Patent ID: 6899592

Claim:
A polishing apparatus comprising: a polishing tool having a polishing surface including abrasive particles and a binder for bonding together said abrasive particles; a moving mechanism for pressing a substrate against said polishing surface and causing relative movement between the substrate and said polishing surface so as to polish the substrate; a light source for irradiating said polishing surface with light rays for weakening a bond force of said binder; a waste matter removing mechanism for removing waste matter, produced by irradiation of said polishing surface with the light rays, from said polishing surface; and a first-liquid supply device for supplying a first liquid onto said polishing surface; wherein said waste matter removing mechanism includes a second-liquid supply device for supplying a second liquid onto said polishing surface so as to remove the waste matter from said polishing surface, with the first liquid and the second liquid being different from each other.