Patent ID: 7175505

Claim:
A method for adjusting substrate processing times in a substrate polishing system having one or more polishing stations, comprising: a) taking a pre-processing thickness measurement of a calibration substrate while the calibration substrate is in one of the polishing stations; b) processing the calibration substrate in the polishing system, wherein the calibration substrate is processed in at least one of the polishing stations for a predetermined processing time, wherein the processing is performed in an electrochemical mechanical polishing station; c) taking a post-processing thickness measurement of the calibration substrate while the calibration substrate is in one of the polishing stations; d) calculating a removal rate based on the pre-processing and the post-processing measurements and the predetermined processing time; and e) adjusting a processing time for one or more of the polishing stations based on the removal rate, wherein the adjusted processing time is used in subsequent processing of a production substrate.