WORKPIECE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND WORKPIECE PROCESSING METHOD

• US 20160332279A1
• Filed: 01/16/2015
• Published: 11/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Shin-Etsu Handotai Co., Ltd. (Shin-Etsu Chemical Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Shin-Etsu Handotai Co., Ltd. (Shin-Etsu Chemical Company Limited)
• Inventors: YASUDA, Taichi, ENOMOTO, Tatsuo
• Granted Patent: US 10,434,621 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B24B 37/042 operating processes therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B24B 37/08 for double side lapping
• CPC Class Codes: B24B 49/16 taking regard of the load

Abstract

A workpiece processing apparatus including a control unit that is provided with a storage medium on which a polishing load measured when an upper turn table is moved downward to a fixed position in a state wherein the workpiece is properly held in holding hole of the carrier is recorded in advance, calculates a difference between a polishing load measured when upper turn table is moved downward to the fixed position in a state wherein the workpiece is held in holding hole of the carrier and the polishing load recorded on the storage medium, and judges the occurrence of abnormal holding of the workpiece if the calculated difference exceeds a threshold value. As a result, it becomes possible to detect abnormal holding of a workpiece in a short time with a high degree of precision before the workpiece is processed and prevent breakages of the workpiece and the processing apparatus.

Claims

1. A workpiece processing apparatus that processes both surfaces of a workpiece at a same time by holding the workpiece in a holding hole of a carrier by inserting the workpiece thereinto, moving an upper turn table downward to a fixed position, and interposing the carrier holding the workpiece between the upper turn table and a lower turn table, the workpiece processing apparatus comprising:

a control unit that is provided with a storage medium on which a polishing load measured when the upper turn table is moved downward to the fixed position in a state in which the workpiece is properly held in the holding hole of the carrier is recorded in advance, calculates a difference between a polishing load measured when the upper turn table is moved downward to the fixed position in a state in which the workpiece is held in the holding hole of the carrier and the polishing load recorded on the storage medium, and judges an occurrence of abnormal holding of the workpiece if the calculated difference exceeds a threshold value.

2. The workpiece processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the workpiece processing apparatus is a double-side polishing apparatus or a double-side lapping apparatus.

3. The workpiece processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the control unit is capable of updating the polishing load recorded on the storage medium in advance in accordance with temporal changes in a polishing pad of the double-side polishing apparatus or a lapping turn table of the double-side lapping apparatus.

4. A workpiece processing method of processing both surfaces of a workpiece at a same time by holding the workpiece in a holding hole of a carrier by inserting the workpiece thereinto, moving an upper turn table downward to a fixed position, and interposing the carrier holding the workpiece between the upper turn table and a lower turn table, the workpiece processing method comprising steps of:

recording in advance a polishing load measured when the upper turn table is moved downward to the fixed position in a state in which the workpiece is properly held in the holding hole of the carrier;

calculating a difference between a polishing load measured when the upper turn table is moved downward to the fixed position in a state in which the workpiece is held in the holding hole of the carrier and the recorded polishing load; and

judging an occurrence of abnormal holding of the workpiece if the calculated difference exceeds a threshold value and processing the workpiece after performing holding of the workpiece again and processing the workpiece as is if the calculated difference does not exceed the threshold value.

5. The workpiece processing method according to claim 4, wherein

processing performed on the workpiece is double-side polishing or double-side lapping.

6. The workpiece processing method according to claim 5, comprising a step of:

updating the polishing load recorded in advance in accordance with temporal changes in a polishing pad which is used in the double-side polishing or a lapping turn table which is used in the double-side lapping.