BACKGROUND AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

BACKGROUND AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION [Abstract]

BACKGROUND AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

1. BACKGROUND AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

Cabot Microelectronics Corporation ("Cabot Microelectronics'', "the Company'', "us'', "we'' or "our'') supplies high-performance polishing slurries and pads used in the manufacture of advanced integrated circuit (IC) devices within the semiconductor industry, in a process called chemical mechanical planarization (CMP).  CMP is a polishing process used by IC device manufacturers to planarize or flatten many of the multiple layers of material that are deposited upon silicon wafers in the production of advanced ICs.  Our products play a critical role in the production of advanced IC devices, thereby enabling our customers to produce smaller, faster and more complex IC devices with fewer defects.  We develop, produce and sell CMP slurries for polishing many of the conducting and insulating materials used in IC devices, and also for polishing the disk substrates and magnetic heads used in hard disk drives.  We also develop, manufacture and sell CMP polishing pads, which are used in conjunction with slurries in the CMP process.  In addition, we pursue other demanding surface modification applications through our Engineered Surface Finishes (ESF) business where we believe we can leverage our expertise in CMP consumables for the semiconductor industry to develop products for polishing applications in other industries.

The audited consolidated financial statements have been prepared by us pursuant to the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.  We operate predominantly in one reportable segment - the development, manufacture, and sale of CMP consumables.