure bonding apparatus which pressure bonds a tape that is pressure bonded to an annular frame having an opening for accommodating a wafer in a center of the annular frame to a back surface of the wafer, the tape pressure bonding apparatus comprising:

• an upper chamber;
• a lower chamber accommodating a wafer table that has a holding surface including a circular recess for supporting only a peripheral surplus region of the wafer and making a device region a non-contact state;
• a lifting mechanism that switches between a closed state in which the upper chamber is moved downward to be brought into contact with the lower chamber and an open state in which the upper chamber is separated from the lower chamber;
• a vacuum section that evacuates the upper chamber and the lower chamber in the closed state;
• an atmosphere opening section that opens the upper chamber and the lower chamber to the atmosphere;
• and
• positive pressure generating means that supplies air into the circular recess of the wafer table to establish a positive pressure state in the circular recess, the positive pressure state in which a pressure in the circular recess is made higher than a pressure in the upper chamber and the lower chamber,
• wherein, in a state in which a tape of the annular frame attached with the tape is positioned on the back surface of the wafer supported by the wafer table, the upper chamber and the lower chamber are evacuated while maintaining the closed state by operating the lifting mechanism, and the tape of the annular frame attached with the tape is pressure bonded to the back surface of the wafer by a pressing roller disposed in the upper chamber.