LAPPING APPARATUS

PURPOSE:To enable the adjustment of the positional relationship of a sample and a lapping surface plate, by making the same plane as the lapping surface plate as a detection reference, and detecting the inclination of the sample thereby correcting the inclination. CONSTITUTION:The sample 5 attached to the tip of an arm 4 is positioned at the platen 6, and a laser beam from a laser beam source 10 is irradiated to the sample 5 through a collimator 11, a semi-transparent mirror 12 and an optical flat 13. Thus, if the sample 5 is inclined, interference will occur between the sample 5 and the optical flat 13 to yield interference bands. While observing the interference bands from the direction A, the arm 4 is swung up and down by operating a vertically driving mechanism (not shown) to correct the inclination of the sample 5. By setting the optical flat 13 and the surface plate 6 at the same height, the sample 5 becomes parallel with the platen 6. Thus, the positional relationship of the sample and the surface plate can be adjusted.