Polishing head, polishing apparatus and polishing method for semiconductor wafer

Abstract

The present invention provides a polishing headcomprising a carrier, a guide ring, a dress ring, and a head body, wherein the head bodyis rotatable, and holds the carrier, the guide ring, and the dress ring; the head bodyhas a reversed-bowl shape and has a hollow; the dress ring, and at least the guide ring or the carrier are held by being coupled to a lower brim of the head body via a diaphragm; the hollow of the head body is sealed. During polishing, the pressure of the sealed hollow is adjusted with a pressure regulating mechanismcommunicating with the hollow, thereby elastically deforming the diaphragm. As a result, a wafer W can be polished while the wafer and the dress ring are pressed with a given pressing force against a polishing padon a turn tablewith rotating the wafer held by the carrier and the dress ring. Consequently, there is provided a polishing head or the like with which excessive polishing in the outer periphery of a semiconductor wafer can be prevented and generation of impressions or scratches in the edge portion of the wafer can be prevented effectively.