A decoding apparatus includes a state variable calculation unit which calculates a second state variable based on a first context variable and a first state variable which are stored in a first memory unit and a second memory unit, respectively, and determines a selection signal representing a symbol as a result of arithmetic decoding processing. The synchronizing signal output circuit is configured to output a synchronizing signal for lighting the light source. They may be stripped from substrates with high alkaline strippers. A step of applying the dielectric material is carried out without a step of applying an interlayer between interconnects and dielectric material.