To obtain a flat, smooth and clean polished surface by performing polishing while a surface to be polished of a substrate is pressed to a first polishing tool surface rotating on its axis with prescribed pressure, and performing polishing while the surface to be polished of the substrate is pressed with prescribed pressure to a second polishing tool surface adapted to conduct plane relative translation in a prescribed locus.

A first polishing process is performed for a wafer fitted to a top ring of a main polishing unit in such a manner that the top ring revolving on its axis presses the wafer to abrasive cloth of a turntable, high speed relative movement between the wafer and the abrasive cloth is conducted and a polishing liquid is supplied. After that, the wafer 1 is directly or coarsely washed to be transferred to a finishing unit 30. Here a second polishing process is performed, that is, a stool 37 conducts translational circular motion, the wafer 1 fitted to the top ring 32 revolving on its axis is pressed onto abrasive cloth 59 surface bonded to the stool 1, and polished by a polishing liquid supplied to the polishing surface. A very small relative translational circular motion with a radius (e) is caused between the abrasive cloth 59 and the wafer 1.