Patent ID: 8182312

Claim:
A CMP system for polishing a wafer, said CMP system comprising: a platen: a polishing pad assembly comprising: a polishing pad comprising a polishing layer and a layer of adhesive; a sensor assembly disposed within the pad, said sensor assembly being operable to detect a condition of a wafer while said wafer is being polished; a ribbon cable for connecting the optical sensor to a transceiver for communicating data generated by the sensor assembly; wherein the ribbon cable and the adhesive layer are substantially the same thickness, and the ribbon cable is disposed in a channel running through the adhesive layer; a first transceiver mounted on the periphery of the platen, said first transceiver operable to receive data from the sensor assembly and transmit said data to a receiver; a receiver, located on a non rotating portion of the polishing tool, adapted for communication of data from the sensor assembly through the first transceiver, said receiver operably connected to a control system, said control system programmed to analyze the data from the sensor assembly to determine and report the state of a wafer being polished in the CMP system.