Method of manufacturing chemical mechanical polishing pads

A method of manufacturing a chemical mechanical polishing pad having a polishing layer, comprising:

• providing a cured cake formed from a curable material;
• wherein the curable material comprises a liquid prepolymer and a plurality of microelements, wherein the plurality of microelements dispersed in the liquid prepolymer;
• skiving the cured cake to form a plurality of skived sheets;
• providing an automated inspection system, comprising:
• a magazine;
• a light source, which emits a beam;
• a light detector;
• a digital image data acquisition device;
• and,
• an image data processing unit;
• loading the plurality of skived sheets into the magazine;
• conveying the plurality of skived sheets, one skived sheet at a time, between the light source and the light detector;
• wherein the each skived sheet has a thickness, TS, between a transmission surface and an impinging surface thereof;
• wherein the transmission surface and the impinging surface are substantially parallel;
• wherein the beam emitted from the light source is oriented to impinge on the impinging surface;
• and, wherein the light detector is oriented to detect a transmitted light from the beam that is transmitted through the thickness, TS, and out the transmission surface;
• wherein the transmitted light has at least one detectable property;
• wherein the at least one detectable property includes an intensity of the transmitted light;
• wherein the intensity of the transmitted light is converted into an electrical signal by the light detector;
• wherein the electrical signal from the light detector is converted into a digital signal by the digital image data acquisition device;
• wherein the digital signal from the digital image data acquisition device is processed by the image data processing unit, wherein the image data processing unit is configured to detect macro inhomogeneities and to classify skived sheets as either acceptable or suspect;
• wherein the plurality of skived sheets is divided into a population of acceptable sheets and a population of suspect sheets;
• wherein the population of acceptable sheets includes at least one acceptable sheet;
• and,
• processing an acceptable sheet from the population of acceptable sheets to form the polishing layer of the chemical mechanical polishing pad;
• wherein the polishing layer is adapted for polishing a substrate.