To prevent foreign substances or scraches on a photo detecting surface of a solid state image pickup element to avoid deteriorating of an on-chip lens or color filters due to UV irradiation in a dicing process, using the surface protecting sheet having the UV setting adhesive for elements having photo detecting surfaces such as solid state image pickup elements.

The dicing method for solid state imaging elements comprises a step of pasting a surface protecting sheet 5 to a wafer 1 surface, dicing the wafer 1 into individual solid state image pickup elements 2, and then peeling off the protecting sheet 5 having a UV setting adhesive. It also comprises a step of leaving only required regions adhesive before pasting the protecting sheet 5 on the wafer 1 surface, a step of irradiating the regions left adhesive on the protecting sheet 5 with UV rays to make them nonadhesive after dicing, and a step of peeling it off thereafter to prevent the adhesive from depositing as adhesive residues to photo detecting surfaces 2a of the imaging elements 2.