Wafer grinding method

A wafer grinding method using a grinding apparatus including

• a holding table having a holding surface for holding a wafer,
• grinding means including a rotatable grinding wheel having a plurality of abrasive members annularly arranged so as to form a circular ring having an outer diameter less than a diameter of the wafer, the abrasive members being adapted to grind a central portion of the wafer held on the holding table to thereby form a circular recess at the central portion of the wafer and also form an annular projection around the circular recess,
• vertical moving means vertically moving the grinding means in a direction perpendicular to the holding surface,
• height recognizing means recognizing a height of the grinding means moved by the vertical moving means,
• horizontal moving means relatively moving the holding table and the grinding means in a horizontal direction parallel to the holding surface, and
• a setting section setting a predetermined value for a height of the annular projection of the wafer,
• wherein after the circular recess is formed, an upper surface of the annular projection is ground by the abrasive members of the grinding means to thereby adjust the height of the annular projection to the predetermined value set by the setting section,
• the wafer grinding method comprising:
• a center grinding step of grinding the central portion of the wafer by using the abrasive members to thereby form the circular recess and simultaneously form the annular projection around the circular recess;
• a height storing step of recognizing the height of the grinding means after performing the center grinding step by using the height recognizing means and next storing the height recognized above;
• and
• an annular projection grinding step of grinding the upper surface of the annular projection by using the abrasive members in a condition that a height raised from the height of the grinding means stored in the height storing step by the predetermined value previously set by the setting section is calculated as a grinding end height where the grinding of the annular projection by the grinding means is ended.