Method of manufacturing semiconductor element

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor element, the method comprising:

• a step of forming a modified portion inside a wafer comprising a sapphire substrate having a first face and a second face opposite the first face and a semiconductor structure disposed on the first face, the modified portion being formed inside the sapphire substrate along a first direction parallel to the second face by scanning a laser beam from a second face side along the first direction and focusing the laser beam inside the sapphire substrate;
• and
• subsequent to the step of forming the modified portion, a step of severing and separating the wafer into a plurality of semiconductor elements;
• wherein:
• in the step of forming the modified portion, the laser beam is focused to a position in a thickness direction of the sapphire substrate that is closer to the second face than to the first face;
• the sapphire substrate has a crystal structure that includes a plurality of crystal planes along (10-14) or (10-11) planes;
• an intensity distribution of the laser beam has an intensity peak in the first face of the sapphire substrate that is shifted from a center of the intensity distribution of the laser beam in a second direction intersecting the first direction, the second direction being, a direction, in a plan view, from (i) a given first point on a first intersecting line where the first face meets a third face along one of the plurality of crystal planes that is closest to being in parallel with the first direction towards (ii) a given second point on a second intersecting line where the third face meets the second face.