Patent attributes
A polishing apparatus polishes a substrate by bringing the substrate into sliding contact with a polishing surface. The polishing apparatus includes: a substrate holder having a substrate holding surface for pressing the substrate against the polishing surface and further having a retaining ring arranged so as to surround the substrate and brought into contact with the polishing surface, the retaining ring being configured to be tiltable independently of the substrate holding surface; a rotating mechanism configured to rotate the substrate holder about its own axis; and at least one local load exerting mechanism configured to exert a local load on a part of the retaining ring in a direction perpendicular to the polishing surface. The at least one local load exerting mechanism is arranged so as not to rotate together with the substrate holder.
