4812results about "Revolution surface grinding machines" patented technology

Methods are provided for controlling adjustable pressure zones of a CMP carrier. A method comprises determining a first thickness of a layer on a wafer underlying a first zone of the carrier. A first portion of the layer underlying the first zone is removed. The first zone is configured to exert a first pressure against the second surface of the wafer. A second thickness of the layer underlying the first zone is determined and a target thickness corresponding to a predetermined thickness profile is selected. A second pressure for the first zone is calculated using the first thickness, the second thickness, the first pressure, and the target thickness. The pressure exerted by the first zone against the second surface of the wafer is adjusted to the second pressure and the steps are repeated for a second zone.

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.

A round-shank bit for a coal cutting machine or the like, having a bit head and a bit shank, wherein the bit head has a bit tip, maintained by a base element in a receptacle of the bit head. Starting at the base element, the bit tip tapers in a direction toward the free end of the bit tip, wherein the base element forms a maximum diameter of the bit tip, and wherein the bit tip has recesses on its outer contour. In order to assure good rotational behavior over the entire length of the operating time, the base element has the recesses on an outer circumference forming the maximum diameter.

The present invention provides a wafer carrier that includes a plurality of concentric sealing members that provide a seal, with the outer seal independently movable to allow cleaning of a peripheral backside of the wafer to occur while the wafer is still attached to the wafer carrier, and a plurality of vacuum openings that a re disposed only adjacent to an inner side of the inner seal at a location corresponding to the backside periphery of the wafer.

An improved pad and process for polishing metal damascene structures on a semiconductor wafer. The process includes the steps of pressing the wafer against the surface of a polymer sheet in combination with an aqueous-based liquid that optionally contains sub-micron particles and providing a means for relative motion of wafer and polishing pad under pressure so that the moving pressurized contact results in planar removal of the surface of said wafer, wherein the polishing pad has a low elastic recovery when said load is removed, so that the mechanical response of the sheet is largely anelastic. The improved pad is characterized by a high energy dissipation coupled with a high pad stiffness. The pad exhibits a stable morphology that can be reproduced easily and consistently. The pad surface resists glazing, thereby requiring less frequent and less aggressive conditioning. The benefits of such a polishing pad are low dishing of metal features, low oxide erosion, reduced pad conditioning, longer pad life, high metal removal rates, good planarization, and lower defectivity (scratches and Light Point Defects).

Bonded abrasive tools, e.g., grinding wheels, can be reinforced using, for instance, one or more fibreglass web(s) having a surface of glass per unit of at least 0.2. Alternatively or in addition, the fibreglass web has a thickness of 2 mm or less. The web can be designed to provide improved adhesion between the fibreglass reinforcement and the mixture employed to form the bonded abrasive tool. In some examples, the middle reinforcement at the neutral zone of the wheel can be eliminated or minimized.

In a depressed-center abrasive wheel assembly a reinforcement layer of polygonal shape is located between a front face of the abrasive wheel and a front flange. The reinforcement layer is dimensioned to entirely cover the depressed center portion of the wheel. An example of polygonal reinforcement layer has a hexagonal shape and is made of fiberglass cloth. A polygonal shape reinforcement layer can also be employed between the front flange and the front face in an abrasive flat wheel assembly that employs a wheel without internal reinforcement.

The present invention provides a polishing pad for electrochemical mechanical polishing of conductive substrate. The pad comprises a plurality of grooves formed in a polishing surface of the polishing pad, the grooves being adapted to facilitate the flow of polishing fluid over the polishing pad. The conductive layers are respectively formed in the grooves and are in electrical communication with each other.

The invention provides a polishing pad for chemical-mechanical polishing comprising a polymeric material comprising two or more adjacent regions, wherein the regions have the same polymer formulation and the transition between the regions does not include a structurally distinct boundary. In a first embodiment, a first region and a second adjacent region have a first and second non-zero void volume, respectively, wherein the first void volume is less than the second void volume. In a second embodiment, a first non-porous region is adjacent to a second adjacent porous region, wherein the second region has an average pore size of about 50 μm or less. In a third embodiment, at least two of an optically transmissive region, a first porous region, and an optional second porous region, are adjacent. The invention further provides methods of polishing a substrate comprising the use of the polishing pads and a method of producing the polishing pads.

A fixed abrasive polishing pad includes a base and a plurality of polishing layers on the base, wherein each polishing layer includes abrasive particles and apertures in a polishing surface of the polishing layer.

A method and apparatus for monitoring polishing pad wear during processing is developed to extend the pad's useful life, and maintain pad uniformity. This is accomplished in the present invention by measuring and monitoring the diminished pad thickness using a non-intrusive measurement system, and creating a closed-loop system for adjusting the chemical-mechanical polishing tool process parameters. The non-intrusive measurement system consists of an interferometer measurement technique utilizing ultrasound or electromagnetic radiation transmitters and receivers aligned to cover any portion of the radial length of a polishing pad surface. The measurement system is sensitive to relative changes in pad thickness for uniformity, and to abrupt changes such as detecting wafer detachment from the CMP wafer carrier.

Proposed is a cutting wheel bladed on the outer periphery of a base wheel with abrasive particles, e.g., particles of diamond and cubic boron nitride, suitable for cutting of a hard and brittle material such as a sintered block of a rare earth-based magnet alloy with good cutting accuracy and low material loss by cutting. The cutting wheel is an integral disk body consisting of a base wheel of a relatively small thickness made from a cemented metal carbide, e.g., tungsten carbide particles cemented with metallic cobalt, instead of conventional steel materials and a cutting blade formed on the outer periphery of the base wheel which contains from 10 to 80% by volume of the abrasive particles having a specified average particle diameter.

A cylindrical, abrasive grinding wheel having a cylindrical abrasive region with an abrasive surface at an outer circular band thereof. The abrasive region includes layers of abrasive particles. The layers of abrasive particles can be tilted with respect to an axis of rotation of the grinding wheel or they can such that grooving in the grinding wheel and a workpiece ground by the grinding wheel can be reduced. Alternatively, the abrasive region can be formed from a plurality of abrasive segments each having layers of abrasive particles. The layers of abrasive particles can be staggered in the direction of the axis of rotation from one segment to another. This can also reduce grooving in the grinding wheel and workpieces.

A conductive polishing pad that includes one or more anodes and one or more cathodes formed at or near the polishing surface of a polishing pad. The anodes and cathodes are connected to a wiring network that is part of an electrical connector system that allows for a current source to be connected to the polishing pad and provide a current to the anodes and cathodes even if the polishing pad is moving relative to the current source. An electrolytic polishing fluid introduced between the polishing surface and the metal layer of a wafer forms an electrical circuit between the anode, cathode and the metal layer. The conductive polishing pad allows for electrochemical mechanical polishing (ECMP) to be performed on a conventional chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) tool.

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.

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.

An abrasive article may include an abrasive body having a grinding layer, where the grinding layer may include a bond and abrasive particles contained within the bond. The abrasive body also may include a volumetric ratio GLV_b/GLV_ap of at least about 0.4, where GLV_b is a volume percent of bond for a total volume of the grinding layer and GLV_ap is a volume percent of abrasive particles for a total volume of the grinding layer. The abrasive particles may include seeded sol-gel ceramic and may have an average particle size of at least about 600 microns. In addition, the abrasive particles may include a coupling agent that may include an organic material with a silane functional group. Prior to formation of the abrasive article, the abrasive particles may be coated by the coupling agent at a ratio A_COA/A_AB of at least about 0.1, where C_COA is the amount of coupling agent in grams in a pre-formation mixture and A_AB is the amount of abrasive particles in pounds (lbs) in the pre-formation mixture.

A carrier head for chemical mechanical polishing of a substrate has a base and a retaining ring positioned beneath the base. The retaining ring includes a main portion with a first surface to apply a load to a perimeter portion of the back surface of the substrate and an annular projection with a second surface to retain the substrate. A bottom surface of the projection is separated from a top surface of a polishing pad by a gap.

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.

There are disclosed a polishing method and a polishing device in which cleaning of a glass substrate surface can be achieved to a high level. A glass substrate (MD substrate 1) in the shape of a circular disc having a circular hole in a center portion is immersed in an abrasive liquid 50 containing free abrasive grains, and an inner peripheral end surface of the glass substrate is polished using the abrasive liquid containing the free abrasive grains by rotating a rotary brush 4 or a polishing pad in contact with the inner peripheral end surface.

Various embodiments of a planarization device and methods of using the same are provided. In one aspect, a device for planarizing a surface of a semiconductor workpiece is provided that includes a table for holding a quantity of an electrically conducting solution thereon. A member is included for holding the semiconductor workpiece such that the surface is in contact with the solution and operates as a working electrode. The member has a first conductor for establishing electrical connection with the semiconductor workpiece. A counter electrode is provided for making electrical connection with the solution and a reference electrode is provided for making electrical connection with the solution with a known electrode potential. A power source is operable to control the electric potential between the working electrode and the counter electrode. Slurry consumption may be dramatically reduced and static etch rate due to aborts may be virtually eliminated.

A chemical-mechanical polishing system which is particularly well suited for use in the manufacture of semiconductor devices or the like. The invention is directed to a polishing pad composition comprising a high modulus phase component and a low modulus phase component. The multi-phase polishing pads are very efficient and effective in providing high performance polishing along an entire polishing surface interface.

A method for planarizing a dielectric layer on a semiconductor wafer is provided. In one aspect, the wafer is coated with a resist and the resist selectively removed forming an uncoated peripheral portion of the wafer. The partially coated wafer is then exposed to an etchant such as RIE to etch the dielectric material not covered by the resist and forming a profiled dielectric layer having a thinner peripheral dielectric portion and a remaining thicker original dielectric central portion. The profiled wafer is then planarized using CMP. The dielectric layer is typically SiO2, PSG, BSP, or BPSG. In another method and apparatus of the invention, a dielectric coated wafer is secured to a rotating turntable and a liquid etchant sprayed at the periphery of the wafer from a distribution conduit to etch and remove dielectric from a circumferential edge of the wafer forming a profiled dielectric layer as above which is then planarized by CMP. In another aspect of the invention, a CMP polished semiconductor wafer having an edge bead is planarized by polishing only the edge bead of the dielectric layer using a special polishing tool or a CMP apparatus to remove the edge bead from the dielectric layer. Planarized semiconductor wafers made using the method and apparatus of the invention are also provided.

A semiconductor substrate processing method and apparatus, more specifically, a method and apparatus for polishing a substrate or semiconductor wafer in a polishing system. In one embodiment, the system includes one or more polishing modules, an input module, a first robot and a second robot that provides a compact polishing system that has a minimal tool footprint. The first robot is adapted to transfer the substrate to the input module, while the second robot is adapted to transfer the substrate between the input module and the one or more polishing modules. In another embodiment, the first and second robots have rotary actuators coupled to their grippers that enable the substrate to be orientated between a horizontal and vertical position. The input module is adapted to maintain the substrate in a vertical orientation. The vertical orientation of the substrates facilitates integration of a cleaning system that cleans the substrates while in the vertical orientation.

A polishing apparatus (1) has a polishing pad (22), a top ring (20) for holding a semiconductor wafer (W), a vertical movement mechanism (24) operable to move the top ring (20) in a vertical direction, a distance measuring sensor (46) operable to detect a position of the top ring (20) when a lower surface of the top ring (20) is brought into contact with the polishing pad (22), and a controller (47) operable to calculate an optimal position of the top ring (20) to polish the semiconductor wafer (W) based on the position detected by the distance measuring sensor (46). The vertical movement mechanism (24) includes a ball screw mechanism (30, 32, 38, 42) operable to move the top ring (20) to the optimal position.

A rotary tool (T) has a rotary segment (10) with an opposed surface opposed to a work surface and a plurality of cutting parts (20) arranged on the opposed surface. Some cutting parts (20) include tips (22a) made of a grinding tool segment obtained by binding abrasive grains by a metal binder and the other cutting parts (20) include tips (24a) made of a sintered material harder than the grinding tool segment, and the respective cutting parts (20) are arranged such that the tips (24a) are located at positions more outward than the tips (22a) with respect to radial directions of the rotary segment.

For use with a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus for polishing a semiconductor wafer having a platen, a polishing pad and a wafer carrier, an optical closed-loop control system. In one embodiment, the system includes a plurality of optical probes impacting a corresponding probe window and rigidly mountable through the platen. The system also includes a flash lamp configured to provide light to each of the plurality of optical probes and minimize an exposure time of the light onto the semiconductor wafer, a spectrograph configured to spatially image light received by each of the plurality of optical probes to a common charge-coupled device and produce real-time spectral reflectometry data therefrom. The system further includes a control subsystem configured to analyze the real-time spectral reflectometry data and determine at least one wafer state parameter therefrom, and cause the polishing to be adjusted based upon the at least one wafer state parameter.

An apparatus for planarizing a work piece includes an easily assembled work carrier. The carrier includes a carrier insert having a work piece bladder clamped to a carrier backing plate with a plurality of clamps to form a plurality of web plenums. The outer edge of the bladder is supported by a rib that is coupled to a carrier plenum. By adjusting the pressure in the carrier plenum, the pressure exerted on the edge of a work piece during a planarization operation can be adjusted. The carrier also includes a floating wear ring that surrounds the work piece bladder and a work piece mounted on that bladder. By adjusting the force exerted by the wear ring on a polishing pad, independently of the pressure exerted by the rib at the edge of the bladder, the material removal rate near the edge of the work piece can be controlled.

Method for manufacturing a dental instrument having a desired machined configuration, without twisting the instrument. A blank of superelastic material is brought to an annealed state comprising a phase structure including a rhombohedral phase alone or in combination with austenite and/or martensite, or a combination of martensite and austenite. In this annealed state, a portion of the annealed material is removed at low temperature, for example less than about 100° C., and advantageously at ambient temperature, to form a final machined configuration for the instrument. The instrument is then heat treated and rapidly quenched to a superelastic condition.

A grinding wheel has a disc having a connection hole formed at a center thereof, to which a rotation axis of a grinder is connected, and a plurality of abrasive segments detachably connected to a surface of the disc. A plurality of fixing recesses are radially formed on the surface of the disc at an interval and fixing protrusions having a shape corresponding to the fixing recess are formed on bottom surfaces of the abrasive segments, so that the abrasive segments are connected to the disc by inserting the fixing protrusions into the fixing recesses. According to the grinding wheel, when the abrasive segment is worn away or inferior as it is used for a long time, it has only to replace the corresponding abrasive segment only. Accordingly, an economical efficiency is high.