Patent ID: 8066550

Claim:
A wafer polishing method for polishing an annular outer circumferential polishing area set on one surface of a disk-shaped wafer with a predetermined width from the outer circumferential edge of said wafer by using a polishing apparatus including: holding means having a holding surface for rotatably holding said wafer; working means having a disk-shaped polishing member opposed to said holding surface and rotatably supporting said polishing member so that said polishing member is rotatable about a rotation axis substantially perpendicular to said holding surface; first feeding means for relatively moving said working means to said holding means in a first direction substantially parallel to said holding surface; second feeding means for relatively moving said working means to said holding means in a second direction substantially perpendicular to said holding surface; and completely round polishing member forming means for forming the outer circumferential edge of said polishing member into a completely round shape about said rotation axis; said wafer polishing method comprising: a completely round polishing member forming step of forming the outer circumferential edge of said polishing member into a completely round shape about said rotation axis by using said completely round polishing member forming means; a working means positioning step of relatively moving said working means parallel to said holding means in said first direction by using said first feeding means after said completely round polishing member forming step according to a distance in said first direction between the outer circumferential edge of said wafer held by said holding means and said completely round polishing member forming means, thereby positioning said working means in said first direction so that only said outer circumferential polishing area can be polished by said polishing member; and a polishing step of moving said working means in said second direction toward said holding means by using said second feeding means after said working means positioning step, thereby bringing said polishing member into pressure contact with said outer circumferential polishing area of said wafer to polish only said outer circumferential polishing area.