APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CUTTING A WAFER THAT IS SUBSTANTIALLY COVERED BY AN OPAQUE MATERIAL

A wafer cutting apparatus comprises a wafer positioning device for holding a wafer that is substantially covered with an opaque material such as molding compound and that has an exposed peripheral area, and for displacing the wafer relative to a wafer inspection system comprising a camera having a field of view. To perform visual data acquisition of said dicing street portions, the wafer is displaced such that a centre of the camera's field of view follows a path along the exposed peripheral area of the wafer. A processing unit analyses the visual data acquired for detecting or calculating locations and directions of the dicing streets. A wafer cutting tool cuts the wafer along straight lines between the dicing street portions which have been detected or calculated by the processing unit.