Patent ID: 8900036

Claim:
A method of providing a polishing pad for use with polishing slurry, comprising: providing a mold having a first half and a second half and a recess defined in said first half; providing a non-woven fabric and an insoluble component into said recess, said non-woven fabric comprising a plurality of soluble fibers having a diameter in the range of about 5 to 80 micrometers, said soluble fibers comprising one or more of nonwoven fibrous and fabric structures, and woven and knitted fibrous and fabric structures; closing said mold and applying heat and pressure to said plurality of soluble fibers and said insoluble component over a given period of time; and forming a pad having a thickness and a first surface having a plurality of interconnected self-generating micro-grooves, said micro-grooves having a width and/or depth up to about 150 micrometers; wherein: said soluble fibers are positioned through at least a portion of the thickness of the pad to continuously dissolve and form said microgrooves in a newly exposed surface of said pad by exposure to said slurry; said micro-grooves are arranged in an array of longitudinal indentations in said first surface of said pad and retain and distribute said polishing slurry; and said micro-grooves are arranged in one of a crisscross, circular, spiral, radial, or centripetal array.