Polishing apparatus

Abstract

Provided is a polishing apparatus comprising a lower stool (12), a motor (18a) and a speed reducer (19a) for driving the lower stool, and a box (17) for covering at least the portion of the lower stool below the working action face. The polishing apparatus polishes a wafer by forcing the wafer to contact the lower stool and by rotating the lower stool. The box has its inside separated by partitions (31a and 31b) into a plurality of regions, and the motor for driving the lower stool is arranged in a region other than the region containing the lower stool. The polishing apparatus can manufacture a wafer of a stable shape, irrespective of the time elapsed from the running start and the presence/absence of the stop of the polishing apparatus.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.