A novel design of electrochemical planarization (ECP) system is proposed consisting of a rotating anode, a segmented cathode with very small interelectrode distance, and forced convection. Copper and tantalum anodic polarization curves and steady-state data were collected to validate the electropolishing conditions of the new design. Excellent ECP was produced on patterned electroplated copper films on silicon wafers using this approach. (C) 2004 The Electrochemical Society.