A method of cleaning and polishing a backside surface of a semiconductor wafer is provided. The method includes placing an abrasive brush, comprising an abrasive tape wound around an outer surface of a brush member of the abrasive brush, on the backside surface of the semiconductor wafer. The method also includes rotating the brush member to polish the backside surface of the semiconductor wafer by abrasive grains formed on the abrasive tape and to clean the backside surface of the semiconductor wafer by the brush member which is not covered by the abrasive tape.

A machine featuring a treatment tool that grinds a surface to a desired profile, imparts a desired roughness to that surface, and removes contamination from the surface, the machine configured to control multiple independent input variables simultaneously, the controllable variables selected from the group consisting of (i) velocity, (ii) rotation, and (iii) dither of the treatment tool, and (iv) pressure of the treatment tool against the surface. The machine can move the treatment tool with six degrees of freedom.

The present invention aims at eliminating a need for a protective cover such as a bellows cover and improving a collection rate of machining scraps, and includes machining tables that are fixed at least in X and Y directions on a horizontal plane and hold a workpiece, a machining mechanism that machines the workpiece with a rotary tool using a machining liquid, a moving mechanism that linearly moves the machining mechanism at least in each of the X and Y directions on the horizontal plane, and a machining scrap storage unit that is provided below the machining tables and stores machining scraps generated by machining by the machining mechanism.

A grinding apparatus acquires a ground-off quantity of a wafer that is being ground, by subtracting a vertical length |(H0−H1)| by which grindstones are worn that is acquired by an upper surface height measuring instrument that is selectively lifted and lowered in unison with a grinding mechanism from a distance |(Z0−Z1)| by which the grinding mechanism is lowered that is acquired by a Z-axis encoder coupled with the grinding mechanism. Since the ground-off quantity of the wafer is acquired using the upper surface height measuring instrument and the Z-axis encoder, it is not necessary to determine the ground-off quantity of the wafer with use of only an upper surface height measuring instrument disposed on a foundation, as has been customary heretofore.

In an embodiment, a method includes: performing a self-limiting process to modify a top surface of a wafer; after the self-limiting process completes, removing the modified top surface from the wafer; and repeating the performing the self-limiting process and the removing the modified top surface from the wafer until a thickness of the wafer is decreased to a predetermined thickness.

A method of manufacturing a SiC substrate includes grinding a sliced SiC substrate on a side of its front surface on which a Si-face is exposed, grinding the sliced SiC substrate on a side of its back surface on which a C-face is exposed, such that the back surface has an arithmetic mean height Sa of 1 nm or less, and then polishing the sliced SiC substrate on the side of only the front surface and not on the side of the back surface. In a case where the side of the back surface is ground as described above, the SiC substrate can be prevented from being warped even if the side of the back surface is not polished. This can shorten the manufacturing lead time for the SiC substrate used for the manufacture of power devices or the like and can also reduce the manufacturing cost.

A processing method for a wafer having a chamfered portion at a peripheral edge includes a holding step of holding the wafer by a holding table, and a chamfer removing step of rotating the holding table while causing a first cutting blade to cut into the peripheral edge of the wafer while supplying a cutting liquid from a first cutting liquid supply nozzle to cut the peripheral edge of the wafer. In the chamfer removing step, a second cutting unit is positioned at a position adjacent to the first cutting unit at such a height that a second cutting blade does not make contact with the wafer and on the side of the center of the wafer as compared to the first cutting unit, and the cutting liquid is supplied from a second cutting liquid supply nozzle.

A wafer conveying device, a chemical-mechanical planarization device and a wafer conveying method; the wafer conveying device comprises a manipulator used to clamp and transport wafers, as well as a transfer platform used to place the wafers; the manipulator consists of a 1.sup.st claw, a 2.sup.nd claw, a lifting platform, a movement mechanism, a rotation mechanism and a control mechanism; the transfer platform consists of a 1.sup.st transfer platform, a 2.sup.nd transfer platform and an installation rack. During wafer transmission, dry-wet wafers separation can be realized to avoid contamination to the clean wafers caused by liquids such as polishing liquid carried by the polished wafers, and to improve yield rate of the wafers.

A processing apparatus includes a chuck table having a holding surface for holding a workpiece thereon, and a processing unit. The processing unit includes a spindle, a wheel mount coupled to an end of the spindle and facing the holding surface, a first tool detachably mounted on a mount surface of the wheel mount, the first tool having a first diameter, a second tool mount nonrotatably and axially movably mounted on the spindle over a rear surface of the wheel mount which is opposite the mount surface, the second tool mount having a storage region for the wheel mount and the first tool, a second tool mount member surrounding the storage region and having an inside diameter larger than the first diameter, and a second tool detachably mounted on the second tool mount and having an inside diameter larger than the first diameter.

To provide a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device including a semiconductor substrate, the manufacturing method of the semiconductor device including a sticking for sticking a protection tape to a first surface of the semiconductor substrate, a first grinding for supporting the protection tape and grinding a second surface of the semiconductor substrate that is a surface on the opposite side of the first surface, a protection tape cutting for supporting the second surface of the semiconductor substrate and flattening the protection tape, and a second grinding for supporting the protection tape and grinding the second surface of the semiconductor substrate. In the second grinding, in order to leave a convex part in an outer circumference of the semiconductor substrate, an inside of the convex part may be ground.