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 gettering property evaluation apparatus includes a gettering determination unit and a chuck table. The gettering determination unit has a laser beam applying unit for applying a laser beam to a wafer, and a transmission-reception unit for applying a microwave to the wafer and receiving the microwave reflected by the wafer. The gettering determination unit determines whether or not a gettering layer including a grinding strain generated by grinding the wafer has a gettering property. The chuck table holds the wafer on a holding surface. The chuck table has a conductive nonmetallic porous member constituting the holding surface and having a property of reflecting or absorbing the microwave, and a base member provided with a negative pressure transmission passage for transmitting a negative pressure to the nonmetallic porous member.

A processing apparatus includes: a selection section that selects two or more components from a plurality of components including a holding table, a processing unit, a robot, a temporary placing unit, a carrying-in mechanism, a cleaning unit, and a carrying-out mechanism; and a control unit that handles a workpiece at part of routes that correspond to the components selected by the selection section, of the routes for passage of the workpiece at the time of processing the workpiece full-automatically by use of the plurality of components.

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.

A method of grinding a workpiece includes a holding step of holding the workpiece on a flat holding surface of a holding table and a grinding step of rotating a grinding wheel to turn grindstones along an annular track while rotating the holding table, and bringing the grindstones into grinding contact with an upper surface of the workpiece to thereby grind the workpiece. The grinding step includes the step of bringing the grindstones into grinding contact with the upper surface of the workpiece in a state where the annular track is closest to the holding surface in an area between a point above a center of the holding surface and a point above an outer circumferential end of the holding surface.

A cleaning apparatus includes: a cleaning tank that defines a cleaning space for cleaning a wafer; a wafer rotation mechanism that is arranged inside the cleaning tank and holds and rotates the wafer; a cleaning member that contacts and cleans a surface of the wafer, is rotatable around a central axis extending in a lateral direction, and has a length in an axial direction longer than a radius of the wafer; a swing mechanism that swings the cleaning member around a swing axis located inside the cleaning tank to move the cleaning member from a retracted position outside of the wafer to a cleaning position directly above the wafer; a second cleaning means that cleans the surface of the wafer; and a second swing mechanism that swings the second cleaning means around a second swing axis located inside the cleaning tank to pass directly above a center of the wafer.

A semiconductor wafer has a base material. The semiconductor wafer may have an edge support ring. A grinding phase of a surface of the semiconductor wafer removes a portion of the base material. The grinder is removed from or lifted off the surface of the semiconductor wafer during a separation phase. The surface of the semiconductor wafer and under the grinder is rinsed during the grinding phase and separation phase to remove particles. A rinsing solution is dispensed from a rinsing solution source to rinse the surface of the semiconductor wafer. The rinsing solution source can move in position while dispensing the rinsing solution to rinse the surface of the semiconductor wafer. The grinding phase and separation phase are repeated during the entire grinding operation, when grinding conductive TSVs, or during the final grinding stages, until the final thickness of the semiconductor wafer is achieved.

A method for preparing a SiC ingot includes: preparing a reactor by disposing a raw material in a crucible body and disposing a SiC seed in a crucible cover, and then wrapping the crucible body with a heat insulating material having a density of 0.14 to 0.28 g/cc; and growing the SiC ingot from the SiC seed by placing the reactor in a reaction chamber and adjusting an inside of the reactor to a crystal growth atmosphere such that the raw material is vapor-transported and deposited to the SiC seed.

A method of grinding a substrate includes grinding the substrate to a larger depth at an outer circumferential portion of the substrate than at a central portion of the substrate by keeping an annular grindstone assembly of a grinding unit and the substrate in abrasive contact with each other while a portion of a holding surface of a chuck table underlying an area of contact between the annular grindstone assembly and the substrate is lying not parallel to a grinding surface defined by a lower surface of the annular grindstone assembly, lifting the grinding unit to separate the annular grindstone assembly from the substrate, and, grinding the substrate by keeping again the annular grindstone assembly and the substrate in abrasive contact with each other by lowering the grinding unit while the portion of the holding surface is lying parallel to the grinding surface.

A dressing tool, to be used in dressing a plurality of grindstones arrayed in an annular pattern on one surface side of a grinding wheel, includes a dressing section for dressing the plurality of grindstones, a support plate that is located on a side opposite to a front surface side of the dressing section making contact with the plurality of grindstones and that supports a back surface side of the dressing section, and an RFID tag from and in which information concerning the dressing tool is read and written. One of or both the support plate and the dressing section are provided with a recess, and the RFID tag is disposed in the recess and is fixed by a non-conductive material provided in the recess.