Patent ID: 6918821

Claim:
A method of removing material from a major surface of a substrate comprising: applying a carrier liquid to a polishing surface of a polishing pad, the polishing pad including a fixed abrasive material having an open cell structure of a thermoset polymer matrix defining a plurality of interconnected cells and abrasive particles distributed throughout the polymer matrix; causing relative motion between the substrate and the polishing pad in a plane generally parallel to the major surface of the substrate while applying a first force, the first force tending to bring the major surface and the polishing surface into contact; conditioning the polishing surface by causing relative motion between a conditioning element and the polishing pad in a plane generally parallel to the major surface of the substrate while applying a second force, the second force tending to bring the conditioning element and the polishing surface into contact, thereby releasing free abrasive particles from the fixed abrasive material; and polishing the major surface of the substrate with the free abrasive particles to remove a portion of the material from the major surface of the substrate; wherein the first force is no greater than about 2.5 psi.