Processing device for uniformly grinding wafers held by a plurality of chucks, and a method for setting the processing device. A processing device includes a coarse grinding device and a fine grinding device that are provided in a column straddling over a holding device. The holding device includes: an index table; chucks concentrically disposed about a rotation shaft; a first movable support unit on the outer peripheral side of the chuck in the radial direction of the index table; and a first fixed support unit on the inner peripheral side of the chuck in the radial direction of the index table. The first movable support unit is interposed between the index table and the chuck, and can be freely expanded and contracted in a vertical direction.

Processing device for uniformly grinding wafers held by a plurality of chucks, and a method for setting the processing device. A processing device includes a coarse grinding device and a fine grinding device that are provided in a column straddling over a holding device. The holding device includes: an index table; chucks concentrically disposed about a rotation shaft; a first movable support unit on the outer peripheral side of the chuck in the radial direction of the index table; and a first fixed support unit on the inner peripheral side of the chuck in the radial direction of the index table. The first movable support unit is interposed between the index table and the chuck, and can be freely expanded and contracted in a vertical direction.

An elastic membrane to be used for a polishing head includes a contact portion configured to come into contact with a wafer, an annular side wall provided to stand on an outer peripheral end of the contact portion, a first partition wall linearly extending inward in a radial direction in sectional view from the side wall, and a second partition wall linearly extending inward and upward in the radial direction in sectional view from an outer peripheral end portion of the contact portion, wherein the first partition wall, the second partition wall, and the side wall constitute an edge pressure chamber for pressing an edge of the wafer.

An elastic membrane to be used for a polishing head includes a contact portion configured to come into contact with a wafer, an annular side wall provided to stand on an outer peripheral end of the contact portion, a first partition wall linearly extending inward in a radial direction in sectional view from the side wall, and a second partition wall linearly extending inward and upward in the radial direction in sectional view from an outer peripheral end portion of the contact portion, wherein the first partition wall, the second partition wall, and the side wall constitute an edge pressure chamber for pressing an edge of the wafer.

A substrate processing system includes a pre-alignment apparatus having a pre-alignment stage configured to hold a processing target substrate and a detector configured to detect a center position and a crystal orientation of the processing target substrate held by the pre-alignment stage; and a laser processing apparatus having a laser processing stage configured to hold the processing target substrate and a laser processing head configured to radiate and concentrate a laser beam for processing the processing target substrate to the processing target substrate held by the laser processing stage. The pre-alignment apparatus is disposed above the laser processing apparatus.

A method of grinding a surface of a workpiece that has surface irregularities includes a first grinding step of grinding the surface of the workpiece by a predetermined amount of stock removal while keeping a measuring element of a height gauge out of contact with the surface of the workpiece, thereafter, a height difference measuring step of bringing the measuring element of the height gauge into contact with the surface of the workpiece and measuring a height difference of surface irregularities on the surface of the workpiece with the height gauge, and a second grinding step of, if the measured height difference is larger than a preset range, grinding the surface of the workpiece while keeping the measuring element of the height gauge in contact with the surface of the workpiece until the measured height difference falls within the preset range.

A fine adjustment thread assembly couples a first part and a second part to each other while keeping the first part and the second part spaced apart, adjusts the distance between the first part and the second part, and detects a load applied to the second part. The assembly includes first external threads that can be brought into threaded engagement with first internal threads formed in the first part, second external threads that are axially spaced from the first external threads, that have a thread pitch different from that of the first internal thread, and that can be brought into threaded engagement with second internal threads formed in the second part. A joint portion between the first external threads and the second external threads houses a load sensor under a compressive load.

According to one embodiment, a substrate holding plate includes an inorganic material layer that has through holes and pores therein. The inorganic material layer has a first surface to which a flat surface of a substrate can be adhered for subsequent processing, such as polishing or the like. The pores of the inorganic material layer have an average diameter that is smaller than an average diameter of the through holes of the inorganic material layer.

According to one embodiment, a substrate holding plate includes an inorganic material layer that has through holes and pores therein. The inorganic material layer has a first surface to which a flat surface of a substrate can be adhered for subsequent processing, such as polishing or the like. The pores of the inorganic material layer have an average diameter that is smaller than an average diameter of the through holes of the inorganic material layer.

There is provided a grinding apparatus including a chuck table configured to hold a workpiece, a grinding unit configured to grind the workpiece held by the chuck table by grinding stones fixed to a grinding wheel, a grinding feed mechanism configured to raise or lower the grinding unit, a reading unit configured to read a thickness of a base which thickness is recorded on a recording medium on which the thickness of the base of the grinding wheel is recorded, a base thickness storage section configured to store the thickness of the base which thickness is read by the reading unit, and a detecting unit configured to make the grinding unit perform processing by the grinding feed mechanism, and detect a fitting surface of a mount and the lower surface of a grinding stone of the grinding wheel fitted to the mount.