Substrate polishing apparatus and method

A substrate polishing apparatus for polishing a substrate, said substrate polishing apparatus comprising:

• a substrate holding mechanism including a head for holding the substrate;
• a polishing mechanism including a polishing table having a polishing tool, the substrate held by said head being pressed against said polishing tool on said polishing table to polish the substrate by relative movement of the substrate and said polishing tool;
• and
• a substrate transfer mechanism including:
• a substrate to-be-polished receiver configured to transfer the substrate to be polished to said head;
• and
• a polished substrate receiver configured to receive the substrate which has been polished from said head,
• wherein said substrate to-be-polished receiver and said polished substrate receiver are disposed coaxially with each other along an axis and movable independently of each other along the axis.