Pad retrieval apparatus for chemical mechanical planarization

摘要

A system provides a polishing pad to a polishing head for chemical mechanical planarization of an object which is larger in diameter than the polishing pad. The system comprises a polishing head and a plurality of magazines disposed in a first region. Each magazine houses at least one removable puck for holding a polishing pad. At least one of the magazines is configured to feed the pucks from a bottom thereof to be retrieved by the transfer apparatus. The puck is configured be removably coupled to a coupling on the polishing head and to be disposed between the polishing pad and the polishing head. A transfer apparatus is provided for transferring the pucks from the magazines in the first region to a pickup stand in a second region. The polishing head is movable to the second region to pick up the pucks from the pickup stand.