Patent ID: 8100742

Claim:
A wafer grinding method for grinding a wafer having a mark for indicating crystal orientation, said wafer grinding method comprising: a first grinding step for grinding the upper surface of said wafer by rotating a chuck table holding said wafer thereon, rotating a grinding ring, positioning said grinding ring so that said grinding ring is passed through the center of said wafer, and feeding said grinding ring in a direction perpendicular to a holding surface of said chuck table on which said wafer is held; a wafer positioning step for positioning the upper surface of an outer circumferential portion of said wafer directly below the locus of rotation of said grinding ring after said first grinding step by relatively moving said chuck table and said grinding ring in parallel in a first direction while keep rotating said chuck table and said grinding ring; and a second grinding step for grinding the upper surface of said wafer ground by said first grinding step by first stopping the rotation of said chuck table so that said mark indicating the crystal orientation of said wafer held on said chuck table is pointed in a predetermined direction, next feeding said grinding ring being rotated by a predetermined amount in the direction perpendicular to said holding surface of said chuck table, and next relatively moving said chuck table and said grinding ring in parallel in a second direction opposite to said first direction.