The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 13, 2007
Filed:
Apr. 05, 2005
Katsutoshi Ono, Tokyo, JP;
Katsutoshi Ono, Tokyo, JP;
Ebara Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A polishing apparatus can detect completion of initialization of a polishing pad quantitatively. The polishing apparatus has a polishing table having a polishing pad attached thereto and a substrate holder configured to bring a surface of a substrate into contact with the polishing pad and press the substrate against the polishing pad. The polishing apparatus also has a drive mechanism operable to drive at least one of the polishing table and the substrate holder so as to provide a relative movement between the polishing pad and the substrate. The polishing apparatus includes a current sensor operable to detect a drive current supplied to the driving mechanism. The polishing apparatus also includes a polishing pad condition detector operable to detect a condition of the polishing pad based on the drive current detected by the current sensor when the dummy substrate is polished by a relative movement between the polishing pad and a dummy substrate held by the substrate holder.