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 |
20110212673 | POLISHING PAD WITH PARTIALLY RECESSED WINDOW - A polishing pad has an opaque polishing layer with an aperture therethrough and a polishing surface, and a solid light-transmissive window in the aperture. The solid light-transmissive window includes an outer portion secured to the polishing layer and an inner portion secured to the outer portion. The outer portion has a upper surface recessed relative to the polishing surface, whereas the inner portion has an upper surface that is substantially co-planar with the polishing surface. | 09-01-2011 |
20110282477 | ENDPOINT CONTROL OF MULTIPLE SUBSTRATES WITH MULTIPLE ZONES ON THE SAME PLATEN IN CHEMICAL MECHANICAL POLISHING - A plurality of substrates are polished simultaneously on the same polishing pad. A sequence of spectra is measured from each zone of each substrate, and for each measured spectrum in the sequence of spectra for each zone of each substrate, a best matching reference spectrum is determined from a library of reference spectra. For each zone of each substrate, a linear function is fit to a sequence of index values associated with the best matching reference spectra. For at least one zone, a projected time at which the zone will reach a target index value is determined based on the linear function, and the polishing parameter for at least one zone on at least one substrate is adjusted such that the at least one zone of the at least one substrate has closer to the target index at the projected time than without such adjustment. | 11-17-2011 |
20110300775 | Control of Overpolishing of Multiple Substrates on the Same Platen in Chemical Mechanical Polishing - A polishing method includes simultaneously polishing two substrates, a first substrate and a second substrate, on the same polishing pad. A default overpolishing time is stored and an in-situ monitoring system monitors the two substrates. The in-situ monitoring system further determines a first polishing endpoint time and a second polishing endpoint time of the first and second substrates, respectively. The polishing method further includes calculating an overpolishing stop time where the overpolishing stop time is between the first polishing endpoint time plus the default overpolishing time and the second polishing endpoint time plus the default overpolishing time. Polishing of the first substrate is continued past the first polishing endpoint time and polishing of the second substrate is continued past the second polishing endpoint time. Polishing of both the first substrate and the second substrate is halted simultaneously at the overpolishing stop time. | 12-08-2011 |
20110301847 | Automatic Initiation Of Reference Spectra Library Generation For Optical Monitoring - A method of generating reference spectra includes polishing a first substrate in a polishing apparatus, measuring a sequence of spectra from the first substrate during polishing with an in-situ optical monitoring system, for each spectrum in the sequence of spectra, determining a best matching reference spectrum from a first plurality of first reference spectra to generate a sequence of reference spectra, calculating a value of a metric of fit of the sequence of spectra to the sequence of reference spectra, comparing the value of the metric of fit to a threshold value and determining whether to generate a second library based on the comparison, and if the second library is determined to be generated, storing the sequence of spectra as a second plurality of reference spectra. | 12-08-2011 |
20120026492 | DETECTION OF LAYER CLEARING USING SPECTRAL MONITORING - A method of polishing includes polishing a substrate having a second layer overlying a first layer, measuring a sequence of groups of spectra of light from the substrate while the substrate is being polished, each group of the groups of spectra including spectra from different locations on the substrate, for each group, calculating a value for a dispersion parameter of the spectra in the group to generate a sequence of dispersion values, and detecting exposure of the first layer based on the sequence of dispersion values. | 02-02-2012 |
20120034844 | SPECTROGRAPHIC MONITORING USING INDEX TRACKING AFTER DETECTION OF LAYER CLEARING - A method of controlling polishing includes storing a library having a plurality of reference spectra, each reference spectrum of the plurality of reference spectra having a stored associated index value, polishing a substrate having a second layer overlying a first layer, measuring a sequence of spectra of light from the substrate during polishing, for each measured spectrum of the sequence of spectra, finding a best matching reference spectrum to generate a sequence of best matching reference spectra, determining the associated index value for each best matching spectrum from the sequence of best matching reference spectra to generate a sequence of index values, detecting exposure of the first layer, fitting a function to a portion of the sequence of index values corresponding to spectra measured after detection of exposure of the first layer, and determining at least one of a polishing endpoint or an adjustment for a polishing rate based on the function. | 02-09-2012 |
20120034845 | TECHNIQUES FOR MATCHING MEASURED SPECTRA TO REFERENCE SPECTRA FOR IN-SITU OPTICAL MONITORING - A method of controlling polishing includes storing a library having a plurality of reference spectra, polishing a substrate, measuring a sequence of spectra of light from the substrate during polishing, for each measured spectrum of the sequence of spectra, finding a best matching reference spectrum using a matching technique other than sum of squared differences to generate a sequence of best matching reference spectra, and determining at least one of a polishing endpoint or an adjustment for a polishing rate based on the sequence of best matching reference spectra. Finding a best matching reference spectrum may include performing a cross-correlation of the measured spectrum with each of two or more of the plurality of reference spectra from the library and selecting a reference spectrum with the greatest correlation to the measured spectrum as a best matching reference spectrum. | 02-09-2012 |
20120100781 | MULTIPLE MATCHING REFERENCE SPECTRA FOR IN-SITU OPTICAL MONITORING - A method of controlling polishing includes storing a plurality libraries, each library including a plurality of reference spectra, polishing a substrate, measuring a sequence of spectra of light from the substrate during polishing, and for each measured spectrum of the sequence of spectra, finding a best matching first reference spectrum from a first library from the plurality of libraries and finding a best matching second reference spectrum from a different second library from the plurality of libraries, determining a first value associated with the best matching first reference spectrum and determining a second value from the best matching second reference spectrum, and calculating a third value from the first value and the second value to generate a sequence of calculated third values. At least one of a polishing endpoint or an adjustment for a polishing rate can be determined based on the sequence of calculated third values. | 04-26-2012 |
20120258649 | 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. | 10-11-2012 |
20120276814 | AUTOMATIC SELECTION OF REFERENCE SPECTRA LIBRARY - A computer-implemented method of generating reference spectra includes polishing a plurality of set-up substrates, the plurality of set-up substrates comprising at least three set-up substrates, measuring a sequence of spectra from each of the plurality of set-up substrates during polishing with an in-situ optical monitoring system to provide a plurality of sequences of spectra, generating a plurality of sequences of potential reference spectra from the plurality of sequences of spectra, determining which sequence of potential reference spectra of the plurality of sequences provides a best match to remaining sequences of the plurality of sequences, and storing the sequence of potential reference spectra determined to provide the best match as reference spectra, and selecting and storing the sequence of potential reference spectra. | 11-01-2012 |
20130309951 | 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. | 11-21-2013 |
20140004626 | TEMPERATURE CONTROL OF CHEMICAL MECHANICAL POLISHING | 01-02-2014 |
20140024291 | Endpoint Detection During Polishing Using Integrated Differential Intensity - A method of controlling a polishing operation includes polishing a substrate, during polishing obtaining a sequence over time of measured spectra from the substrate with an in-situ optical monitoring system, for each measured spectrum from the sequence of measured spectra determining a difference between the measured spectrum and an immediate previous spectrum from the sequence, accumulating the difference for each measured spectrum to generate a total difference, comparing the total difference to a threshold, and detecting a polishing endpoint based on the comparison of the total difference to the threshold. | 01-23-2014 |
20140024292 | Polishing Control Using Weighting With Default Sequence - A method of controlling polishing includes storing a sequence of default values, polishing a substrate, monitoring the substrate during polishing with an in-situ monitoring system, generating a sequence of measured values from measurements from the in-situ monitoring system, combining the sequence of measured values with the sequence of default values to generate a sequence of modified values, fitting a function to the sequence of modified values, and determining at least one of a polishing endpoint or an adjustment for a polishing rate based on the function. | 01-23-2014 |
20140024293 | Control Of Overpolishing Of Multiple Substrates On the Same Platen In Chemical Mechanical Polishing - A polishing method includes simultaneously polishing a first substrate and a second substrate on the same polishing pad, storing a default overpolishing time, determining first and second polishing endpoint times of the first and substrates with the in-situ monitoring system, determining a difference between the first and second polishing endpoint times, and determining whether the difference exceeds a threshold. If the difference is less than the threshold, then an overpolishing stop time is calculated and polishing of the first substrate and the second substrates is halted simultaneously at the overpolishing stop time. If the difference is greater than the threshold, then first and second overpolishing stop times that equal the first and second endpoint times plus the default overpolishing time are calculated, and polishing of the first and second substrates is halted at the first and second overpolishing stop times, respectively. | 01-23-2014 |
20140024299 | Polishing Pad and Multi-Head Polishing System - A chemical mechanical polishing system includes a polishing pad, a platen to support the polishing pad, and two rotatable carrier heads configured to hold two substrates against the polishing pad at the same time. Each carrier head includes a retaining ring. Two actuators sweep the two carrier heads laterally across the polishing pad between positions closer to and farther from the center axis. A polishing surface of the polishing pad includes a center region with a first grooving pattern and an annular region with a second grooving pattern different than the first grooving pattern. A radius of the center region is equal to or less than a distance from a center axis of the platen to a closest outer edge of the two retaining rings when the carrier heads are in the closer positions. | 01-23-2014 |
20140030956 | CONTROL OF POLISHING OF MULTIPLE SUBSTRATES ON THE SAME PLATEN IN CHEMICAL MECHANICAL POLISHING - A polishing method includes positioning two substrates in contact with the same polishing pad. Prior to commencement of polishing and while the two substrates are in contact with the polishing pad, two starting values are generated from an in-situ monitoring system. Either a starting polishing time or a pressure applied to one of the substrates can be adjusted so that the two substrates have closer endpoint conditions. During polishing the two substrates are monitored with the in-situ monitoring system to generate a two sequences of values, and a polishing endpoint can be detected or an adjustment for a polishing parameter can be based on the two sequences of values. | 01-30-2014 |
20140141694 | In-Sequence Spectrographic Sensor - A method of controlling a polishing system includes polishing a substrate at a first polishing station, transporting the substrate to an in-line optical metrology system positioned between the first polishing station and a second polishing station, at the in-line optical metrology system measuring a spectrum reflected from the substrate, and generating a characterizing value from the spectrum, determining that the substrate needs rework based on the characterizing value, returning the substrate to the first polishing station and performing rework of the substrate at the first polishing station; and transporting the substrate to the second polishing station and polishing the substrate at the second polishing station. | 05-22-2014 |
20140176949 | Automatic Initiation Of Reference Spectra Library Generation For Optical Monitoring - A method of generating reference spectra includes polishing a first substrate in a polishing apparatus, measuring a sequence of spectra from the first substrate during polishing with an in-situ optical monitoring system, for each spectrum in the sequence of spectra, determining a best matching reference spectrum from a first plurality of first reference spectra to generate a sequence of reference spectra, calculating a value of a metric of fit of the sequence of spectra to the sequence of reference spectra, comparing the value of the metric of fit to a threshold value and determining whether to generate a second library based on the comparison, and if the second library is determined to be generated, storing the sequence of spectra as a second plurality of reference spectra. | 06-26-2014 |
20140222188 | ENDPOINT CONTROL OF MULTIPLE SUBSTRATES OF VARYING THICKNESS ON THE SAME PLATEN IN CHEMICAL MECHANICAL POLISHING - A difference between a first expected required polish time for a first substrate and a second expected required polish time for a second substrate is determined using a first pre-polish thickness and a second pre-polish thickness measured at an in-line metrology station. A duration of an initial period is determined based on the difference between the first expected required polish time and the second expected required polish time. For the initial period at a beginning of a polishing operation, no pressure is applied to whichever of the first substrate and the second substrate has a lesser expected required polish time while simultaneously pressure is applied to whichever of the first substrate and the second substrate has a greater expected required polish time. After the initial period, pressure is applied to both the first substrate and the second substrate. | 08-07-2014 |