Abstract: An apparatus for polishing semiconductor material is described in which a movable polishing arm is mounted to a cabinet. Connected to the polishing arm is a workpiece holder or sometimes referred to as a wafer chuck. Adjacent to the polishing arm is a load station which positions the wafer for pick-up by the polishing arm and attached wafer chuck. Mounted to the cabinet, next to a brush station, is a primary polish station which is used to remove the majority of the material. Alongside of the primary polish station is a final polish station used to provide a finished surface to the wafer. The polishing arm discharges the polished wafer into an unload station which is located next to the final polish station.

Abstract: An automatic polishing system for polishing semiconductor material is described. A robot and Bernoulli pickup are used to retrieve polished wafers from an underwater unload station which is located on a wafer polisher. The polished wafer is then deposited into a cassette which is located underwater.