Method of fabricating semiconductor device

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device comprising the steps of:

• (a) preparing a wafer on which a plurality of semiconductor elements are formed;
• (b) adhering a protective tape for back grinding to a front surface of the wafer;
• (c) subjecting a reverse surface of the wafer to back grinding processing;
• (d) with the protective tape for back grinding adhered, adhering a tape-shaped adhesive for dice bonding to the reverse surface of the wafer for which back grinding processing has been completed;
• (e) after said adhering a tape-shaped adhesive for dice bonding, peeling off the protective tape for back grinding;
• (f) with the tape-shaped adhesive for dice bonding adhered, and after said peeling, evaluating electrical characteristics of each of the plurality of semiconductor elements on the wafer by inspection using a probing needle, and sorting the semiconductor elements into satisfactory semiconductor elements and non-satisfactory semiconductor elements;
• (g) after said evaluating, adhering a protective tape for dicing to the tape-shaped adhesive for dice bonding;
• (h) forming, by using a dicing device, cutting grooves extending from the front surface of the wafer through the tape-shaped adhesive for dice bonding to substantially one-half of a depth of the protective tape for dicing, and dividing the wafer into portions of sizes of the individual semiconductor elements;
• (i) separating, from the protective tape for dicing, the individual semiconductor elements to which the tape-shaped adhesive for dice bonding is adhered;
• and
• (j) subjecting the separated semiconductor elements to dice bonding by using the tape-shaped adhesive for dice bonding.