Patent ID: 8647173

Claim:
A method of double-side polishing a semiconductor wafer, the method comprising the following steps in the recited order: a) polishing a rear side of the semiconductor wafer using a polishing pad that is fixed on a polishing plate and that contains fixedly bonded abrasive materials while introducing a polishing agent solution that is free of solids between the rear side of the semiconductor wafer and the polishing pad; b) stock removal polishing a front side of the semiconductor wafer using a polishing pad that is fixed on a polishing plate and that contains fixedly bonded abrasive materials while introducing a polishing agent solution that is free of solids between the front side of the semiconductor wafer and the polishing pad; c) removing microroughness from the front side of the semiconductor wafer by polishing the front side of the semiconductor wafer using a polishing pad that is fixed on a polishing plate while introducing a polishing agent slurry containing abrasive materials between the front side of the semiconductor wafer and the polishing pad; and d) final polishing the front side of the semiconductor wafer using a polishing pad that is fixed on a polishing plate and that contains no abrasive material bonded in the polishing pad while introducing a polishing agent slurry containing abrasive materials, wherein during each of at least steps a) to c) the semiconductor wafer is held in a holding system fixed to a carrier, the holding system including a bearing surface and a lined cutout that is the size of the semiconductor wafer, the semiconductor wafer being held through adhesion of the respective side that is not being polished to the bearing surface, and the carrier is guided such that at least a portion of the respective side that is being polished temporarily projects beyond a lateral edge of the respective polishing pad.