Brush Carrier for Polishing Pad Conditioning

Brush carriers are designed and manufactured with materials working in unison to improve your polishing process by removing embedded materials from the surface of your polishing pads.

Each brush carrier is uniquely prepared to your custom polishing application. This type of conditioning carrier is commonly used by manufacturers of hard-disk substrates, glass, silicon, and other double-sided polished semiconductor wafers.

Brush carriers (conditioning brushes) are manufactured by PR Hoffman Machine Products for a wide variety of double-sided lapping and polishing machines including: P.R. Hoffman, Speedfam, Peter Wolters AG, Spitfire, Norton, Fujikoshi, Lapmaster, Carlan, Melchiorre, and others. If you have a drawing or a sample of the planetary lapping or polishing carrier and information on the type of pad you are currently using, PR Hoffman can design and manufacture an brush carrier for you.

Brush carriers are typically used daily to keep the pores of the pad free from spent polish and fine particles generated in the polishing process. Significant process improvements can be achieved by using conditioning brushes on a frequent fixed schedule. The brushes are generally used in the same quantity as the capacity of carriers for the polishing machine. The process is simple. After loading the brushes, the machine is started with a strong flow of water instead of the polishing slurry. Time and pressure vary with the pad, material being polished, and the slurry composition. There may still be occasions when the pad becomes glazed and requires scraping, but its frequency should be reduced significantly.

Conditioning brush carriers are generally manufactured using a PVC carrier blank and nylon bristles, but special materials and designs can be manufactured to suit your particular needs. If you are looking for polishing processing improvements, we suggest you order a set for your machine. Please contact PR Hoffman Machine Products, to discuss your 'Conditioning Brush Carrier' requirements. Also see our technical note on Plate Cleaning using brush carriers.

P.R. Hoffman Machine Products, 1517 Commerce Avenue, Carlisle, PA 17013. Tel: 717-243-9900; Fax: 717-243-4542.