Wafer polishing apparatus having measurement device and polishing method

A polishing apparatus for the fabrication of semiconductor devices, comprising:

• a loading platform for mounting a loading cassette for holding a plurality of unpolished wafers;
• a standby stage comprising a pre-polishing stand dedicated for holding an unpolished wafer, and a post-polishing stand dedicated for holding the wafer after the wafer has been polished;
• a loading robot arm, for transferring an unpolished wafer from the loading cassette to the pre-polishing stand of said standby stage;
• a polishing table on which a polishing process is performed on a front side of the wafer;
• a wafer moving device for transferring the wafer from the pre-polishing stand to the polishing table before polishing, and for transferring the wafer from the polishing table to the post-polishing stand after polishing;
• an unloading platform for mounting an unloading cassette for holding a plurality of polished wafers;
• a measurement site proximal to the unloading platform, and at which site a polishing state of the wafer is analyzed;
• a cleaning device for cleaning the wafer;
• and
• robot means for directly transferring a polished wafer from the post-polishing stand of said standby stage to said measurement site via the unloading cassette, whereby the polished wafer is analyzed before it is cleaned.