Polishing head and polishing apparatus

Abstract

A polishing head comprising an annular rigid ring; a rubber film attached to the rigid ring by using uniform tensile force; a back plate that is connected to the rigid ring and forms a space portion with the rubber film and the rigid ring; and an annular template that is provided at a peripheral portion of a lower surface portion of the rubber film concentrically with the rigid ring and configured to hold an edge portion of a workpiece, the polishing head holding a back surface of the workpiece on the lower surface portion of the rubber film and sliding a front surface of the workpiece on a polishing pad attached to a turn table to perform polishing. The polishing head and the polishing apparatus can be used for final polishing and uniformly polish the entire front surface regardless of the thickness of the template.

1 - 8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . A polishing head comprising an annular rigid ring; a rubber film attached to the rigid ring with an uniform tensile force; a back plate connected to the rigid ring, the back plate defining a space together with the rubber film, and the rigid ring; and an annular template configured to hold an edge portion of a workpiece, the template being provided concentrically with the rigid ring in a peripheral portion on a lower surface of the rubber film and, the polishing head configured to hold a back surface of the workpiece on the lower surface of the rubber film and to polish the workpiece by bringing a front surface of the workpiece into sliding contact with a polishing pad attached to a turn table, wherein an incompressible fluid is enclosed in the space. 
     
     
         10 . The polishing head according to  claim 9 , wherein the incompressible fluid is water or an incompressible fluid whose main component is water. 
     
     
         11 . The polishing head according to  claim 9 , wherein the incompressible fluid is a polishing agent used for the polishing of the workpiece or an aqueous solution containing at least one of components contained in the polishing agent. 
     
     
         12 . The polishing head according to  claim 9 , wherein the lower surface portion of the rubber film is adjustably inflated in accordance with a difference in thickness between the template and the workpiece. 
     
     
         13 . The polishing head according to  claim 10 , wherein the lower surface portion of the rubber film is adjustably inflated in accordance with a difference in thickness between the template and the workpiece. 
     
     
         14 . The polishing head according to  claim 11 , wherein the lower surface portion of the rubber film is adjustably inflated in accordance with a difference in thickness between the template and the workpiece. 
     
     
         15 . The polishing head according to  claim 9 , wherein the incompressible fluid is enclosed under a pressure higher than a polishing pressure applied during the polishing of the workpiece. 
     
     
         16 . The polishing head according to  claim 14 , wherein the incompressible fluid is enclosed under a pressure higher than a polishing pressure applied during the polishing of the workpiece. 
     
     
         17 . The polishing head according to  claim 9 , wherein the rubber film is attached to the rigid ring with the rubber film stretched by a tensile force of 30 N or more. 
     
     
         18 . The polishing head according to  claim 16 , wherein the rubber film is attached to the rigid ring with the rubber film stretched by a tensile force of 30 N or more. 
     
     
         19 . The polishing head according to  claim 9 , wherein the rubber film is composed of any one of isoprene rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, chloroprene rubber, nitride-butadiene rubber, urethane rubber, fluororubber, silicon rubber, ethylene-propylene rubber, polyester elastomer, polysulphone resin, and grilamid resin. 
     
     
         20 . The polishing head according to  claim 18 , wherein the rubber film is composed of any one of isoprene rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, chloroprene rubber, nitride-butadiene rubber, urethane rubber, fluororubber, silicon rubber, ethylene-propylene rubber, polyester elastomer, polysulphone resin, and grilamid resin. 
     
     
         21 . A polishing apparatus used for polishing a front surface of a workpiece, the apparatus comprising a polishing pad attached to an upper side of a turn table; a polishing-agent-supply mechanism configured to supply a polishing agent to an upper side of the polishing pad; and a polishing head configured to hold the workpiece according to  claim 9 . 
     
     
         22 . A polishing apparatus used for polishing a front surface of a workpiece, the apparatus comprising a polishing pad attached to an upper side of a turn table; a polishing-agent-supply mechanism configured to supply a polishing agent to an upper side of the polishing pad; and a polishing head configured to hold the workpiece according to  claim 20 .