1. A method of adhering polishing pads in a polishing apparatus including: a lower polishing plate having a polishing face, on which said polishing pad is adhered; an upper polishing plate being provided above said lower polishing plate, said upper polishing plate having a polishing face, on which said polishing pad is adhered; a holding unit holding and moving said upper polishing plate in the vertical direction; a carrier having a through-hole, in which a wafer can be held, said carrier being provided between said lower polishing plate and said upper polishing plate with a holder; a rotary driving unit rotating said lower polishing plate and said upper polishing plate about their axial lines; and an orbit driving unit being connected to said holder, said orbit driving unit orbiting said carrier and said holder without rotating about their axial lines, wherein an upper face and a lower face of the wafer, which is sandwiched between said lower polishing plate and said upper polishing plate, are simultaneously polished by rotating said lower polishing plate and said upper polishing plate and orbiting said carrier, said method for simultaneously adhering said polishing pads to said lower polishing plate and said upper polishing plate comprising the steps of:
detaching said carrier form said holder;
tentatively adhering said polishing pads to the polishing faces of said lower polishing plate and said upper polishing plate;
setting a pad adhering carrier, whose size is almost equal to that of said carrier and which has a through-hole in which a roller unit for pressing said polishing pads is fixed, in said holder with arranging said roller unit in a radial direction of said lower polishing plate and said upper polishing plate;
moving said upper polishing plate toward said lower polishing plate so as to clamp said roller unit between said lower polishing plate and said upper polishing plate with a prescribed force;
rotating said lower polishing plate and said upper polishing plate, which clamp said roller unit, in the opposite directions at the same speed; and
pressing said polishing pads onto the polishing faces of said lower polishing plate and said upper polishing plate by said roller unit.
2. The method according to claim 1,
wherein said pad adhering carrier can be vertically moved with respect to said holder.
3. The method according to claim 1,
wherein a plurality of said roller units are fixed to said pad adhering carrier.
4. The method according to claim 3,
wherein one of said roller units is extended beyond the centers of said lower polishing plate and said upper polishing plate.
5. The method according to claim 3,
wherein each of said roller units has a roller member, and
the roller member is constituted by a plurality of split roller members arranged in an axial direction of a shaft.
6. The method according to claim 5,
wherein said roller units are set in said pad adhering carrier, and
tracks of the ends of the split roller members of one of said roller units do not overlap those of another roller unit.
7. The method according to claim 1,
wherein said roller unit has a roller member, and
a projected section having a prescribed width is spirally formed in an outer circumferential face of the roller member.
8. A jig for adhering polishing pads of a polishing apparatus including: a lower polishing plate having a polishing face, on which said polishing pad is adhered; an upper polishing plate being provided above said lower polishing plate, said upper polishing plate having a polishing face, on which said polishing pad is adhered; a holding unit holding and moving said upper polishing plate in the vertical direction; a carrier having a through-hole, in which a wafer can be held, said carrier being provided between said lower polishing plate and said upper polishing plate with a holder; a rotary driving unit rotating said lower polishing plate and said upper polishing plate about their axial lines; and an orbit driving unit being connected to said holder, said orbit driving unit orbiting said carrier and said holder without rotating about their axial lines, wherein an upper face and a lower face of the wafer, which is sandwiched between said lower polishing plate and said upper polishing plate, are simultaneously polished by rotating said lower polishing plate and said upper polishing plate and orbiting said carrier, said jig for simultaneously adhering said polishing pads to said lower polishing plate and said upper polishing plate comprising:
a pad adhering carrier being capable of being attached to said holder instead of said carrier, said pad adhering carrier having a through-hole; and
a roller unit being fixed in the through-hole of said pad adhering carrier, said roller unit pressing said polishing pads, which have been tentatively adhered on the polishing faces of said lower polishing plate and said upper polishing plate when said pad adhering carrier is attached to said holer.
9. The jig according to claim 8,
wherein said pad adhering carrier can be vertically moved with respect to said holder.
10. The jig according to claim 8,
wherein a plurality of said roller units are fixed to said pad adhering carrier.
11. The jig according to claim 10,
wherein one of said roller units is extended beyond the centers of said lower polishing plate and said upper polishing plate.
12. The jig according to claim 10,
wherein each of said roller units has a roller member, and
the roller member is constituted by a plurality of split roller members arranged in an axial direction of a shaft.
13. The jig according to claim 12,
wherein said roller units are set in said pad adhering carrier, and
tracks of the ends of the split roller members of one of said roller units do not overlap those of another roller unit.
14. The jig according to claim 8,
wherein said roller unit has a roller member, and
a projected section having a prescribed width is spirally formed in an outer circumferential face of the roller member.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method to facilitate optimizing a radiation-treatment leaf-sequence plan, comprising:
at a digital processor:
identifying a set of fluence-based control points to represent a leaf sequence;
selecting a first subset of the fluence-based control points and optimizing the first subset to provide an optimized first subset;
combining the optimized first subset with a second subset of the fluence-based control points and optimizing the combined first and second subset;
iteratively repeating the combining step with additional subsets of the fluence-based control points to provide a resultant optimized set of fluence-based control points;
using the optimized set of fluence-based control points to specify the radiation-treatment leaf-sequence plan.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein none of the subsets of the fluence-based control points overlap with one another.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the radiation-treatment leaf-sequence plan comprises a plurality of treatment segments and wherein the leaf sequence comprises a corresponding leaf configuration for each of the segments.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein optimizing comprises using steepest descent-based optimization.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein optimizing comprising using simulated annealing-based optimization.
6. A radiation-treatment leaf-sequence plan optimizer comprising:
a memory having stored therein a set of fluence-based control points that represent a leaf sequence;
a control circuit operably coupled to the memory and being configured to:
select a first subset of the fluence-based control points and optimize the first subset to provide an optimized first subset;
combine the optimized first subset with a second subset of the fluence-based control points and optimize the combined first and second subset;
iteratively repeat the combining step with additional subsets of the fluence-based control points to provide a resultant optimized set of fluence-based control points;
use the optimized set of fluence-based control points to specify the radiation-treatment leaf-sequence plan.
7. The radiation-treatment leaf-sequence plan optimizer of claim 6 wherein none of the subsets of the fluence-based control points overlap with one another.
8. The radiation-treatment leaf-sequence plan optimizer of claim 6 wherein the radiation-treatment leaf-sequence plan comprises a plurality of treatment segments and wherein the leaf sequence comprises a corresponding leaf configuration for each of the segments.
9. The radiation-treatment leaf-sequence plan optimizer of claim 6 wherein the control circuit is configured to optimize by using steepest descent-based optimization.
10. The radiation-treatment leaf-sequence plan optimizer of claim 6 wherein the control circuit is configured to optimize by using simulated annealing-based optimization.
11. A method to facilitate optimizing a radiation-treatment leaf-sequence plan that includes a plurality of treatment segments, comprising:
at a digital processor:
identifying a set of fluence-based control points to represent a leaf sequence to accommodate each of the treatment segments;
selecting a first subset of the fluence-based control points and optimizing the first subset to provide an optimized first subset;
combining the optimized first subset with a second subset of the fluence-based control points that are different than the fluence-based control points that comprise the first subset and optimizing the combined first and second subset;
iteratively repeating the combining step with additional non-overlapping subsets of the fluence-based control points to provide a resultant optimized set of fluence-based control points;
using the optimized set of fluence-based control points to specify the radiation-treatment leaf-sequence plan.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the radiation-treatment leaf-sequence plan comprises a radiation-treatment leaf-sequence plan for an arc therapy treatment.
13. The method of claim 11 wherein optimizing comprises using steepest descent-based optimization.
14. The method of claim 11 wherein optimizing comprising using simulated annealing-based optimization.