Patent ID: 6878302

Claim:
A method of polishing semiconductor wafers in a polishing apparatus including a mounting member, a hub having a central hub axis, and a turntable having a central turntable axis offset from the hub axis, the method comprising the steps of: a) mounting a first wafer on the mounting member, b) securing the mounting member to the hub by drawing a vacuum at a first vacuum pressure through the hub, the first vacuum pressure being held constant during polishing, c) rotating the hub about the hub axis, d) rotating a polishing pad mounted on the turntable about the turntable axis, e) bringing a surface of the wafer and the polishing pad into contact with each other for polishing a surface of the wafer, f) demounting the wafer after polishing of the wafer is complete, g) determining the shape of the polished wafer, h) selecting a second vacuum pressure using information obtained from determining the shape of the first wafer and repeating steps a) through f) for a successive wafer, the second vacuum pressure being substituted for the first vacuum pressure in step b) and being sufficient to deform the mounting member and thereby deform the wafer to improve the flatness and parallelism of the surfaces of the successive wafer.