Patent ID: 7744445

Claim:
A polishing apparatus comprising: a polishing tape; a supply reel for supplying said polishing tape to a contact portion at which said polishing tape is brought into contact with a notch portion formed at a peripheral portion of a substrate; a take-up reel for winding up said polishing tape from the contact portion; a first guide portion having a guide surface for guiding said polishing tape from said supply reel to supply said polishing tape directly to the contact portion; a second guide portion having a guide surface for guiding said polishing tape supplied directly from the contact portion to supply said polishing tape to said take-up reel; and a drive mechanism configured to move said polishing tape and the substrate relative to each other to polish the notch portion of the substrate, wherein at least one of said guide surface of said first guide portion and said guide surface of said second guide portion has a curved surface which is curved along a width direction of to deform part of the polishing tape in conformity and corresponds to a shape of the notch portion of the substrate, and wherein said first guide portion is disposed at a position above a front face of the substrate and said second guide portion is disposed at a position below a rear face of the substrate such that said polishing tape extends between said first guide portion and said second guide portion in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the substrate and at a tension so as to apply a predetermined pressing force to the notch portion of the substrate at the contact portion wherein the deformed part of the polishing tape contacts and polishes the notch portion.