Surface plate protecting device in CMP apparatus

Abstract

Damage of a surface plate used in a CMP apparatus due to troubles generated in repair or replacement of the surface plate, operation of the CMP apparatus, etc. is prevented. In order to solve the problem, the present invention provides a surface plate protecting device in the CMP apparatus, which is a surface plate 2 used in the CMP apparatus, wherein a polishing pad 16 is replaceably bonded with the upper surface of a sheet 8, and the lower surface of the sheet 8 is bonded with the upper surface of the surface plate 2 by an adhesive agent 9 having adhesive force larger than the adhesive force of the polishing pad 16, so that damage or the like of the surface of the surface plate 2 generated due to troubles, etc. in polishing of a wafer can be blocked by the sheet 8.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to a surface plate protecting device in a CMP apparatus and particularly relates to a surface plate protecting device in a CMP apparatus capable of preventing damage or the like on the surface of a surface plate generated in a CMP operation or the like.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Conventionally, surface plate protection devices in CMP apparatuses of this type have never been present. The technique of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2001-131500 is known as a technique closest to that. In the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2001-131500, a double-sided adhesive tape is wound around in the state in which a separator is attached to one side of the double-sided adhesive tape and a polishing cloth is attached to the other side, and the adhesive surfaces of the both sides of the double-sided tape are protected by the separator so that a polishing pad is not warped due to...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0022]In the second aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the invention described in the first aspect, since the sheet is bonded with the upper surface of the surface plate having the large adhesive force, the polishing pad bonded with the upper surface of the sheet by the adhesive agent having the adhesive force smaller than the adhesive force of the above mentioned adhesive agent can be independently and readily peeled off from the upper surface of the sheet. Therefore, regular replacement operations of the polishing pad can be readily executed. As a matter of course, since the upper surface of the surface plate is protected by the sheet also during the replacement operation of the polishing pad, there is an advantage that damage, etc. is not generated on the upper surface of the surface plate.

[0023]In the third aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the invention described in the first or second aspect, since the sheet is formed by a material excellent in chemical resistant property, the sheet is not eroded by the slurry, which is, for example, acidic or alkaline, during the polishing operation of the wafer by the CMP apparatus, and there is an advantage that the upper surface of the surface plate is always protected so as to prevent damage of the upper surface of the surface plate.

[0024]In the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the invention described in the first or third aspect, since the friction coefficient of the lower surface of the sheet is increased and the adhesive agent having the adhesive force equal to or more than the adhesive force of the polishing pad is used, the adhesive force between the sheet and the upper surface of the surface plate is reliably increased, and there is an advantage that, in regular replacement of the polishing pad, the polishing pad can be independently, readily, and reliably peeled off from the sheet bonded with the upper surface of the surface plate.

[0025]In the invention of the fifth aspect, the sheet is bonded with the upper surface of the surface plate by the adhesive agent having the large adhesive force, and the polishing cloth is bonded with the upper surface of the sheet by the adhesive agent having the adhesive force smaller than that of the above mentioned adhesive agent; therefore, the polishing cloth can be independently and readily peeled off from the upper surface of the sheet. Therefore, there is an advantage that the regular replacement operation of the polishing cloth can be readily executed.

[0026]In the invention of the sixth aspect, in addition to the effects of the invention described in the first, second, or third aspect, since the sheet is coated in advance by the adhesive agent having the large adhesive force, the sheet is bonded with the upper surface of the surface plate by using the adhesive agent having the large adhesive force, and the polishing pad is bonded with the upper surface of the sheet; as a result, there is an advantage that the regular replacement operation of the polishing pad becomes more convenient.

[0027]In the invention of the seventh aspect, in addition to the effects of the invention described in the fifth or sixth aspect, since the adhesive agents coating the sheet in advance are protected by the outer coating sheets until adhesion of the sheet with the upper surface of the surface plate or adhesion of the polishing cloth, there is an advantage that the adhesive force is reliably maintained without damaging the adhesive agents so as to execute the bonding.

Problems solved by technology

Also, the surface of the surface plate is sometimes damaged due to a trouble such as projection of a wafer in wafer polishing.

Meanwhile, there is close relation between the shape of the surface of the surface plate and the wafer polishing shape; and, when the surface of the surface plate is, for example, damaged, the polishing performance of the wafer is affected depending on the degree of the damage.

Therefore, when the surface of the surface plate is damaged or dented, the surface plate has to be repaired or replaced by a new surface plate.

However, the repairing operation in the state in which the surface plate is attached to the CMP apparatus is difficult.

Also, since the weight of the surface plate is heavy, the replacement operation is also not easy and requires considerably long operation time, and the operation of the CMP apparatus has to be stopped for a corresponding period of time; thus, there are problems that the operation efficiency of the CMP apparatus is reduced and, in addition, the economic burden is increased due to the synergetic effects of high manufacturing cost of the surface plate per se and labor and time taken therefore.

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