Multi-disk chemical mechanical polishing pad conditioners and methods

A system for conditioning a polishing pad, comprising:

• a conditioning head;
• and
• a pad conditioner mounted to the conditioning head, the pad conditioner comprising a plurality of independently mounted conditioning elements,
• wherein each of the conditioning elements is attached to a respective pad conditioner base, and
• wherein each pad conditioner base is attached to a respective pad conditioner disk via a gimbal connection.

A method of conditioning a polishing pad, comprising:

• providing a plurality of pad conditioner assemblies, each pad conditioner assembly having a pad conditioner base attached to a pad conditioner disk via a first gimbal connection;
• attaching the plurality of pad conditioner assemblies to a main assembly base plate;
• attaching the main assembly base plate to a main assembly disk;
• and
• conditioning a polishing pad using the plurality of pad conditioner assemblies.