Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100099333 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING SHEAR FORCE BETWEEN THE WAFER HEAD AND POLISHING PAD IN CHEMICAL MECHANICAL POLISHING - A method for (a) determining the shear force between a wafer head and a polishing pad in a polishing tool using a CMP polishing tool with a plate above the wafer head which hangs or rests on the plate. The plate is connected to the CMP polishing tool by (b) low friction motion means (c). A load cell sensor is fixed to the framework of the polishing tool or another immovable structure. (d) The load cell determines the force from the leading edge of the plate when the wafer head is in contact with the polishing pad. (e) Signals from the load cell sensor reporting the shear force. A CMP polishing tool which includes elements corresponding to each of points (a)-(e) in the above method. | 04-22-2010 |
20100107726 | DEVICE FOR DETERMINING THE COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION OF DIAMOND CONDITIONER DISCS AND A METHOD OF USE THEREOF - A device for determining the coefficient of friction of diamond conditioner discs and a method of use thereof. The device is a solid base means comprising a block of granite with a smooth flat upper surface, a diamond conditioner disc counter surface means comprising a removable sheet of polycarbonate, a means for moving the diamond conditioner disc comprising an assembly parallel to and perpendicular to the surface of the said slab and overlain material along which a plate, the surface of which is parallel to the surface of the assembly and perpendicular to the surface of the said slab and overlain material, is moved by a screw, a means for securing the diamond conditioner disc comprising a holder bolted to the said plate that is capable of riding just above the surface of the slab and overlain material with an anterior face with respect to the direction of motion that is concave and capable of securely holding a diamond conditioner disc placed grinding face down upon the said overlain material the top of which is open so that load may be applied to the diamond conditioner disc and a means for measuring the shear force imparted by the moving diamond conditioner disc comprising a load cell. Shear force and down force are determined using the above apparatus and the coefficient of friction of the diamond conditioner disc and the said sheet are calculated therefrom. | 05-06-2010 |
20100112911 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR THE INJECTION OF CMP SLURRY - The present invention comprises an apparatus for injecting slurry between the wafer and the pad in chemical mechanical polishing of semiconductor wafers comprising a solid crescent shaped injector the concave trailing edge of which is fitted to the size and shape of the leading edge of the polishing head with a gap of up to 1 inch, the bottom surface of which faces the pad and rests on it with a light load, and through which CMP slurry or components thereof are introduced through one or more openings in the top of the injector and travel through a channel or reservoir the length of the device to the bottom where it or they exit multiple openings in the bottom of the injector, are spread into a thin film, and are introduced between the surface of the polishing pad and the wafer along the leading edge of the wafer in quantities such that all or most of the slurry is introduced between the wafer and the polishing pad and a method of use therefor. | 05-06-2010 |
20100186479 | METHOD FOR COUNTING AND CHARACTERIZING AGGRESSIVE DIAMONDS IN CMP DIAMOND CONDITIONER DISCS - The present invention is a method for determining the location of and distinguishing aggressive diamonds from active diamonds on a diamond conditioner disc, comprising: (a) contacting a diamond conditioner disc with a hard surface, wherein the diamond-containing side of the diamond conditioning disc is facing the hard surface, (b) pushing the conditioner disc a sufficient distance that all diamonds could possibly be scratching the surface at the same time and at least a distance corresponding to the length of the said diamond conditioner disc (c) observing number and position of the scratches left by diamonds on the hard surface to determine the number and position of active diamonds on the diamond conditioner disc, and (d) selecting the diamonds, the marks for which are the most pronounced and which comprise 50% or more of the total furrow area observed for all of the active diamonds in descending order of furrow are plus any diamonds in excess of the number needed to achieve said 50% or more whose individual furrow area is 2% or more, which diamonds are determined to be aggressive diamonds, or impressing the diamond conditioner disc under a load onto a hard surface and the impression of the most aggressive diamonds in the hard surface being confirmed by microscopic examination to in turn confirm the position and aggressiveness of the aggressive diamonds observed or (e) contacting a diamond conditioner disc with a hard surface, wherein the diamond-containing side of the diamond conditioning disc is facing the hard surface, (f) pushing the conditioner disc a sufficient distance that all diamonds could possibly be scratching the surface at the same time and at least a distance corresponding to the length of the said diamond conditioner disc (g) observing number and position of the scratches left by diamonds on the hard surface to determine the number and position of active diamonds on the diamond conditioner disc, (h) the hard surface further comprises a layer of contrasting material such that when the diamond conditioner disc moves across the hard surface, the said diamond conditioner disc crosses the limits of the layer entirely from one end to the other and scratches the layer of contrasting material on the hard surface thereby leaving a visible mark, (i) the said layer is between 8 and 15 microns thick and (j) selecting the diamonds which cut entirely through the said layer allowing backlighting to be easily viewed. | 07-29-2010 |
20100216373 | METHOD FOR CMP UNIFORMITY CONTROL - A method for injecting slurry between the wafer and the pad in chemical mechanical polishing of semiconductor wafers comprising a solid crescent shaped injector the concave trailing edge of which is fitted to the size and shape of leading edge of the polishing head with a gap of between 0 and 3 inches, the bottom surface facing the pad, which rests on the pad with a light load, and through which CMP slurry or components thereof are introduced through one or more openings in the top of the injector and travel through a channel or reservoir the length of the device to the bottom where it or they exit multiple openings in the bottom of the injector, are spread into a thin film, and are introduced at the junction of the surface of the polishing pad and the wafer along the leading edge of the wafer in quantities small enough that all or most of the slurry is introduced between the wafer and the polishing pad, wherein multiple inlets for the introduction of fluids to different points in the channel or directly to the bottom surface of the injector are utilized and some or all of which inlets are fitted with means for controlling the flow of fluid and adjustment is made to the said flow control means during or after polishing to adjust slurry delivery to the wafer surface to improve uniformity of removal rate at the wafer surface. | 08-26-2010 |
20100265576 | CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY PAD SAMPLE HOLDER THAT MEASURES DISPLACEMENT AND METHOD OF USING THE SAME - The present invention is a sample holder for confocal microscopy of CMP pad samples cut or otherwise removed from either new or used CMP pads that maintains a uniform load and pressure over the part of the sample visible to the confocal microscope by placing the pad behind a transparent window and holding it against the said window by a means comprising upper transparent window retaining means having an offset adjacent the transparent window having the same or essentially the same refractive index as the pad material so that when the pad is held against the transparent window, the edges of the pad are outside the outer edge of the transparent window; lower pad retaining means to press the pad under a known/load against the transparent window, which lower pad retaining means has a size less than the size of the pad; spherical force transmitting means pressed against the lower pad retaining means; through a load cell to measure the load transferred to the sample through lower pad retaining means, the spherical force transmitting means, the force transfer means and load cell from the posterior structural housing of the sample holder which is forced together with the said window retaining means by a force generating means; and means to adjust the known load and a method of confocal microscopy of new and used CMP pad samples to determine relative surface area and other characteristics using the said confocal sample. | 10-21-2010 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090124176 | REMOVABLE POLISHING PAD FOR CHEMICAL MECHANICAL POLISHING - The present invention offers a device for rendering CMP polishing pads easily and temporarily removable from and replaceable upon the platen of a CMP polishing apparatus comprising two sheets, the upper sheet attached to the said CMP polishing pad and the lower attached to the said platen, the said two sheets held together by pegs, pins or protrusions fitted to matching holes in the upper surface of the lower sheet and the lower surface of the upper sheet, said pegs or pins attached to either the upper or lower sheet and able to enter the hold on the adjoining sheet when the sheets are brought together and hold the sheets together by means of the sliding friction attendant upon a tight fit with the said holes. The device allows far easier metrology and storage of CMP polishing pads at different stages of use with no damage to the CMP pad, which may be put back into service at any time. The transparency of the upper sheet further allows users to prevent formation of bubbles in the adhesive holding the CMP pad to the upper sheet, thereby avoiding significant degradation of CMP performance. | 05-14-2009 |
20090268283 | CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY PAD SAMPLE HOLDER AND METHOD OF HAND USING THE SAME - The present invention is a sample holder for confocal microscopy of CMP pad samples cut or otherwise removed from either new or used CMP pads that maintains a uniform load and pressure over the part of the sample visible to the confocal microscope by placing the pad behind a transparent window and holding it against the said window by a means comprising upper transparent window retaining means having an offset adjacent the transparent window having the same or essentially the same refractive index as the pad material so that when the pad is held against the transparent window, the edges of the pad are outside the outer edge of the transparent window; lower pad retaining means to press the pad under a known/load against the transparent window, which lower pad retaining means has a size less than the size of the pad; spherical force transmitting means pressed against the lower pad retaining means;, through a load cell to measure the load transferred to the sample through lower pad retaining means, the spherical force transmitting means, the force transfer means and load cell from the posterior structural housing of the sample holder which is forced together with the said window retaining means by a force generating means; and means to adjust the known load and a method of confocal microscopy of new and used CMP pad samples to determine relative surface area and other characteristics using the said confocal sample. | 10-29-2009 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20110312182 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHEMICAL-MECHANICAL PLANARIZATION - A method and apparatus for performing chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) is disclosed, which in one embodiment includes a CMP tool for polishing a semiconductor wafer. The CMP tool includes a slurry mixture that has slurry beads. The slurry beads are formed of a polymer material. The slurry beads are used to remove summits and non-uniformities on the semiconductor wafer. In some embodiments the CMP tool includes a counter-face that replaces the polishing pad of a conventional CMP tool. In some embodiments the counter-face is made of polycarbonate. In another embodiment a slurry mixture for use with a CMP tool is disclosed. The slurry mixture includes slurry beads, where each of the slurry beads has a diameter of between 0.1 and 1000 microns, or in some embodiments a diameter of between 10 and 50 microns. | 12-22-2011 |
20120220206 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR THE INJECTION OF CMP SLURRY - Disclosed is an apparatus for injecting slurry onto the polishing pad surface of a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) tool. The disclosed apparatus includes a rectilinear shaped injector bottom, where multiple slots are created in the top surface of the injector bottom, allowing the injector bottom to flex and to conform to the polishing pad profile. CMP slurry or components thereof are introduced through one or more top surface openings, travel through the injector body, and exit through a slit or bottom surface opening. The slurry is spread into a thin film by the injector, and is introduced at the gap between the surface of the polishing pad and the wafer, along the leading edge of the wafer, in quantities small enough that all or most of the slurry is introduced between the wafer and the polishing pad. | 08-30-2012 |
20140011432 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR THE INJECTION OF CMP SLURRY - In a certain embodiment, the invention comprises an apparatus for injecting slurry between the wafer and the pad in chemical mechanical polishing of semiconductor wafers comprising an injector the leading edge of which possess bays, depressions or notches that capture spent slurry and hold it long enough for it to transfer heat from the polishing reaction to the pad or through the injector to the new slurry before the said spent slurry is thrown from the polishing pad. The effect is to considerably improve the removal rate, reduce slurry consumption and reduce operating time. | 01-09-2014 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20120089425 | Trip monitoring and inferential location based services - Techniques for trip monitoring and inferential location based services are provided. Itineraries for trips of a customer are monitored. As transactions complete in the itineraries, inferences are made to infer the geographical locations for the customer. The inferred geographical locations are used along with preferences for the customer to deliver customized content to the customer and to perform one or more automated actions on behalf of the customer associated with next transactions of the itineraries. | 04-12-2012 |
20120089426 | Techniques for automated profile-based transaction processing - Techniques for automated profile-based transaction processing are provided. A customer uses a cloud-based service to establish one or more transaction profiles. When that customer subsequently accesses a self-service device to perform a transaction, the cloud-based service is automatically contacted and the transaction is automatically completed on behalf of the customer at the self-service device using a particular one of the customer's transaction profiles. | 04-12-2012 |
20120091194 | Techniques for disparate barcode transaction processing - Techniques for disparate barcode transaction processing are provided. A first barcode associated with a first service is presented at a self-service device, which is associated with processing a second barcode for a second service; the first barcode is disparate from the second barcode. The self-service device identifies the second barcode as a foreign barcode and consults an external service. The external service identifies a next transaction of an itinerary for a customer associated with the second barcode and communicates that to the self-service device. The self-service device completes the next transaction on behalf of the customer. | 04-19-2012 |
20140122241 | Method and Apparatus for Injecting Advertisements into Mobile Documents - Techniques for injecting advertisements into mobile documents delivered to mobile devices are presented. Mobile documents are generated that are dynamically sized to the display of the mobile devices and relevant advertisements are also dynamically sized for use in the mobile documents. The mobile documents include an optical code that is encoded with information about a purchase by a customer and allow the customer access to the purchase, for example, an airline boarding pass, event pass or the like. | 05-01-2014 |
20140209674 | ACCESS LEVEL MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES - Access level management techniques which require less manual intervention. In one example, a registration system registers an individual for an access level and receives a mobile device identifier from the individual. The registration system generates an electronic pass, which may include a mobile barcode, granting the individual access at the requested access level, and provides the electronic pass to a mobile communication device of the individual using the mobile device identifier. In one application, an individual with a mobile barcode associated with priority access level privileges may be allowed to bypass a queue by using a priority lane. | 07-31-2014 |
20140278605 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF COMPLETING AN ACTIVITY VIA AN AGENT - A system and method of completing an activity via an agent. The agent is embodied as agent software, which facilitates and/or performs activities on behalf of a user. The agent software may have a characteristic persona that it presents to the user in the form of an avatar on a display. The agent software may be part of a computer program stored in a memory and executed by a processor of a smartphone or other computer. | 09-18-2014 |