| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080254722 | PAD CONDITIONER - A pad conditioner is provided for conditioning a polishing pad in chemical mechanical planarization (CMP). The pad conditioner comprises a plastic abrasive portion having a first hardness and optionally a brush portion having a second hardness less than the first hardness. The plastic abrasive portion comprises a base plate and a plurality of plastic nodules formed on a surface of the base plate, each of the plastic nodules having a planar top surface, wherein the planar top surface is positioned to substantially contact a polishing pad. The brush portion may be positioned adjacent to the plastic abrasive portion, the brush portion having a plurality of brush elements positioned to substantially contact the pad. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080305729 | THIN POLISHING PAD WITH WINDOW AND MOLDING PROCESS - A polishing pad is described that has a polishing layer with a polishing surface, an adhesive layer on a side of the polishing layer opposite the polishing layer, and a solid light-transmitting window extending through and molded to the polishing layer. The window has a top surface coplanar with the polishing surface and a bottom surface coplanar with a lower surface of the adhesive layer. A method of making a polishing pad includes forming an aperture through a polishing layer and an adhesive layer, securing a backing piece to the adhesive layer on a side opposite a polishing surface of the polishing layer, dispensing a liquid polymer into the aperture, and curing the liquid polymer to form a window. | 12-11-2008 |
| 20090061743 | METHOD OF SOFT PAD PREPARATION TO REDUCE REMOVAL RATE RAMP-UP EFFECT AND TO STABILIZE DEFECT RATE - A method and apparatus for pre-conditioning a new soft polishing pad and processing a substrate on a soft polishing pad is described. The method includes coupling a soft polishing pad to a platen, contacting the processing surface of the soft polishing pad with a conditioning disk, applying a pressure conditioning disk, removing the conditioning disk from contact with the processing surface of the soft polishing pad, and contacting a first substrate with the processing surface of the soft polishing pad to perform a polishing process on the first substrate. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20100081360 | USE OF PAD CONDITIONING IN TEMPERATURE CONTROLLED CMP - A method and apparatus for temperature control for a chemical mechanical polishing process is provided. In one embodiment, the method comprises polishing the substrate with a surface of a polishing pad assembly, measuring a real-time temperature of the surface of the polishing pad assembly, determining whether the real-time temperature of the surface of the polishing pad assembly is within a predetermined processing temperature range, and contacting the surface of the polishing pad assembly with a pad conditioner to adjust the temperature of the surface of the polishing pad assembly to fall within the predetermined temperature range. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100120330 | ENDPOINT CONTROL OF MULTIPLE-WAFER CHEMICAL MECHANICAL POLISHING - A computer-implemented method includes polishing substrates simultaneously in a polishing apparatus. Each substrate has a polishing rate independently controllable by an independently variable polishing parameter. Measurement data that varies with the thickness of each of the substrates is acquired from each of the substrates during polishing with an in-situ monitoring system. A projected thickness that each substrate will have at a target time is determined based on the measurement data. The polishing parameter for at least one substrate is adjusted to adjust the polishing rate of the at least one substrate such that the substrates have closer to the same thickness at the target time than without the adjustment. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100120331 | ENDPOINT CONTROL OF MULTIPLE-WAFER CHEMICAL MECHANICAL POLISHING - A computer-implemented method includes polishing substrates simultaneously in a polishing apparatus. Each substrate has a polishing rate independently controllable by an independently variable polishing parameter. Measurement data that varies with the thickness of each of the substrates is acquired from each of the substrates during polishing with an in-situ monitoring system. A projected time at which each substrate will reach a target thickness is determined based on the measurement data. The polishing parameter for at least one substrate is adjusted to adjust the polishing rate of the at least one substrate such that the substrates reach the target thickness closer to the same time than without the adjustment. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100279435 | TEMPERATURE CONTROL OF CHEMICAL MECHANICAL POLISHING - A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus including a platen for holding a pad having a polishing surface, a subsystem for holding a substrate and the polishing surface together during a polishing step, and a temperature sensor oriented to measure a temperature of the polishing surface, wherein the subsystem accepts the temperature measured by the sensor and is programmed to vary a polishing process parameter in response to the measured temperature. In an aspect, a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus having a platen for holding a pad having a polishing surface, a fluid delivery system for transporting a fluid from a source to the polishing surface, and a temperature controller which during operation controls the temperature of the fluid transported by the delivery system. | 11-04-2010 |
| 20100279585 | METHOD OF MAKING AND APPARATUS HAVING WINDOWLESS POLISHING PAD AND PROTECTED FIBER - A polishing system includes a polishing pad with an aperture that extends through all layers of the polishing pad and a light transmissive film positioned on top of a light-generating or light-guiding element of an optical monitoring system. | 11-04-2010 |
