3686results about "Abrasive surface conditioning devices" patented technology

The present invention discloses a CMP pad dresser which has a plurality of uniformly spaced abrasive particles protruding therefrom. The abrasive particles are super hard materials, and are typically diamond, polycrystalline diamond (PCD), cubic boron nitride (cBN), or polycrystalline cubic boron nitride(PcBN). The abrasive particles are brazed to a substrate which may be then coated with an additional anti-corrosive layer. The anti-corrosive layer is usually a diamond or diamond-like carbon which is coated over the surface of the disk to prevent erosion of the brazing alloy by the chemical slurry used in conjunction with the CMP pad. This immunity to chemical attack allows the CMP pad dresser to dress the pad while it is polishing a workpiece. In addition to even spacing on the substrate, the abrasive particles extend for a uniform distance away from the substrate, allowing for even grooming or dressing of a CMP pad both in vertical and horizontal directions. A method of producing such a CMP pad dresser is also disclosed.

The disclosure relates to abrasive articles useful in chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP), the articles including a substrate with opposite major surfaces, an abrasive material overlaying at least a portion of at least one of the major surfaces, a means for providing CMP information positioned near the substrate, and a transmitter positioned near the substrate and adapted to transmit the CMP information to a remote receiver. The disclosure also relates to a CMP pad conditioner having a means for communicating CMP information, a CMP process monitoring system, and a method for conditioning a CMP pad.

Superabrasive tools and methods for the making thereof are disclosed and described. In one aspect, superabrasive particles are chemically bonded to a matrix support material according to a predetermined pattern by a braze alloy. The brazing alloy may be provided as a powder, thin sheet, or sheet of amorphous alloy. A template having a plurality of apertures arranged in a predetermined pattern may be used to place the superabrasive particles on a given substrate or matrix support material.

The invention relates to a method, system and computer program useful for producing a product, such as a microelectronic device, for example in an assembly line, where the production facility includes parallel production of assembly lines of products on identically configured chambers, tools and/or modules. Control is provided between such chambers. Behaviors of a batch of wafers (or of each wafer) are collected as the first batch (or each wafer) is processed by one of the identically configured chambers in one assembly line to produce the microelectronic device. The information relating to the behavior is shared with a controller of another one (or more) of the identically configured chambers, process tools and/or modules, to provide an adjustment of the process tool and thereby to produce a second batch (or next wafer) which is substantially identical, within tolerance, to the first batch (or wafer).

Embodiments of a ball assembly are provided. In one embodiment, a ball assembly includes a housing, a ball, a conductive adapter and a contact element. The housing has an annular seat extending into a first end of an interior passage. The conductive adapter is coupled to a second end of the housing. The contact element electrically couples the adapter and the ball with is retained in the housing between seat and the adapter.

An improved method of in-situ conditioning of a polishing pad for use with a stationary pad conditioner during chemical mechanical polishing is described. A polishing table having a polishing pad on its surface is rotated in a first direction during polishing of a semiconductor wafer. A polishing pad conditioner is adjustably attached to the rotating polishing table such that the conditioner is stationary in relation to the rotating polishing table. The conditioner has a roughened surface which is in contact with the polishing pad providing in-situ conditioning during polishing of a semiconductor wafer. After polishing of the semiconductor wafer, the polishing table is rotated in a second direction while the conditioner is still in contact with polishing pad. Rotating the polishing pad in a second direction dislodges the polishing debris clogging the roughened surface of the conditioner and redistributes CMP slurry. The roughened surface of the pad conditioner is refreshed allowing more effective conditioning of the polishing pad. Pad life is prolonged, polishing is stabilized, and the polish cycle time is reduced.

Tools for conditioning chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) pads comprise a substrate with abrasive particles coupled to at least one surface. The tools can have various particle and bond configurations. For instance, abrasive particles may be bonded (e.g., brazed or other metal bond technique) to one side, or to front and back sides. Alternatively, abrasive particles are bonded to a front side, and filler particles coupled to a back side. The abrasive particles can form a pattern (e.g., hexagonal) and have particle sizes that are sufficiently small to penetrate pores of a CMP pad during conditioning, leading to fewer defects on wafers polished with the conditioned CMP pad. Grain bonding can be accomplished using brazing films, although other metal bonds may be used as well. Also, balanced bond material (e.g., braze on both sides) allows for low out-of-flatness value.

Embodiments of the invention generally provide a method and apparatus for processing a substrate in an electrochemical mechanical planarizing system. In one embodiment, a cell for polishing a substrate includes a processing pad disposed on a top surface of a platen assembly. A plurality of conductive elements are arranged in a spaced-apart relation across the upper planarizing surface and adapted to bias the substrate relative to an electrode disposed between the pad and the platen assembly. A plurality of passages are formed through the platen assembly between the top surface and a plenum defined within the platen assembly. In another embodiment, a system is provided having a bulk processing cell and a residual processing cell. The residual processing cell includes a biased conductive planarizing surface. In further embodiments, the conductive element is protected from attack by process chemistries.

In the electrodeposited abrasive wheel 20 of the abrasive tool according to the present invention, plural mound parts 21, which are upheaved at the central domain of base metal 19 in almost columnar shape, are arranged mostly in the shape of lattice. An abrasive grain layer 22 is formed on a base metal 19, and plural ultra abrasive grains 14 are adhered only to each mound parts 21 by electrodeposited metal phase 25, and referred as the small abrasive-grain-layer parts 24, respectively. Ultra abrasive grains are laid out at corner R part 21a and top 21b of the mound parts 21 at the small abrasive-grain-layer parts 24. Ultra abrasive grains at each small abrasive-grain-layer parts are set as 11-500 pieces, and the rate which ultra abrasive grains occupy to the whole area of abrasive grain layer accounted by plane projection is set as 20%-80% of the range. At the time of grinding, only ultra abrasive grains contact to grinding work piece, then high abutment pressure is maintained, and sharpness and the discharge performance of ground wastes are good.

Laser sources output laser lights L.sub.1 and L.sub.2 having different wavelengths so as to increase an accuracy of an endpoint detection of polishing processing by enabling an accurate detection of a film thickness of a layer insulating film on a surface of a wafer to be polished by the CMP processing, the lights are emitted from a detection window via a beam splitter to the layer insulating film formed on the surface of the wafer to be polished by a pad, different optical detectors detect interference lights corresponding to the laser lights L.sub.1 and L.sub.2 reflected and generated from a surface of the layer insulating film and a pattern under the surface via the detection window, the beam splitter, and a dichroic mirror, the detection results are supplied to a film thickness evaluation unit 7, a film thickness of the layer insulation film is detected on the basis of a relationship between intensities of the reflected interference lights to the laser lights L.sub.1 and L.sub.2 or the intensity ratio, and an endpoint of polishing processing is determined when the film thickness is equal to a predetermined value.

An apparatus for simultaneously polishing wafers including at least a first and a second web of polishing media. At least two polishing heads are provided on a carrier coupled to a drive system such that one polishing head positions a wafer against the first web and a second polishing head positions a second wafer against the second web. The drive system imparts a programmed polishing motion or pattern to the polishing heads.

A method of making and the resulting non-metallic CMP conditioning pad comprising a non-metallic substrate and a single layer of abrasive particles bonded to the substrate by a non-metallic bonding medium. Preferred substrates include aluminum oxide and graphite. A bonding system employing finely powdered aluminum oxide particles mixed with a suitable adhesive is employed to bond the abrasive layer to the aluminum oxide substrate. Silicon carbide particles mixed into a compatible adhesive carrier including a polymer composition is preferred for bonding the abrasive particle layer to a graphite or carbide substrate.

An abrasive tool including a CMP pad conditioner having a substrate including a first major surface, a second major surface opposite the first major surface, and a side surface extending between the first major surface and the second major, wherein a first layer of abrasive grains is attached to the first major surface and a second layer of abrasive grains is attached to the second major surface. The conditioner further includes a first sealing member extending in a peripheral direction along a portion of the side surface of the substrate.

A conditioning tool for restoring a used CMP polishing pad to an operable condition. The tool includes a base that attaches to a driven machine and has a surface from which a shoulder protrudes that receives a peripheral edge of a disk. The disk has two opposing surfaces, each of which is substantially planar and has abrasive mounted thereon. The disk's peripheral edge is held in place between the base shoulder and a ring that has a shoulder that is complementary to the disk's peripheral edge. The ring is fastened to the base with the abrasive of the first disk surface protruding through an aperture in the ring, and the opposing disk surface spaced from the base's surface. After the disk's first surface is worn, the disk can be turned around to expose the opposite surface's abrasive to a CMP pad.

In a polishing apparatus, a polishing tool including abrasive particles and a binder for bonding together the abrasive particles is pressed against a substrate to polish the substrate. The polishing apparatus has a light source for irradiating a polishing surface with light rays for weakening a bond force of the binder for bonding together the abrasive particles, and a waste matter removing mechanism for forcefully removing waste matter produced by polishing or waste matter produced by irradiation. By irradiating the polishing surface with the light rays, dressing of the polishing surface is performed, and products resulting from dressing and the like are removed. The polishing apparatus supplies abrasive particles to the polishing surface stably by dressing and allows high-speed polishing of the substrate.

Superabrasive tools and their methods of manufacture are disclosed. In one aspect, a method of improving retention of superabrasive particles held in a solidified organic material layer of an abrading tool, a portion of each of said superabrasive particles protruding out of the solidified organic material layer is provided. The method may include securing a plurality of superabrasive particles in the solidified organic material layer in an arrangement that minimizes mechanical stress impinging on the protruding portion of any individual superabrasive particle when used to abrade a work piece. As an example, the arrangement of the plurality of superabrasive particles may be configured to uniformly distribute frictional forces across substantially each superabrasive particle.

A conditioning disk and a conditioner for a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) pad, and a method of fabricating, reworking, and cleaning the conditioning disk, are utilized to improve conditioning efficiency, and to reduce production expenses. The conditioning disk for a CMP pad is divided into regions defined by a size difference of abrasive grains formed on the body surface in each region of the conditioning disk. The method of fabricating the conditioning disk is performed by forming adhesive films for attaching the abrasive grains onto the body surface multiple times. In addition, a used conditioning disk may be reworked by detaching the abrasive grains from the body, and attaching new abrasive grains. A used conditioning disk can also be cleaned of by-products of the conditioning process by a cleaning method using a HF solution or BOE (buffered oxide etch) solution.