Patent ID: 7357695

Claim:
A system for polishing a microfeature workpiece having a characteristic and a back side, the system comprising: a workpiece carrier assembly configured to carry the microfeature workpiece; a plurality of driving members carried by the workpiece carrier assembly; a planarizing medium positionable under the workpiece carrier assembly for polishing the microfeature workpiece; a tool for determining a status of the characteristic of the microfeature workpiece; and a controller operably coupled to the workpiece carrier assembly, the plurality of driving members, the planarizing medium, and the tool, the controller having a computer-readable medium containing instructions to perform a method comprising determining a first status of the characteristic of the microfeature workpiece separate from a polishing cycle; moving at least one of the workpiece carrier assembly and the planarizing medium relative to the other during a polishing cycle after determining the first status of the characteristic of the microfeature workpiece; applying pressure against the back side of the microfeature workpiece during a portion of the cycle in response to the determined first status of the characteristic by controlling at least one of the plurality of driving members; determining a second status of the characteristic of the microfeature workpiece after applying pressure against the microfeature workpiece; tracking the difference between a desired status and the second status of the characteristic of the microfeature workpiece to determine wear in at least one of the carrier assembly, the planarizing medium or a conditioning stone; and wherein applying pressure against the back side of the microfeature workpiece comprises controlling at least one of the plurality of driving members based on a predetermined wear of at least one of the carrier assembly, the planarizing medium or the conditioning stone.