CMP Polishing Pad with Buried Compressibility Stripe
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing polishing pads for Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) struggle to balance rigidity and compressibility, which affects the flatness and uniformity of semiconductor wafers, leading to increased processing time and reduced productivity.
Innovation Solution
A polishing pad with a compressibility-aiding stripe buried within the pad body, where the compressibility of the stripe is greater than the pad body, enhancing the pad's overall compressibility and rigidity, achieved through a fabricating method involving a mold and polymer material, with the stripe arranged in various configurations such as parallel, radial, or spiral to optimize wafer flatness and uniformity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a high-rigidity polishing pad is used, then wafer flatness is improved, but wafer uniformity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The polishing pad incorporates regions of different rigidity: a high-rigidity base layer for overall flatness support, and localized low-rigidity regions (compressibility-aiding stripes) for uniformity enhancement. This spatial variation in material properties allows simultaneous achievement of both wafer flatness and uniformity
2Manufacturing precision
If a high-compressibility polishing pad is used, then wafer uniformity is improved, but wafer flatness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The polishing pad structure includes a high-rigidity base layer that maintains overall flatness, with localized high-compressibility regions (compressibility-aiding stripes) embedded within. These localized soft regions provide the necessary compressibility for uniformity without compromising the global structural rigidity
3Manufacturing precision
If separate high-rigidity and high-compressibility polishing pads are used sequentially, then both flatness and uniformity are improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the functions of separate high-rigidity and high-compressibility polishing pads into a single integrated structure. The multi-layer construction with different rigidity regions allows both flatness and uniformity to be achieved in one polishing operation, eliminating the need for sequential pad changes
Data Source
AI summary
A polishing pad having a compressibility-aiding stripe buried therein is fabricated by assembling the compressibility-aiding stripe in a mold cavity, filling the mold cavity with a polymer material, and releasing the polishing pad from the mold. Embodiments include assembling a compressibility-aiding stripe comprising a solid pillar of material having a larger compressibility than that of the polishing pad body, and releasing a single layer polishing pad from the mold.