Semiconductor wafers are polished on both sides between polishing pads of a Shore A hardness of at least 80 and a compressibility of less than 3%, attached to upper and lower polishing plates, the polishing pads attached to the upper and lower polishing plates by bonding the polishing pads to the plates, and positioning an intermediate pad having a compressibility of at least 3% between the two bonded polishing pads as an intermediate layer and then pressing together the two polishing pads with the intermediate pad situated therebetween for a period of time.

A double-sided or single-sided machine tool includes a first working disk and a counter-bearing element. The first working disk and the counter-bearing element can be driven rotationally relative to each other by means of a rotary drive. A working gap is formed between the first working disk and the counter-bearing element for the double-sided or single-sided machining of flat workpieces. The double-sided or single-sided machine tool comprises multiple sensors that record measurement data relating to tool and/or machining parameters of the double-sided or single-sided machine tool during operation. A control apparatus obtains the measurement data recorded by the sensors during operation. The control apparatus comprises an artificial neural network that is designed to create a state vector of the double-sided or single-sided machine tool from the measurement data and to compare said state vector with at least one target state vector.

A double- or single-sided processing machine and a method for configuring a double- or single-sided processing machine are described. A first working disk and a counter-bearing element are driven rotationally relative to each other. A working gap for processing of flat workpieces is formed between the first working disk and the counter-bearing element. A control apparatus actuates step-by-step or continuous deformation of the first working disk between a concave shape and a convex shape. During the deformation, the working gap width at two or more radially spaced apart locations of the first working disk is measured. The control apparatus determines measurement value averages from the measurement values. The control apparatus determines the minimum of the measurement value averages and, using the determined minimum, specifies a target value for deforming the first working disk as a starting value for the processing of a flat workpiece.

A workpiece processing apparatus which coats a front surface of a workpiece with a resin, the workpiece having devices formed in regions demarcated by a plurality of planned dividing lines formed in a lattice pattern. The workpiece processing apparatus includes a cassette mounting base mounted with a cassette housing a plurality of workpieces, a resin coating unit that coats the front surface of the workpiece with the resin, a resin curing unit that cures the resin by applying an external stimulus to the coated resin, a resin grinding unit that flattens the cured resin by grinding the cured resin by a rotating grinding stone, and a conveying mechanism that conveys the workpiece between the units.

A workpiece processing apparatus which coats a front surface of a workpiece with a resin, the workpiece having devices formed in regions demarcated by a plurality of planned dividing lines formed in a lattice pattern. The workpiece processing apparatus includes a cassette mounting base mounted with a cassette housing a plurality of workpieces, a resin coating unit that coats the front surface of the workpiece with the resin, a resin curing unit that cures the resin by applying an external stimulus to the coated resin, a resin grinding unit that flattens the cured resin by grinding the cured resin by a rotating grinding stone, and a conveying mechanism that conveys the workpiece between the units.

Provided is a double-side polishing apparatus and a double-side polishing method for a work which make it possible to terminate double-side polishing with timing allowing a work having been polished to have a target shape. A computing unit performs a step of grouping the data of thicknesses on a work basis; a step of extracting shape components of each work; a step of identifying a position of each of the shape components in the work radial direction; a step of computing a shape distribution of the work; a step of obtaining a shape index of the work; and a step of determining timing at which the obtained shape index becomes a set value of the shape index, determined based on a difference between a target value and an actual value of the shape index in the previous batch, as timing of termination of the double-side polishing.

Provided is a double-side polishing apparatus and a double-side polishing method for a work which make it possible to terminate double-side polishing with timing allowing a work having been polished to have a target shape. A computing unit performs a step of grouping the data of thicknesses on a work basis; a step of extracting shape components of each work; a step of identifying a position of each of the shape components in the work radial direction; a step of computing a shape distribution of the work; a step of obtaining a shape index of the work; and a step of determining timing at which the obtained shape index becomes a set value of the shape index, determined based on a difference between a target value and an actual value of the shape index in the previous batch, as timing of termination of the double-side polishing.

An inner-periphery-side cutoff part where a polishing surface of an upper plate inclines upward toward an inner periphery part of the upper plate and an inner-periphery-side cutoff part where a polishing surface of a lower plate inclines downward toward an inner periphery part of the lower plate are respectively formed on the respective inner periphery parts of the upper plate and the lower plate, or an outer-periphery-side cutoff part where the polishing surface of the upper plate inclines upward toward an outer periphery part of the upper plate and an outer-periphery-side cutoff part where the polishing surface of the lower plate inclines downward toward an outer periphery part of the lower plate are respectively formed on the respective outer periphery parts of the upper plate and the lower plate, or all of them are formed thereon.

An inner-periphery-side cutoff part where a polishing surface of an upper plate inclines upward toward an inner periphery part of the upper plate and an inner-periphery-side cutoff part where a polishing surface of a lower plate inclines downward toward an inner periphery part of the lower plate are respectively formed on the respective inner periphery parts of the upper plate and the lower plate, or an outer-periphery-side cutoff part where the polishing surface of the upper plate inclines upward toward an outer periphery part of the upper plate and an outer-periphery-side cutoff part where the polishing surface of the lower plate inclines downward toward an outer periphery part of the lower plate are respectively formed on the respective outer periphery parts of the upper plate and the lower plate, or all of them are formed thereon.

An installation useful for economically polishing wafers has at least two polishing machines for simultaneous double-sided polishing of semiconductor wafers; one or more carriers lying on a polishing pad of a polishing machine for receiving semiconductor wafers; an overhead-mounted transport system for delivering a cassette containing semiconductor wafers; a vertical transport system for taking cassettes from the transport system, containing comprising an integrated wafer lifter; an autonomous robot having a manipulator for taking a semiconductor wafer from the wafer lifter and for inserting the semiconductor wafer into one of the recesses, and after polishing, for lifting the semiconductor wafer from the recess;
an x/y linear unit assigned to each polishing machine, having a wafer gripper for taking a wafer from the manipulator and for depositing the wafer into a wet transport container with integrated wafer receiver; and
a driverless transport vehicle for transporting transport container to a cleaning unit.