Abstract: An apparatus and method is provided for polishing work pieces such as semiconductor wafers. The apparatus includes a variable number of independent heads 20, platens 32 and polishing units 18. This polishing apparatus belongs to a group of polishing machines with wafers attached to the same heads 20 through all polishing steps without undesirable reloading from one head 20 to another between polishing steps. Each independent head 20 is automatically coupled to and decoupled from any of the polishing units 18 to optimize throughput and provide flexibility in accommodating different polishing processes. A head transfer subsystem 22 provides an independent means of transfer for each head 20, thus an infinite number of contemporaneous or overlapping polishing cycles can be completed on multiple wafers resulting in maximum processing throughput.

Abstract: An apparatus and method is provided for polishing work pieces such as semiconductor wafers. The apparatus includes a variable number of independent heads 20, platens 32 and polishing units 18. This polishing apparatus belongs to a group of polishing machines with wafers attached to the same heads 20 through all polishing steps without undesirable reloading from one head 20 to another between polishing steps. Each independent head 20 is automatically coupled to and decoupled from any of the polishing units 18 to optimize throughput and provide flexibility in accommodating different polishing processes. A head transfer subsystem 22 provides an independent means of transfer for each head 20, thus an infinite number of contemporaneous or overlapping polishing cycles can be completed on multiple wafers resulting in maximum processing throughput.