A conditioning device having (200) cubic boron nitride cutting elements (205) brazed-bonded to the bottom surface of the device and suitably adopted for conditioning a workpiece polishing pad by moving across the pad while in contact with the pad. The conditioning device (200) may further include a flange (202) extending about the bottom periphery of the device (200) with the cubic boron nitride cutting elements (205) being attached to the bottom surface of the flange (202). The flange (202) may include cutout portions for permitting material to escape from the interior of the device (200). The cubic boron nitride cutting elements (205) are distributed substantially uniformly across the bottom surface of the flange (202) and the elements are brazed-bonded to the flange with a braised metal alloy, creating an extremely strong bond between the cutting elements (205) and the flange (202) surface. Further, the conditioning ring may be attached to a plurality of wafer carrier elements (124) so that the conditioning process occurs during the actual polishing of the wafers (101), or the conditioning ring may be attached to a mechanical arm which engages the ring against the polishing pad between wafer polishing steps. In either case, to enhance the conditioning process, the carrier element and/or the mechanical arm suitably rotates the conditioning ring about its axis and oscillates the ring back and forth across the polishing pad.
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