| 摘要 |
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce nonuniformity for insulating films of semiconductor wafers after flattening them by using a CMP(chemimechanical polishing) equipment which flattens the surface of the semiconductor wafers. SOLUTION: For instance, a strain detection gage 20 is mounted on each torque drive pin 19b of a drive mechanism 19 provided for transmitting the rotating motion of a rotation axis 15 to a wafer-holding base 14, which holds a semiconductor wafer 16. The strain detection gage 20 detects a frictional force between the polishing face of the semiconductor wafer 16 and the cloth face of a polishing cloth as the strain of the torque drive pin 19b during the polishing process. Thus, the end point of the polishing process is physically judged by indirectly monitoring the change of the frictional force. |
