Patent ID: 8439994

Claim:
A method of fabricating a polishing pad for polishing a semiconductor substrate, the method comprising: forming, in a first formation mold, a partially cured end-point detection region precursor; positioning the partially cured end-point detection region precursor on a receiving region of a lid of a second formation mold; providing a polishing pad precursor mixture in the second formation mold; moving, by bringing together the lid and a base of the second formation mold, the partially cured end-point detection region precursor into the polishing pad precursor mixture; heating the polishing pad precursor mixture and the partially cured end-point detection region precursor to provide a molded homogeneous polishing body covalently bonded with a cured end-point detection region precursor, the molded homogeneous polishing body having a polishing surface and a back surface; and recessing, relative to the back surface of the molded homogeneous polishing body, the cured end-point detection region precursor to provide an end-point detection region disposed in and covalently bonded with the molded homogeneous polishing body.