Patent ID: 7108580

Claim:
A method of controlling an apparatus that polishes a surface by causing relative motion between the surface and a face of a polishing body supported by a substrate while applying a load between the surface and the face of the polishing body, the polishing body having an elastic constant, the method comprising: a simulation stage in which a distribution of an amount of polishing of the surface is predicted according to set control parameters or a set control program using a simulation method; and a judgment stage in which the acceptability of the set control parameters or control program is judged by comparing the distribution of the amount of polishing predicted in the simulation stage to a desired distribution of an amount of polishing of the surface; wherein the simulation method is characterized by a step which predicts the amount of polishing of discrete portions of the surface using an indicator which determines a height distribution of the face of the polishing body with reference to the substrate when no pressure is applied to the polishing body, and uses the height distribution and the elastic constant in calculations performed in the simulation stage; and the indicator comprises at least one indicator method selected from a set consisting of a number of times that a dressing process is performed on the polishing body, the cumulative time of the dressing processes performed on the surface by the polishing body, and the cumulative time of polishing performed on the surface by the polishing body.