Patent Publication Number: US-2019198357-A1

Title: Workpiece processing apparatus

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a workpiece processing apparatus, and particularly to a workpiece processing apparatus capable of coating a workpiece with a resin. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     In a semiconductor device manufacturing process, a plurality of planned dividing lines are formed in a lattice manner on a front surface of a workpiece, and a device such as an integrated circuit (IC), a large-scale integration circuit (LSI), or the like is formed in each of regions demarcated by the planned dividing lines. The workpiece is thinned to a predetermined thickness by grinding a back surface of the workpiece by grinding stones. The workpiece is thereafter divided along the planned dividing lines by a cutting apparatus or the like. Individual semiconductor device chips are thereby manufactured. 
     There is a method that forms a resin film by coating the front surface of the workpiece with a resin cured by an ultraviolet ray or the like, and protects the devices on the front surface of the workpiece by the resin film at a time of thinning the workpiece by grinding the back surface, instead of protecting the devices by attaching a protective tape for grinding to the front surface of the workpiece (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-043931, for example). 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     However, when the front surface of the workpiece is coated with a liquid resin by spin coating or the like, the liquid resin is difficult to control. Thus, it is difficult to control a thickness of the coated resin on the front surface of the workpiece to a uniform desired thickness, and it is also difficult to flatten an exposed surface of the coated resin with high precision. Then, when the thickness of the coated resin is not a desired thickness, or when the exposed surface of the coated resin is not flattened with high precision, thickness precision of the workpiece at a time of performing grinding the workpiece is also decreased. 
     It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a workpiece processing apparatus that can make the thickness of a coated resin film a desired thickness and flatten the exposed surface of the resin film with high precision in a case where the resin film is formed by coating a workpiece with a resin by spin coating or the like. 
     In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a workpiece processing apparatus which coats a front surface of a workpiece with a resin, the workpiece having a device formed in each of regions demarcated by a plurality of planned dividing lines formed in a lattice manner, the workpiece processing apparatus including: cassette mounting means mounted with a cassette housing a plurality of workpieces; resin coating means coating the front surface of the workpiece with the resin; resin curing means curing the resin by applying an external stimulus to the coated resin; resin grinding means flattening the cured resin by grinding the cured resin by a rotating grinding stone; and conveying means conveying the workpiece between the cassette mounting means, the resin coating means, the resin curing means, and the resin grinding means. 
     Preferably, the resin coating means coats the front surface of the workpiece with the resin by a spin coating method. 
     Preferably, the workpiece processing apparatus according to the present invention measures a thickness of the resin after being ground, and transmits the measured thickness of the resin to a grinding apparatus in a next process, the grinding apparatus thinning the workpiece to a predetermined thickness by grinding a back surface of the workpiece. 
     According to the present invention, it is possible to make a thickness of a coated resin film a desired thickness and flatten an exposed surface of the resin film with high precision only within the workpiece processing apparatus. 
     Further, the thickness of the resin after being ground is measured, and the measured thickness of the resin is transmitted to the grinding apparatus in the next process, the grinding apparatus thinning the workpiece to a predetermined thickness by grinding the back surface of the workpiece. It is thereby possible to improve precision of finished thickness after grinding of the workpiece ground in the grinding apparatus in the next process. 
     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention and the manner of realizing them will become more apparent, and the invention itself will best be understood from a study of the following description and appended claims with reference to the attached drawings showing a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating an example of a processing apparatus; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view illustrating a state in which resin coating means is coating the front surface of a workpiece with a resin; and 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which a cured resin is being flattened by being ground by rotating grinding stones. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     A processing apparatus  1  according to the present invention illustrated in  FIG. 1  is a processing apparatus that can coat a front surface Wa of a workpiece W with a resin, and grind the coated resin by grinding stones  641 . Provided on a front side (−Y direction side) of a base  10  of the processing apparatus  1  are a first cassette  51  that has a plurality of layers of shelves formed therewithin and is capable of housing a plurality of workpieces W before resin coating in a form of shelves and a second cassette  52  that has a plurality of layers of shelves formed therewithin and is capable of housing a plurality of workpieces W after a coated resin is ground in a form of shelves. The first cassette  51  is mounted on first cassette mounting means  53  disposed in the base  10 , and the second cassette  52  is mounted on second cassette mounting means  54  disposed in the base  10 . 
     The plurality of workpieces W housed in the form of shelves within the first cassette  51  are each, for example, a semiconductor wafer that has silicon as a base material and whose external shape is a shape of a circular plate. A plurality of planned dividing lines S intersecting one another at a right angle are formed on a front surface Wa facing upward in  FIG. 1 . A device D such as an IC or the like is formed in each of regions demarcated in a lattice manner by the planned dividing lines S. Incidentally, the workpiece W may be formed by gallium arsenide, sapphire, gallium nitride, silicon carbide, or the like other than silicon, and the external shape of the workpiece W may not be a circular shape but may be formed in a rectangular shape, for example. The feeding of workpieces W to the processing apparatus  1  is performed efficiently by mounting the first cassette  51  housing the plurality of workpieces W therewithin on the first cassette mounting means  53 . 
     The first cassette mounting means  53  and the second cassette mounting means  54  have a similar configuration. Only the configuration of the first cassette mounting means  53  will therefore be described in the following. The first cassette mounting means  53 , for example, includes a cassette stage  531  on which the first cassette  51  is mounted. The cassette stage  531  is moved in a vertical direction by an elevator not illustrated. 
     Cassette positioning members, not illustrated, whose external shape is in substantially a shape of an L in plan view, for example, are disposed at four corners of an upper surface of the cassette stage  531 . The first cassette  51  is mounted on the upper surface of the cassette stage  531  such that corner parts on a lower surface side of the first cassette  51  are engaged with the cassette positioning members. Movement of the first cassette  51  in a horizontal plane direction is thereby limited, so that the first cassette  51  is prevented from being displaced. 
     Disposed in the vicinity of the first cassette  51  and the second cassette  52  is a first transfer robot  81  having functions of carrying a workpiece W before being coated with a resin out of the first cassette  51  and carrying the workpiece W after the coated resin is ground into the second cassette  52 . The first transfer robot  81  is an articulated robot formed by coupling a plurality of arms to rotating means rotating the arms. The first transfer robot  81  has, at a leading end thereof, a robotic hand  810  that can suck and hold the workpiece W. The robotic hand  810  may be either of a type that comes into contact with the workpiece W and transmits a suction force to the workpiece W or of a type that can suck and hold the workpiece W in a noncontact manner by using Bernoulli&#39;s principle. 
     Disposed in a movable region of the first transfer robot  81  are positioning means  14  positioning the workpiece W before resin coating at a predetermined position and a cleaning apparatus  15  that cleans the workpiece W after the coated resin is ground. 
     The positioning means  14  centers the workpiece W carried onto a pedestal  140  by the first transfer robot  81  while correcting the position of the workpiece W by pushing an outer peripheral edge of the workpiece W by each contact pin  141  that moves so as to reduce a diameter while maintaining the position thereof on an identical circumference. 
     The cleaning apparatus  15  is, for example, a single wafer spinner cleaning apparatus. The cleaning apparatus  15  can retain, by a cleaning table not illustrated, the workpiece W after the coated resin is ground, the workpiece W having been conveyed by the first transfer robot  81 , and clean the workpiece W on a one-by-one basis (remove a grinding swarf originating from the resin or the like) by jetting cleaning water to the resin of the retained workpiece W. Incidentally, the cleaning apparatus  15  may be a batch type cleaning apparatus that can clean a plurality of workpieces W at the same time. 
     A second transfer robot  82  is disposed in the vicinity of the positioning means  14 . A third transfer robot  83  is disposed in the vicinity of the cleaning apparatus  15 . The second transfer robot  82  conveys the workpiece W before resin coating which workpiece is centered by the positioning means  14  to a spinner table  20  of resin coating means  2  to be described later. In addition, the second transfer robot  82  conveys the workpiece W in a state of having a resin film cured by being subjected to ultraviolet light (UV) irradiation in resin curing means  4  from the spinner table  20  to a holding table  30  to be described later. 
     The second transfer robot  82 , for example, includes: a suction pad  820  whose external shape is a disc shape and whose lower surface constitutes a sucking surface that sucks and holds the workpiece W; an arm  821  that extends in a horizontal direction and has the suction pad  820  fixed to a lower surface of a leading end of the arm  821 ; and arm moving means  822  turning the arm  821  in the horizontal direction about an axis in a Z-axis direction, the arm moving means  822  being connected to the arm  821 . The arm  821  may, for example, be vertically movable in the Z-axis direction by the arm moving means  822 . 
     The third transfer robot  83  conveys the workpiece W after the cured resin is ground by resin grinding means  6  illustrated in  FIG. 1  from the holding table  30  to a cleaning table of the cleaning apparatus  15 . The configuration of the third transfer robot  83  is similar to the configuration of the second transfer robot  82 , and therefore, a description thereof will be omitted. 
     The resin coating means  2  coating the front surface Wa of the workpiece W with a resin, the resin coating means  2  being disposed in a movable range of the second transfer robot  82  on the base  10 , is, for example, a spin coater (rotary coating means). The resin coating means  2  includes: the spinner table  20  which sucks and holds the workpiece W by a holding surface  20   a  formed of a porous member or the like; and a nozzle  21  that supplies a liquid resin to the front surface Wa of the workpiece W held on the spinner table  20 . Incidentally, the periphery of the spinner table  20  is surrounded by a case not illustrated, and the spinner table  20  is thus configured so as not to scatter the liquid resin to surroundings during resin coating. 
     The nozzle  21  is, for example, erected on the side of the spinner table  20  and formed in a substantially L-shaped external shape as viewed from the side. A supply port formed at a leading end part of the nozzle  21  opens toward the holding surface  20   a  of the spinner table  20 . The nozzle  21  can be turned about an axis in the Z-axis direction, and can thus move the supply port from above the spinner table  20  to a retracted position. The liquid resin supplied by the nozzle  21 , for example, has a property of being cured by being irradiated with an ultraviolet ray of a predetermined wavelength. In addition, the liquid resin may for example have a property of becoming water-insoluble after curing. 
     The periphery of the spinner table  20  is surrounded by a cover  23 . Rotating means  24  (see  FIG. 2 ) including a motor and a rotary shaft or the like is disposed below the spinner table  20 . The spinner table  20  can be rotated about an axis in the Z-axis direction by the rotating means  24 . In addition, the spinner table  20  can be moved in a reciprocating manner in a Y-axis direction together with the cover  23  by a fourth transfer mechanism  84  as resin curing feeding and conveying means disposed below the cover  23 . 
     Disposed on a rear side (+Y direction side) of the resin coating means  2  on the base  10  is the resin curing means  4  for curing the resin by applying an external stimulus (irradiation of the resin with UV in the present embodiment) to the resin with which the front surface Wa of the workpiece W is coated. The resin curing means  4  for example includes a UV irradiation chamber  40  having a box-shaped external shape. A lower side of a front side wall  40   a  of the UV irradiation chamber  40  illustrated in  FIG. 1  is cut away in substantially a rectangular shape to form a carrying-in-and-out port  40   b . The spinner table  20  is housed into the UV irradiation chamber  40  when the spinner table  20  passes through the carrying-in-and-out port  40   b . The carrying-in-and-out port  40   b  of the front side wall  40   a  can be opened and closed by a shutter not illustrated. 
     As an example, a plurality of light sources of ultraviolet light (UV) such as low-pressure mercury UV lamps, light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, or the like that can apply an ultraviolet ray of a predetermined wavelength downward are arranged on an upper part within the UV irradiation chamber  40 . After the spinner table  20  holding the workpiece W coated with a resin is housed into the UV irradiation chamber  40 , the ultraviolet light is applied from the light source of the ultraviolet light to the front surface Wa of the workpiece W located below. The resin with which the front surface Wa is coated is thereby cured to form a resin film protecting the front surface Wa of the workpiece W. 
     Incidentally, as an example, the spinner table  20  may be formed of a transparent member such as glass or the like, and the light sources of the ultraviolet light may be disposed below the spinner table  20  within the UV irradiation chamber  40 . In this case, the ultraviolet light is transmitted through the transparent spinner table  20  and applied to the coated resin from below. 
     The configuration of the resin curing means  4  is not limited to the example in the present embodiment. For example, in a case where the resin film with which the front surface Wa of the workpiece W is coated by the resin coating means  2  is formed of a thermosetting resin cured by heating, the resin curing means  4  may be configured to include a heater or an infrared lamp within a housing, and cure the coated resin film by applying heat to the coated resin film. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the holding table  30  is movable in the Y-axis direction from a middle in a region on the −X direction side of the base  10  to the rear of the apparatus. The holding table  30 , for example, has a circular external shape. The holding table  30  sucks and holds the workpiece W on an upper surface  300  (holding surface  300 ) formed of a porous member or the like and communicating with a suction source not illustrated. The holding table  30  is surrounded by a cover  31   a . The holding table  30  is rotatable about an axis in the Z-axis direction, and is movable in a reciprocating manner in the Y-axis direction by Y-axis direction moving means (not illustrated) which is disposed below the cover  31   a  and a bellows cover  31   b  coupled to the cover  31   a.    
     A column  17  is erected on the rear side on the base  10 . Grinding feed means  7  for grinding-feeding the resin grinding means  6 , the grinding feed means  7  being disposed at a front-side surface of the column  17 , includes: a ball screw  70  having an axis in the Z-axis direction; a pair of guide rails  71  arranged in parallel with the ball screw  70 ; a motor  72  which is coupled to the ball screw  70  and rotates the ball screw  70 ; and a raising and lowering plate  73  which has an internal nut screwed into the ball screw  70  and has a side portion in sliding contact with the guide rails  71 . As the motor  72  rotates the ball screw  70 , the raising and lowering plate  73  is raised or lowered while guided by the pair of guide rails  71 . The raising and lowering plate  73  supports the resin grinding means  6 , so that the raising or lowering of the raising and lowering plate  73  raises or lowers the resin grinding means  6 . 
     The resin grinding means  6  includes: a rotary shaft  60  whose axial direction is a vertical direction; a housing  61  that rotatably supports the rotary shaft  60 ; a motor  62  that rotation-drives the rotary shaft  60 ; a mount  63  attached to a lower end of the rotary shaft  60 ; and a grinding wheel  64  detachably connected to the mount  63 . A plurality of grinding stones  641  in substantially a rectangular parallelepipedic shape are annularly arranged on a bottom surface of the grinding wheel  64 . The grinding stones  641  are formed by fixing diamond abrasive grains or the like thereto by a predetermined bonding agent. 
     As an example, a flow passage not illustrated which communicates with a grinding water supply source and serves as a passage way for grinding water is formed within the rotary shaft  60  so as to penetrate in the axial direction of the rotary shaft  60 . The flow passage opens in the bottom surface of the grinding wheel  64  so as to be able to jet the grinding water toward the grinding stones  641 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , thickness measuring means  19  measuring the thickness of the resin after grinding on the workpiece W held by the holding table  30  is disposed above a movement path of the holding table  30 . The thickness measuring means  19  is, for example, a reflection type optical displacement sensor. The thickness measuring means  19  includes: a light projecting element irradiating the ground resin with which the front surface Wa of the workpiece W is coated with measurement light; and a light receiving element detecting reflected light reflected after being applied from the light projecting element to the resin. 
     The light projecting element of the thickness measuring means  19  irradiates the resin on the workpiece W positioned below the thickness measuring means  19  with the measurement light, and the light receiving element of the thickness measuring means  19  receives the reflected light. Then, an optical path difference is calculated between reflected light reflected on an upper surface of the resin and reflected light reflected on a lower surface of the resin after being transmitted through the resin, when the reflected light is received by the light receiving element. The thickness of the coated resin is measured from a principle of triangulation or the like on the basis of the calculated value. Incidentally, an index of refraction of the resin is necessary when the optical path difference is calculated. However, the index of refraction of the resin coated by the resin coating means  2  is a known parameter, and thus the calculation is performed without any problem. 
     Incidentally, the thickness measuring means  19  may be disposed at a position other than the position illustrated in  FIG. 1 , and a mode of the thickness measuring means  19  is not limited to that in the present embodiment. The thickness measuring means  19  may, for example, be configured to include a pair of contact type height measuring means (height gage). Specifically, the thickness measuring means  19  includes first height measuring means measuring a height of the holding surface  300  of the holding table  30  and second height measuring means measuring a height of the upper surface of the resin on the workpiece W held on the holding table  30 . The first height measuring means and the second height measuring means include, at each end thereof, a contact that is raised and lowered in the vertical direction and comes into contact with each of the surfaces to be measured. Height measurement is performed in a state in which each of the contacts is pressed against each of the surfaces to be measured by an appropriate force. Such contact type thickness measuring means calculates a difference between the height of the upper surface of the resin after grinding on the workpiece W, the height being measured by the second height measuring means, and the height of the holding surface  300  of the holding table  30 , the height being measured by the first height measuring means. The value of the difference is a sum of the thickness of the workpiece W and the thickness of the coated resin. Because the thickness of the workpiece W is known, the thickness measuring means  19  can calculate the thickness of the coated resin. 
     The processing apparatus  1 , for example, includes control means  9  controlling the whole of the apparatus. The control means  9  includes a central processing unit (CPU) that performs arithmetic processing according to a control program and a storage element such as a memory or the like. The control means  9  is connected to the grinding feed means  7 , the resin grinding means  6 , and the like by wiring not illustrated. Then, under control of the control means  9 , operation of each configuration of the resin grinding means  6  is controlled, such as
         rotating operation of the grinding wheel  64  in the resin grinding means  6 , grinding feed operation in the Z-axis direction of the resin grinding means  6  by the grinding feed means  7 , and the like.       

     The following description will be made of operation of the processing apparatus  1  when the front surface Wa of the workpiece W is coated with a film of a resin having a desired thickness by using the processing apparatus  1 . 
     First, one workpiece W (assumed to be a first workpiece W) is carried out of a shelf of a lowermost layer, for example, within the first cassette  51  while sucked and held by the first transfer robot  81 . Next, the first transfer robot  81  places the workpiece W on the pedestal  140  of the positioning means  14 , and thereafter, the first transfer robot  81  separates from the workpiece W. Then, each contact pin  141  moves so as to reduce the diameter, and corrects the position of the workpiece W by pushing the outer peripheral edge of the workpiece W, so that the center of the workpiece W is positioned at the center of the pedestal  140 . 
     After the center of the workpiece W is positioned on the positioning means  14 , each contact pin  141  moves in a direction of increasing the diameter. Then, the workpiece W in the centered state is sucked and thereafter carried out by the second transfer robot  82 . The second transfer robot  82  sucking and holding the workpiece W performs a turning movement, and thus conveys and mounts the workpiece W onto the holding surface  20   a  of the spinner table  20 . After the workpiece W is sucked and held in a state in which the front surface Wa is oriented upward on the holding surface  20   a  of the spinner table  20 , the second transfer robot  82  separates from the workpiece W, and retracts from the spinner table  20 . 
     Next, the nozzle  21  performs a turning movement, and as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the supply port of the nozzle  21  is, for example, positioned above the center of the front surface Wa of the workpiece W. Then, the spinner table  20  is rotated by the rotating means  24  while a liquid resin is dropped from the nozzle  21  onto a central portion of the front surface Wa of the workpiece W sucked and held on the spinner table  20 . The dropped liquid resin is spread by a centrifugal force from a central side of the front surface Wa of the workpiece W to an outer circumferential side of the front surface Wa of the workpiece W. The entire front surface Wa of the workpiece W is thereby coated with the resin. 
     The resin coating means  2  in the present embodiment thus coats the front surface Wa of the workpiece W with the resin by a spin coat method. However, there is no limitation to this. For example, the resin coating means  2  may coat the front surface Wa of the workpiece W with the resin by, for example, potting or spraying. 
     After a predetermined amount of resin is supplied to the front surface Wa of the workpiece W, and the front surface Wa is coated with a resin film of a predetermined thickness, the dropping of the liquid resin from the nozzle  21  is stopped. Incidentally, the thickness of the resin film is determined in consideration of the thickness of a part ground by the resin grinding means  6  illustrated in  FIG. 1 . Next, the fourth transfer mechanism  84  disposed below the cover  23  illustrated in  FIG. 1  moves the spinner table  20  in the +Y direction, and conveys the spinner table  20  into the UV irradiation chamber  40  of the resin curing means  4 . The shutter, not illustrated, of the UV irradiation chamber  40  is opened, and the spinner table  20  is passed through the carrying-in-and-out port  40   b , and carried into the UV irradiation chamber  40 . The shutter is thereafter closed. A resin film J (see  FIG. 3 ) is cured by irradiating the resin film of the workpiece W sucked and held on the spinner table  20  with UV of a predetermined wavelength within the UV irradiation chamber  40 . 
     After the resin film J of the workpiece W is irradiated with the UV for a predetermined time, the fourth transfer mechanism  84  moves the spinner table  20  in the −Y direction, and carries the spinner table  20  out of the resin curing means  4 . After the spinner table  20  is positioned within the movable region of the second transfer robot  82 , the second transfer robot  82  sucks the workpiece W and carries the workpiece W out of the spinner table  20 . For example, the second transfer robot  82  sucking and holding the resin film J of the workpiece W performs a turning movement, conveys the workpiece W onto the holding surface  300  of the holding table  30 , and places the workpiece W with the resin film J oriented upward. After the workpiece W is sucked and held on the holding surface  300  of the holding table  30 , the second transfer robot  82  separates from the workpiece W. 
     The holding table  30  holding the workpiece W moves in the +Y direction to a position below the resin grinding means  6 . As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , a rotational center of the grinding wheel  64  is positioned so as to be displaced in the +Y direction by a predetermined distance with respect to the rotational center of the workpiece W, and a rotational trajectory of grinding stones  641  is positioned so as to pass through the rotational center of the workpiece W. The grinding wheel  64  is rotated as the motor  62  illustrated in  FIG. 1  rotation-drives the rotary shaft  60 . In addition, the resin grinding means  6  is fed in the −Z direction by the grinding feed means  7  illustrated in  FIG. 3 , and the grinding stones  641  of the rotating grinding wheel  64  abut against the upper surface of the cured resin film J. Grinding is thereby performed. In addition, as the holding table  30  is rotated, the workpiece W held on the holding surface  300  is also rotated, so that the entire upper surface of the resin film J is ground and becomes flat. As an example, during grinding, grinding water is supplied to contact parts of the grinding stones  641  and the resin film J through the flow passage within the rotary shaft  60  to cool and clean the contact parts. 
     After the resin film J is ground by a predetermined amount by the grinding stones  641 , the grinding feed means  7  raises the resin grinding means  6  and separates the resin grinding means  6  from the workpiece W. Further, the thickness measuring means  19  measures the thickness of the resin film J after the grinding on the holding table  30  whose rotation is stopped. The thickness measuring means  19  sends information about the thickness of the workpiece W (first workpiece W) to the memory of the control means  9 . The control means  9  stores the information. 
     The holding table  30  sucking and holding the workpiece W after the thickness is measured by the thickness measuring means  19  is moved in the −Y direction, and positioned within the movable region of the third transfer robot  83 . The third transfer robot  83  then sucks the workpiece W and carries the workpiece W out of the holding table  30 . Then, the third transfer robot  83  sucking and holding the resin film J of the workpiece W performs a turning movement, and carries the workpiece W into the cleaning apparatus  15 . 
     After the ground surface of the resin film J of the workpiece W is cleaned in the cleaning apparatus  15 , the first transfer robot  81  carries the workpiece W out of the cleaning apparatus  15 , and carries the workpiece W onto a shelf of a lowermost layer, for example, in the second cassette  52 . The control means  9  then stores the previously stored thickness of the resin film J of the first workpiece W and the layer number (lowermost layer) of the shelf within the second cassette  52  in which the first workpiece W is housed in association with each other. 
     Thus, the processing apparatus  1  according to the present invention includes: the first cassette mounting means  53  mounted with the first cassette  51  housing a plurality of workpieces W and the second cassette mounting means  54  mounted with the second cassette  52  housing a plurality of workpieces W; the resin coating means  2  coating the front surface Wa of a workpiece W with a resin; the resin curing means  4  curing the resin by applying an external stimulus (irradiation of UV in the present embodiment) to the coated resin; the resin grinding means  6  flattening the cured resin by grinding the cured resin by the grinding stones  641  that are rotating; and the first transfer robot  81 , the second transfer robot  82 , the third transfer robot  83 , and the fourth transfer mechanism  84  that convey the workpiece between the means. It is therefore possible to make the thickness of the coated resin film J a desired thickness and flatten the exposed surface (ground surface) of the resin film J with high precision only within the processing apparatus  1  according to the present invention. 
     Thereafter, as in the formation of the resin film J whose thickness is controlled on the above-described first workpiece W, the first transfer robot  81  carries the workpieces W housed in the first cassette  51  in order out of a lower shelf to perform resin coating, the curing of the coated resin film, the grinding of the resin film, and the cleaning of the resin film. The workpieces W coated with the resin film are housed into the second cassette  52  in order from a lower shelf, for example. In addition, the layer number of the respective shelves within the second cassette  52  and the thickness value of the resin films of the workpieces W housed in the shelves of the layer numbers are associated with each other and stored in order by the control means  9 . 
     When the resin coating, the curing of the coated resin film, the grinding of the resin film, and the cleaning of the resin film are thus performed for, for example, all of the workpieces W within the first cassette  51 , and the workpieces W coated with the resin are housed into all of the shelves of the second cassette  52 , the second cassette  52  is conveyed to a grinding apparatus in a next process by conveying means not illustrated or the like. 
     The grinding apparatus sucks and holds the resin film side of a workpiece W in the next process by a holding table, and thins the workpiece W to a predetermined thickness by grinding a back surface Wb of the workpiece W held by the holding table by a rotating grinding wheel. As an example, the control means  9  of the processing apparatus  1  is electrically connected to the grinding apparatus in the next process via wiring. The control means  9  transmits, to control means of the grinding apparatus, information about the previously stored layer numbers of the respective shelves within the second cassette  52  and the previously stored thickness values of the resin films of the respective workpieces W housed in the shelves of the respective layer numbers. Therefore, in the grinding apparatus in the next process, an appropriate setting of a grinding feed position of grinding means or the like can be made by using the transmitted information about the thicknesses of the resin films of the workpieces W or the like. It is therefore possible to improve precision of a finished thickness after grinding of the workpiece W. 
     It is to be noted that the processing apparatus  1  according to the present invention is not limited to the foregoing embodiment, and that the shape or the like of each configuration of the apparatus illustrated in the accompanying drawings is not limited thereto either, but can be changed as appropriate within a range in which effects of the present invention can be exerted. 
     For example, while the first transfer robot  81 , the second transfer robot  82 , and the third transfer robot  83  in the present embodiment are conveying means that suck and hold the workpiece W by a suction force, the first transfer robot  81 , the second transfer robot  82 , and the third transfer robot  83  may be, for example, edge clamp type conveying means that convey the workpiece W while holding the outer peripheral edge of the workpiece W by a plurality of holding pawls capable of diameter reduction in a radial direction. 
     The present invention is not limited to the details of the above described preferred embodiment. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and all changes and modifications as fall within the equivalence of the scope of the claims are therefore to be embraced by the invention.