Patent ID: 8545290

Claim:
A wafer polishing apparatus, comprising: a lower frame; a base mounted on said lower frame; a turntable having an upper surface and a turntable axis of rotation, wherein said turntable is rotationally coupled to said base; a polishing pad removably attached to said upper surface of said turntable, wherein said polishing pad includes a work surface for wafer polishing; an upper frame movably coupled to said base; at least one polishing head rotatably coupled to said upper frame; at least one drive mechanism mounted on upper frame wherein each of said at least one polishing head further comprises a polishing head axis of rotation parallel to and not coincident with said turntable axis of rotation, and each of the at least one polishing head is coupled to a at least one head drive mechanism for driving of said at least one polishing head in rotation and vertical motion with selected downward pressure of the polishing head; at least one wafer alignment assembly attached to each of said at least one polishing head, wherein each of said at least one wafer alignment assembly comprises: a wafer alignment assembly axis of rotation; an upper plate; a lower plate; a wafer carrier removably attached to said lower plate; three lever assemblies attached symmetrically about said wafer alignment assembly axis of rotation to said upper plate, wherein each of said three lever assemblies comprises a lever, a spherical joint and an elongated cylindrical hinge, and a kinematic axis for each of said three lever assemblies intersects a center of rotation of said spherical joint and a central long axis of said elongated cylindrical hinge, and said lower plate attaches to said upper plate by said three lever assemblies; a gimbal point located in close proximity to an intersection between said kinematic axis of each of said three lever assemblies and said wafer alignment assembly axis of rotation, thereby enabling a wafer surface being polished to tilt in all directions relative to said gimbal point.