Chemical mechanical polishing system and process

A method for planarizing a wafer, comprising:

• dressing a rigid polishing pad drum to obtain a uniform drum diameter along a rotational axis of the drum;
• positioning at least one wafer in a fixed position on a platen;
• setting a specified minimum distance to separate a rotational axis of the polishing pad drum and a top surface of the platen when they pass each other;
• polishing the wafer by rotating the polishing pad drum in contact with the wafer and creating a linear movement between the polishing pad drum and the wafer;
• removing the wafer from the platen;
• determining a planarity of the wafer and comparing it to a specified value;
• and
• if the determined planarity of the wafer has not obtained at least the specified value, repeating the method, and if the specified value has been obtained, performing a semiconductor fabrication process on the wafer.

A method of planarizing a wafer, comprising:

• dressing a polishing pad drum to obtain a uniform drum diameter along a rotational axis of the drum;
• setting a specified distance to separate the rotational axis of the polishing pad drum and a wafer attached to a platen when they pass each other;
• polishing the wafer by rotating the polishing pad drum and creating a linear movement between the rotational axis of the polishing pad drum and the platen when they contact each other with a tangential force, and pass each other in a specified direction;
• determining whether the wafer is in a specified condition or needs to be polished again;
• upon determining that the wafer is to be polished again, determining whether the polishing pad is to be dressed;
• upon determining that the polishing pad is to be dressed, dressing the polishing pad drum prior to polishing the wafer again in the specified direction;
• and
• upon determining that the polishing pad is not to be dressed, repolishing the wafer.