A slide grinding machine having a turntable and a work container rotated by the turntable has an air pressure operated automatic gap setting feature having a zero gap width reference value to adjust the gap width between the turntable and the work container.

A slide grinding machine having a turntable and a work container rotated by the turntable has an air pressure operated automatic gap setting feature having a zero gap width reference value to adjust the gap width between the turntable and the work container.

A polishing method and a polishing apparatus which can increase a polishing rate and can control a polishing profile of a substrate being polished by adjusting a surface temperature of a polishing pad are disclosed. The polishing method for polishing a substrate by pressing the substrate against a polishing pad on a polishing table includes a pad temperature adjustment step of adjusting a surface temperature of the polishing pad, and a polishing step of polishing the substrate by pressing the substrate against the polishing pad having the adjusted surface temperature. In the pad temperature adjustment step, the surface temperature of a part of an area of the polishing pad, the area being to be brought in contact with the substrate, is adjusted during the polishing step so that the rate of temperature change of a temperature profile in a radial direction of the surface of the polishing pad becomes constant in the radial direction of the polishing pad.

A polishing method and a polishing apparatus which can increase a polishing rate and can control a polishing profile of a substrate being polished by adjusting a surface temperature of a polishing pad are disclosed. The polishing method for polishing a substrate by pressing the substrate against a polishing pad on a polishing table includes a pad temperature adjustment step of adjusting a surface temperature of the polishing pad, and a polishing step of polishing the substrate by pressing the substrate against the polishing pad having the adjusted surface temperature. In the pad temperature adjustment step, the surface temperature of a part of an area of the polishing pad, the area being to be brought in contact with the substrate, is adjusted during the polishing step so that the rate of temperature change of a temperature profile in a radial direction of the surface of the polishing pad becomes constant in the radial direction of the polishing pad.

A support base supports a plate-shaped workpiece. The support base includes a flat plate-shaped box member having a support face for supporting a workpiece and a placement face that is a face on the opposite side to the support face and is placed on a holding face of a chuck table, a temperature measurement unit accommodated in the box member, and a battery accommodated in the box member and serving as a power supply for the temperature measurement unit. The temperature measurement unit includes a temperature measuring instrument that measures a temperature at the support face, and a recording unit that records the temperature measured by the temperature measuring instrument.

A support base supports a plate-shaped workpiece. The support base includes a flat plate-shaped box member having a support face for supporting a workpiece and a placement face that is a face on the opposite side to the support face and is placed on a holding face of a chuck table, a temperature measurement unit accommodated in the box member, and a battery accommodated in the box member and serving as a power supply for the temperature measurement unit. The temperature measurement unit includes a temperature measuring instrument that measures a temperature at the support face, and a recording unit that records the temperature measured by the temperature measuring instrument.

A method determines state information relating to a belt grinder. The belt grinder has at least one abrasive belt for grinding a workpiece. The method includes providing measurement data relating to the belt grinder, and determining the state information from the measurement data using a machine learning system. The machine learning system is configured to determine the state information based on the provided measurement data.

Implementations of the present disclosure generally relate to planarization of surfaces on substrates and on layers formed on substrates, including an apparatus for in-situ temperature control during polishing, and methods of using the same. More specifically, implementations of the present disclosure relate to in-situ temperature control with a condensed gas during a chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) process. In one implementation, the method comprises polishing one or more substrates against a polishing surface in the presence of a polishing fluid during a polishing process to remove a portion of a material formed on the one or more substrates. A temperature of the polishing surface is monitored during the polishing process. Carbon dioxide snow is delivered to the polishing surface in response to the monitored temperature to maintain the temperature of the polishing surface at a target value during the polishing process.

A conditioning method which can efficiently produce surface roughness of a polishing pad to obtain an optimum polishing rate by performing dressing while monitoring the surface roughness of the polishing pad and adjusting a temperature of the polishing pad is disclosed. The conditioning method includes measuring surface roughness of the polishing pad during dressing of the polishing pad, comparing the measured surface roughness with preset target surface roughness to obtain comparison result, and adjusting a surface temperature of the polishing pad by heating or cooling the polishing pad based on the comparison result. The surface roughness is represented by at least one of five indexes comprising arithmetical mean deviation of the roughness profile (Ra), root mean square deviation of the roughness profile (Rq), maximum profile valley depth of the roughness profile (Rv), maximum profile peak height of the roughness profile (Rp), and maximum height of the roughness profile (Rz).

A conditioning method which can efficiently produce surface roughness of a polishing pad to obtain an optimum polishing rate by performing dressing while monitoring the surface roughness of the polishing pad and adjusting a temperature of the polishing pad is disclosed. The conditioning method includes measuring surface roughness of the polishing pad during dressing of the polishing pad, comparing the measured surface roughness with preset target surface roughness to obtain comparison result, and adjusting a surface temperature of the polishing pad by heating or cooling the polishing pad based on the comparison result. The surface roughness is represented by at least one of five indexes comprising arithmetical mean deviation of the roughness profile (Ra), root mean square deviation of the roughness profile (Rq), maximum profile valley depth of the roughness profile (Rv), maximum profile peak height of the roughness profile (Rp), and maximum height of the roughness profile (Rz).