Did You Know...
...that a workman who left the soap mixing machine on too long was responsible for making Ivory Soap? He was so embarrassed by his mistake that he threw the mess in a stream. Imagine his dismay when the evidence of his error floated to the surface! Result: Ivory soap, the soap that floats.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 6964602 | Methods and apparatuses for mechanical and chemical-mechanical planarization of microelectronic-device substrate assemblies on planarizing pads Apparatuses and methods for planarizing a microelectronic-device substrate assembly on a planarizing pad. In one aspect of the invention, material is removed from the substrate assembly by pressing the substrate assembly against a planarizing surface of a planarizin... | 11/15/2005 |
| 6964601 | Method for securing a polishing pad to a platen for use in chemical-mechanical polishing of wafers The present invention is related to a method for securing a polishing pad to the platen for use in chemical-mechanical polishing. Specifically, a polishing pad is attached to a platen using a reclosable, hook-and-pile fastener, whereby the platen-attachment fastener... | 11/15/2005 |
| 6962520 | Retaining rings, planarizing apparatuses including retaining rings, and methods for planarizing micro-device workpieces Retaining rings, planarizing apparatuses including retaining rings, and methods for mechanical and/or chemical-mechanical planarization of micro-device workpieces are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a carrier head for retaining a micro-device workpiece during m... | 11/08/2005 |
| 6962524 | Conductive polishing article for electrochemical mechanical polishing Embodiments of a ball assembly are provided. In one embodiment, a ball assembly includes a housing, a ball, a conductive adapter and a contact element. The housing has an annular seat extending into a first end of an interior passage. The conductive adapter is coupl... | 11/08/2005 |
| 6960532 | Suppressing lithography at a wafer edge Damage to the rim of a semiconductor wafer caused by etching processes is reduced by forming a rim of carbonized photoresist around the outer edge of the wafer, using a wafer edge tool to carbonize the outer rim of a positive tone photoresist. ... | 11/01/2005 |
| 6960122 | Optical disc repairing device An optical disc repairing device is mounted on a repairing machine base to perform cleaning, maintenance and repair of the optical disc. The repairing device includes a movement transmitting element, a connecting element mounted on the movement transmitting element,... | 11/01/2005 |
| RE38854 | Apparatus for and method for polishing workpiece A polishing apparatus for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer has a turntable with a polishing surface, and a top ring for holding a workpiece and pressing the workpiece against the polishing surface under a first pressing. The polishing apparatus ha... | 10/25/2005 |
| 6958005 | Polishing pad conditioning system A pad conditioning system for conditioning a polishing pad in conjunction with a workpiece polishing operation includes a pad conditioning head coupled with a positioning unit. The pad conditioning head includes a plurality of abrasive particles protruding from a su... | 10/25/2005 |
| 6955197 | Substrate carrier having door latching and substrate clamping mechanisms In a first aspect, an automatic door opener is provided that includes (1) a platform adapted to support a substrate carrier; (2) a door opening mechanism adapted to open a door of the substrate carrier while the substrate carrier is supported by the platform; and (3... | 10/18/2005 |
| RE38826 | Apparatus for and method for polishing workpiece A polishing apparatus for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer has a turntable with a polishing surface, and a top ring for holding a workpiece and pressing the workpiece against the polishing surface under a first pressing. The polishing apparatus ha... | 10/11/2005 |
| 6951506 | Polish pad with non-uniform groove depth to improve wafer polish rate uniformity The present invention describes a method for creating a differential polish rate across a semiconductor wafer. The profile or topography of the semiconductor wafer is determined by locating the high points and low points of the wafer profile. The groove pattern of a... | 10/04/2005 |
| 6951510 | Chemical mechanical polishing pad with grooves alternating between a larger groove size and a smaller groove size A chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) pad is provided. The CMP pad includes a groove pattern disposed on a polishing surface of the pad. The groove pattern is formed of an alternating sequence of spaced apart grooves. The alternating sequence of grooves comprises a ... | 10/04/2005 |
| 6950721 | Positioning substrate for semiconductor process A positioning substrate is used for performing a teaching operation on a transfer mechanism for transferring a target substrate in a semiconductor processing system. The positioning substrate includes a substrate body made of a material selected from the group consi... | 09/27/2005 |
| 6949016 | Gimballed conditioning apparatus A chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) conditioning apparatus is provided. The CMP conditioning apparatus is designed to connect to a positioning arm which is capable of applying the conditioning apparatus to a processing surface. Embodiments of the CMP condition... | 09/27/2005 |
| 6945861 | Polishing head of chemical mechanical polishing apparatus and polishing method using the same A chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) apparatus includes a polishing head that is composed of a carrier and a membrane, and is positioned on a polishing pad of a supporting part. The polishing head has a supporter installed at an internal center of the carrier, a ch... | 09/20/2005 |
| 6947518 | X-ray exposure apparatus, X-ray exposure method, X-ray mask, X-ray mirror, synchrotron radiation apparatus, synchrotron radiation method and semiconductor device An X-ray exposure apparatus comprises an X-ray mirror containing a material having an absorption edge only in at least either one of a wavelength region of less than 0.45 nm and a wavelength region exceeding 0.7 nm as to X-rays. ... | 09/20/2005 |
| 6947519 | X-ray exposure apparatus and method, semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and microstructure An X-ray exposure apparatus extracts exposure X-rays from light called synchrotron radiation from a synchrotron radiation source by an optical path including an X-ray mirror and performs exposure using the extracted X-rays. The X-ray mirror contains a material havin... | 09/20/2005 |
| 6942780 | Method and apparatus for processing a substrate with minimal edge exclusion An apparatus for processing a material on a wafer surface includes a cavity defined by a peripheral wall and configured to direct a process solution and direct it to the surface to to a first wafer surface region without being directed to a second wafer surface regi... | 09/13/2005 |
| 6942549 | Two-sided chemical mechanical polishing pad for semiconductor processing A chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) pad includes a unitary body having a first side and a second side, the first side having a plurality of holes formed therein, and the second side having a plurality of grooves formed therein. Each of the plurality of holes in th... | 09/13/2005 |
| 6942552 | Disc repair system A disc repair system which is provided for the purpose of consumer-repairing of scratches on optically-read discs (e.g., digitally recorded discs, known commonly, as “CD” discs or “DVD” discs, etc., containing audio or video or other formats of data informat... | 09/13/2005 |
| 6942543 | Substrate polishing apparatus The substrate polishing apparatus for polishing a polishing surface of a substrate comprises a film thickness monitoring device for monitoring a state of a film thickness of a thin film on the polishing surface of the substrate during polishing. The apparatus includ... | 09/13/2005 |
| 6939209 | Method and apparatus for global die thinning and polishing of flip-chip packaged integrated circuits A reliable, inexpensive “back side” thinning process and apparatus therefor, capable of globally thinning an integrated circuit die to a target thickness of 10 microns, and maintaining a yield of at least 80%, for chip repair and/or failure analysis of the packa... | 09/06/2005 |
| 6939210 | Slurry delivery arm A polishing fluid delivery apparatus has been provided that in one embodiment includes a support member, a dispense arm, a polishing fluid delivery tube and a variable restricting device. The dispense arm extends from an upper portion of the support member and has a... | 09/06/2005 |
| 6939211 | Planarizing solutions including abrasive elements, and methods for manufacturing and using such planarizing solutions A planarizing slurry for mechanical and/or chemical-mechanical polishing of microfeature workpieces. In one embodiment, the planarizing slurry comprises a liquid solution and a plurality of abrasive elements mixed in the liquid solution. The abrasive elements compri... | 09/06/2005 |
| 6939212 | Porous material air bearing platen for chemical mechanical planarization A platen for use in chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) systems includes a platen plate that has at least one recess defined therein. The at least one recess has an input port formed therein. A porous material is disposed in the at least one recess. The porous m... | 09/06/2005 |
| 6939200 | Method of predicting plate lapping properties to improve slider fabrication yield A method of predicting the lapping property of a charged lapping plate uses samples with a known lap surface. The samples are lapped on the plate and a non-invasive sensor is used to determine the lapping rate under a fixed load and rotation speed. The total frictio... | 09/06/2005 |
| 6939202 | Substrate retainer wear detection method and apparatus An apparatus and method are provided for detecting wear in substrate retainers used for chemical mechanical planarization processes. A substrate retainer is provided that is adapted to enable a sensor to detect when the wear edge of the retainer has worn to a critic... | 09/06/2005 |
| 6935935 | Measuring apparatus A measuring apparatus includes a heating unit for applying heat to a first point within a workpiece or on a surface of a workpiece and propagating the heat to a second point within the workpiece or on the surface of the workpiece. The measuring apparatus further inc... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6935922 | Methods and systems for generating a two-dimensional map of a characteristic at relative or absolute locations of measurement spots on a specimen during polishing Methods and systems for generating a two-dimensional map of a characteristic at relative or absolute locations of measurement spots on a specimen during polishing are provided. One method includes scanning a specimen with a measurement device during polishing to gen... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6935926 | System and method for reducing surface defects in integrated circuits The fabrication of integrated circuits entails the repeated application of many basic processing steps, for instance, planarization—the process of making a surface flat, or planar. One specific technique for making surfaces flat is chemical-mechanical planarizatio... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6935934 | Parallel alignment method and apparatus for chemical mechanical polishing A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a single polishing pad and a leaf structure having a pair of fingers. Each finger holds a carrier device designed to hold a wafer to be polished. The leaf structure is configured to apply ... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6935938 | Multiple-conditioning member device for chemical mechanical planarization conditioning A multiple-conditioning member device for chemical mechanical planarization conditioning is described. The multiple conditioning members may be used in a chemical mechanical planarization apparatus which further includes a movably mounted polishing member, a wafer h... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6937915 | Apparatus and methods for detecting transitions of wafer surface properties in chemical mechanical polishing for process status and control In chemical mechanical polishing apparatus, a wafer carrier plate is provided with a cavity for reception of a sensor positioned very close to a wafer to be polished. Energy resulting from contact between a polishing pad and an exposed surface of the wafer is transm... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6932672 | APPARATUS FOR IN-SITU OPTICAL ENDPOINTING ON WEB-FORMAT PLANARIZING MACHINES IN MECHANICAL OR CHEMICAL-MECHANICAL PLANARIZATION OF MICROELECTRONIC-DEVICE SUBSTRATE ASSEMBLIES AND METHODS FOR MAKING AND USING SAME Polishing pads, planarizing machines and methods for mechanical and/or chemical-mechanical planarization of microelectronic-device substrate assemblies. The polishing pads, for example, can be web-format pads, and the planarizing machines can be web-format machines.... | 08/23/2005 |
| 6932687 | Planarizing pads for planarization of microelectronic substrates A planarizing pad for planarizing a microelectronic substrate, and a method and apparatus for forming the planarizing pad. In one embodiment, planarizing pad material is mixed with compressed gas to form a plurality of discrete elements that are distributed on a sup... | 08/23/2005 |
| 6932679 | Apparatus and method for loading a wafer in polishing system The present invention includes a polishing pad or belt secured to a mechanism that allows the pad or belt to move in a reciprocating manner, i.e. in both forward and reverse directions, at high speeds. The constant bidirectional movement of the polishing pad or belt... | 08/23/2005 |
| 6929535 | Apparatus and method for degrading the information bearing capabilities of a disk Embodiments of the invention abrade the information bearing surface of a compact disc (CD), DVD or other digital information bearing disk, in order to render it unreadable by standard consumer grade disk readers. This is accomplished via embodiments of the invention... | 08/16/2005 |
| 6929530 | APPARATUS FOR IN-SITU OPTICAL ENDPOINTING ON WEB-FORMAT PLANARIZING MACHINES IN MECHANICAL OR CHEMICAL-MECHANICAL PLANARIZATION OF MICROELECTRONIC-DEVICE SUBSTRATE ASSEMBLIES AND METHODS FOR MAKING AND USING SAME Polishing pads, planarizing machines and methods for mechanical and/or chemical-mechanical planarization of microelectronic-device substrate assemblies. The polishing pads, for example, can be web-format pads, and the planarizing machines can be web-format machines.... | 08/16/2005 |
| 6926587 | CMP apparatus, CMP polishing method, semiconductor device and its manufacturing method A CMP apparatus is provided for polishing wafers that are substrates to be polished by CMP. The CMP apparatus comprises a stage that is structured to be rotatable and holds a wafer to be polished, a polishing head holding section that holds a polishing head equipped... | 08/09/2005 |
| 6926589 | Chemical mechanical polishing apparatus and methods using a flexible pad and variable fluid flow for variable polishing The present invention relates to methods and apparatus that allow for chemical mechanical polishing using a flexible pad and variable fluid flow for variable polishing. ... | 08/09/2005 |
