Method and apparatus for improved conditioning of polishing pads

摘要

A method and apparatus for conditioning the surface of a polishing pad used to polish a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer. A conditioning apparatus uses two or more end effectors to abrade and/or remove the polishing byproducts from the surface of the pad. Different types of conditioning performance can be achieved when the end effectors are employed individually, sequentially, or simultaneously during a polishing process.