A manufacturing method for a substrate wafer, including: a wafer having a first and second main surface; forming a flattening resin layer on second main surface; with the flattening resin layer adsorbed and held as a reference surface, grinding or polishing first main surface as a first processing; removing flattening resin layer from the wafer; with the wafer's first main surface subjected to the first processing adsorbed and held, grinding or polishing second main surface as a second processing; with the second main surface subjected to second processing adsorbed and held, further grinding or polishing first main surface as a third processing; with first main surface subjected to third processing adsorbed and held, further grinding or polishing second main surface as a fourth processing to obtain a substrate wafer, wherein first processing and/or third processing is executed such that the wafer has a central concave or central convex thickness distribution.

A wafer production method includes forming, in an ingot, a separating layer that includes modified portions and cracks, by relatively moving the ingot and a focal point of a laser beam, with the focal point positioned at a depth corresponding to a thickness of the wafer, separating the wafer from the ingot by using the separating layer as a separation starting interface, bonding an adhesive tape to at least one of a separated surface of the wafer and a resulting fresh end surface of the ingot, removing separation debris stuck on the at least one surface, by separating the adhesive tape from the at least one surface, and grinding the at least one surface from which the separation debris has been removed. A wafer production machine is also disclosed.

In both a case where a workpiece is a regular workpiece having a first residual peeling layer on one surface thereof and a case where the workpiece is an adjustment workpiece not having the first residual peeling layer, a wafer having a predetermined thickness is manufactured by grinding opposite surfaces of the workpiece. That is, in the present invention, because the opposite surfaces of the workpiece are ground, wafers can be manufactured from two kinds of workpieces irrespective of whether or not the first residual peeling layer is present on the one surface of the workpiece. Hence, even when two kinds of workpieces are housed in a mixed manner in a first cassette, wafers having the predetermined thickness can be manufactured easily from these workpieces.

A wafer held on a delivery pad is lifted from a holding surface, and when a lower surface of the wafer has been spaced in its entirety from the holding surface, an air flow rate regulating valve is opened to eject air from the holding surface. As the distance between the holding surface and the wafer spaced from the holding surface increases by lifting of a delivery unit, the degree of opening of the air flow rate regulating valve is adjusted to increase a flow rate of air from the holding surface, thereby spacing the wafer from the holding surface in a short period of time without rupturing the wafer.

A block has a front face with a first surface of non-planar roughness including at least 10% and not more than 90% of the area of the front face. The front face includes a second surface that is even and generally planar, with at least 10% and not more than 90% of the area of the front face. In one example, the first surface is a split face, and the second surface is a burnished split face. In another example, the first surface is a molded face, and the second surface is burnished. Methods of making a block include molding, curing, in some implementations splitting, and then burnishing. Walls can be constructed from these blocks.

A block has a front face with a first surface of non-planar roughness including at least 10% and not more than 90% of the area of the front face. The front face includes a second surface that is even and generally planar, with at least 10% and not more than 90% of the area of the front face. In one example, the first surface is a split face, and the second surface is a burnished split face. In another example, the first surface is a molded face, and the second surface is burnished. Methods of making a block include molding, curing, in some implementations splitting, and then burnishing. Walls can be constructed from these blocks.

A wafer thinning system and method are disclosed that includes grinding away substrate material from a backside of a semiconductor device. A current change is detected in a grinding device responsive to exposure of a first set of device structures through the substrate material, where the grinding is stopped in response to the detected current change. Polishing repairs the surface and continues to remove an additional amount of the substrate material. Exposure of one or more additional sets of device structures through the substrate material is monitored to determine the additional amount of substrate material to remove, where the additional sets of device structures are located in the semiconductor device at a known depth different than the first set.

A workpiece to be ground by a grinding wheel of a grinding apparatus has a first layer including a first material and a second layer including a second material that is harder to grind than the first material and stacked on the first layer. The rotational speed of the grinding wheel for grinding the second layer, i.e., a second rotational speed, is lower than the rotational speed of the grinding wheel for grinding the first layer, i.e., a first rotational speed. The second layer can thus be ground effectively, as it is not necessary to use a grinding wheel with a high grinding capability or to lower a rate at which the workpiece is ground. Consequently, it is possible to maintain productivity for device chips manufactured by dividing the workpiece, and also prevent the footprint of the grinding apparatus from increasing.

A method and apparatus is provided for treating a floor surface with zero-tolerance edging. The apparatus includes a frame and wheels mounted to the frame so the frame can travel over the floor surface. The apparatus also includes a motor mounted to the frame and a head assembly including a bottom plate. The bottom plate is operatively coupled to the motor so that the bottom plate is configured to rotate about a first axis. The bottom plate is positioned such that a tooling plate mounted to the bottom plate is configured to treat the floor surface including an edge of the floor surface intersecting a wall surface.