Patent ID: 7108583

Claim:
A method for removing material from a semiconductor wafer, comprising the steps of: providing a wafer holder rotatable about a first axis; holding a semiconductor wafer on the wafer holder; providing a grinding wheel opposite the wafer holder, the grinding wheel rotatable about a second axis independently of the wafer holder, wherein the first axis and the second axis are substantially parallel, and further wherein the grinding wheel is laterally offset with respect to the semiconductor wafer to provide for an axial center of the semiconductor wafer to pass into a working range of the grinding wheel; and moving at least one of the grinding wheel and the semiconductor wafer toward the other at an infeed rate, while the semiconductor wafer is rotating about the first axis at a first rotational speed and the grinding wheel is rotating about the second axis at a second rotational speed, grinding a surface of the semiconductor wafer until a desired amount of material has been removed, wherein the first rotational speed and the infeed rate are selected such that the grinding wheel and semiconductor wafer are advanced toward one another by a distance of between about 0.03 μm and about 0.5 μm during one revolution of the semiconductor wafer.