CMP Conditioner Disk Head With Protective Wall for Pad Regeneration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Long-term use of polishing pads in chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) processes leads to diminished effectiveness due to by-products generated during the polishing process, necessitating frequent conditioning to maintain polishing quality.
Innovation Solution
A conditioner assembly with a conditioner disk and disk head, featuring a monolithic polymer resin structure and a protective wall, is used to condition the polishing pad, effectively removing contaminants and maintaining pad surface quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of stationary object
If the polishing pad is used for long-term repeated polishing, then the polishing pad accumulates by-products, but the polishing effectiveness diminishes
Solution Approach 1:
The conditioner assembly performs periodic conditioning operations on the polishing pad during the polishing process. The conditioner disk rotates in contact with the polishing pad surface at intervals, removing accumulated by-products and restoring polishing effectiveness without requiring pad replacement, thus maintaining reliability over extended service life.
2Reliability
If the conditioner assembly operates, then the polishing pad is conditioned effectively, but the conditioner spindle portion may be exposed to polishing fluid causing defects
Solution Approach 1:
The protective wall acts as an intermediary barrier between the polishing fluid and the conditioner spindle portion. It directs the polishing fluid away from the spindle area while allowing the conditioner disk to effectively contact and condition the polishing pad surface, preventing fluid-induced defects without compromising conditioning performance.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the disk head height is increased, then the protective wall can better shield the conditioner spindle, but the distance to the conditioner arm increases reducing conditioning efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The disk head height is optimized to a specific parameter range (0.3 to 0.7 times the distance from the lower surface of the disk head to the lower surface of the conditioner arm). This parameter optimization ensures sufficient protective wall height to shield the conditioner spindle from polishing fluid while maintaining adequate proximity between the conditioner arm and polishing pad for effective conditioning operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A polishing apparatus includes a rotatable platen that supports a polishing pad, a CMP head that holds an object to be processed on the platen, a fluid supply device configured to supply a polishing fluid onto the polishing pad, and a conditioner assembly configured to condition the polishing pad. The conditioner assembly includes a conditioner disk, a disk head including a disk plate coupled to the conditioner disk, and a protective wall protruding upwardly from the disk plate. The disk plate and the protective wall are a monolithic structure of polymer resin. A conditioner spindle portion is connected to a conditioner arm and to the disk head. The protective wall extends around the conditioner spindle portion in spaced apart relationship. A height of the disk head is 0.3 to 0.7 times a distance from a lower surface of the disk head to a lower surface of the conditioner arm.