Additive Manufacturing Polishing Pads for CMP Uniformity
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional polishing pad manufacturing methods fail to provide precise control over bulk pad properties such as storage modulus and loss modulus, leading to non-uniform polishing results due to phase-separated macromolecular domains and unpredictable material responses during chemical mechanical polishing processes.
Innovation Solution
The development of advanced polishing pads with tunable chemical and structural properties using additive manufacturing processes, where discrete features and geometries are formed from different materials, allowing for micron-scale control of pad architecture and properties, including storage modulus, loss modulus, hardness, and thermal conductivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional molding or casting methods are used to manufacture polishing pads, then production cost and time are reduced, but manufacturing precision and uniformity of pad properties deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The invention incorporates surface features directly into the mold cavity before injection molding, so that grooves, channels, and other surface structures are formed during the molding process itself rather than requiring subsequent machining operations. This preliminary action ensures uniform pad properties and precise dimensional control while simplifying the overall manufacturing process.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses injection molding parameters (temperature, pressure, injection rate) to precisely control the polymer material properties and pad uniformity. By optimizing these parameters, the process achieves high manufacturing precision for pad thickness, density, and surface feature dimensions while maintaining efficient production.
2Manufacturing precision
If polishing pads are made by injection molding one at a time, then manufacturing precision of individual pads is improved, but productivity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the mold into multiple cavities, allowing simultaneous production of multiple polishing pads in one injection cycle. Each cavity maintains precise dimensional control for surface features while the overall system achieves high productivity through parallel manufacturing of multiple pads.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention combines multiple pad production operations into a single injection molding cycle by using multi-cavity or stacked mold designs. This merging of operations maintains the manufacturing precision of individual pads while dramatically increasing production rate by producing multiple pads simultaneously.
3Productivity
If conventional casting and slicing methods are used, then productivity is improved, but manufacturing precision of pad thickness and surface features deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention forms the final pad thickness and surface features directly during injection molding, eliminating subsequent slicing and machining operations. This preliminary action ensures precise thickness uniformity and accurate surface feature dimensions while maintaining batch production capability through multi-cavity molds.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the mechanical slicing process with a direct injection molding process that forms pads to final dimensions. This substitution eliminates dimensional variations introduced by slicing while maintaining high productivity through efficient molding cycles and multi-cavity configurations.
4Ease of manufacture
If polishing pads are made from phase-separated macromolecular domains, then ease of manufacture is improved, but reliability of polishing performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses homogeneous thermoplastic polymer materials without phase-separated macromolecular domains. This homogeneity ensures predictable and reliable material response during polishing operations, while the materials remain easy to manufacture using standard injection molding processes for thermoplastics.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to advanced polishing pads with tunable chemical, material and structural properties, and new methods of manufacturing the same. According to one or more embodiments of the disclosure, it has been discovered that a polishing pad with improved properties may be produced by an additive manufacturing process, such as a three-dimensional (3D) printing process. Embodiments of the present disclosure thus may provide an advanced polishing pad that has discrete features and geometries, formed from at least two different materials that include functional polymers, functional oligomers, reactive diluents, and curing agents. For example, the advanced polishing pad may be formed from a plurality of polymeric layers, by the automated sequential deposition of at least one resin precursor composition followed by at least one curing step, wherein each layer may represent at least one polymer composition, and/or regions of different compositions.