Mitsubishi Materials Corporation

Hiroshi Shibaya

Masahito Komasaki

Kanji Hosoki

Jiro Sano

Kazuo Iizuka

Hiroyuki Kobayashi

An apparatus for dressing a wafer polishing pad, including a disk-shaped dresser, an arm, and a control unit. The disk-shaped dresser is configured to be pressed against the polishing pad which rotates in a circumferential direction. The dresser is configured to rotate in a same direction as the polishing pad rotates due to frictional force generated between the dresser and the polishing pad. The arm is configured to support the dresser rotatably and to press the dresser against the polishing pad. The control unit is configured to control the arm to position the dresser such that a peripheral edge portion of the dresser is positioned outside a peripheral edge portion of the polishing pad by a predetermined distance.

Apparatus and method for dressing a wafer polishing pad

The invention provides a wafer polishing apparatus and a wafer manufacturing method which can improve uniformity in polishing wafer surfaces. A wafer holding head comprises a head body; a diaphragm stretched inside the head body; a carrier fixed to the diaphragm to be displaceable in the direction of a head axis while holding the wafer; a retainer ring disposed around the carrier in concentric relation and fixed to the diaphragm to be displaceable in the direction of the head axis; and a thin plate disposed so as to project from the head body along a surface of the diaphragm. With the provision of the thin plate, an excessive pressing force acting upon the retainer ring from the diaphragm is suppressed, and the wafer surface can be prevented from being excessively polished at an outer peripheral edge.

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Omiya, Japan

Hiroshi Shibaya