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:
Aug. 21, 2012
Filed:
Sep. 06, 2007
Yoichi Kobayashi, Tokyo, JP;
Yasumasa Hiroo, Tokyo, JP;
Tsuyoshi Ohashi, Tokyo, JP;
Ebara Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The present invention relates to a polishing apparatus and a polishing method for polishing a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, to planarize the substrate. The polishing apparatus according to the present invention includes a polishing table () having a polishing surface, a top ring () configured to press the substrate against the polishing table by applying pressing forces independently to first plural zones on the substrate, a sensor () configured to detect a state of the film at plural measuring points, a monitoring device () configured to produce monitoring signals with respect to second plural zones on the substrate, respectively, a storage device configured to store plural reference signals each indicating a relationship between reference values of each monitoring signal and polishing times, and a controller configured to operate the pressing forces against the first plural zones such that the monitoring signals, corresponding respectively to the second plural zones, converge on one of the plural reference signals.