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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7976694 | Apparatus and method for hybrid machining a contoured, thin-walled workpiece An apparatus and method for hybrid machining a workpiece is disclosed. The workpiece is powered as an anode, a cutter is powered as a cathode and a cutting fluid or coolant is circulated therebetween. The cutter is made of a conductive material and a non-conductive ... | 07/12/2011 |
| 7758741 | Method and apparatus for nozzle type ELID grinding There is here disclosed a nozzle type ELID grinding apparatus comprising a conductive grindstone 12 having a contact surface with a workpiece 1; and an ion supply nozzle 16 that supplies an electrolytic medium 2 containing hydroxyl ions (... | 07/20/2010 |
| 7686935 | Pad-assisted electropolishing Pad-assisted electropolishing of the substrate is conducted by performing anodic dissolution of metal at a first portion of the substrate and simultaneously mechanically buffing a second portion of the substrate with a buffing pad. Anodic dissolution includes formin... | 03/30/2010 |
| 7618528 | Methods and apparatus for electromechanically and/or electrochemically-mechanically removing conductive material from a microelectronic substrate Methods and apparatuses for electromechanically and/or electrochemically-mechanically removing conductive material from a microelectronic substrate. An apparatus in accordance with one embodiment includes a support member configured to releasably carry a microelectr... | 11/17/2009 |
| 7588677 | Methods and apparatus for electrical, mechanical and/or chemical removal of conductive material from a microelectronic substrate A method and apparatus for removing conductive material from a microelectronic substrate. In one embodiment, the method can include engaging a microelectronic substrate with a polishing surface of a polishing pad, electrically coupling a conductive material of the m... | 09/15/2009 |
| 7569135 | Electrolytic processing apparatus and substrate processing apparatus and method The present invention replaces all or a portion of substrate processing by chemical-mechanical polishing with electrolytic processing using deionized water, ultrapure water or the like. An electrolytic processing apparatus comprises: a chemical-mechanical polishing ... | 08/04/2009 |
| 7569134 | Contacts for electrochemical processing Systems and methods for electrochemically processing a substrate. A contact element defines a substrate contact surface positionable in contact a substrate during processing. In one embodiment, the contact element comprises a wire element. In another embodiment the ... | 08/04/2009 |
| 7527722 | Electrochemical mechanical planarization The present invention discloses an apparatus having a platen; a polishing pad disposed over the platen; a slurry dispenser disposed over the polishing pad; a cathode connected electrically to the polishing pad; a wafer carrier disposed over the polishing pad; ... | 05/05/2009 |
| 7425250 | Electrochemical mechanical processing apparatus A system for electrochemical mechanical polishing of a conductive surface of a wafer is provided. The system includes a wafer holder to hold the wafer and a belt pad disposed proximate to the wafer to polish the conductive surface. Application of a potential differe... | 09/16/2008 |
| 7422677 | Membrane-mediated electropolishing This invention provides a membrane-mediated electropolishing process for polishing and/or planarizing metal work pieces. The work piece is wetted with a low-conductivity fluid. The wetted work piece is contacted with a first side of a charge-selective ion-conducting... | 09/09/2008 |
| 7378004 | Pad designs and structures for a versatile materials processing apparatus An apparatus capable of assisting in controlling an electrolyte flow and an electric field distribution used for processing a substrate is provided. It includes a rigid member having a top surface of a predetermined shape and a bottom surface. The rigid member conta... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7377836 | Versatile wafer refining Methods of refining using a plurality of refining elements are discussed. A refining apparatus having refining elements that can be smaller than the workpiece being refined are disclosed. New refining methods, refining apparatus, and refining elements disclosed. Met... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7347766 | Cutting method and cutting apparatus The invention provides a cutting method and a cutting apparatus that cuts without chipping a composite material consisting of laminated layers of crystal material and amorphous material, in which the amorphous material is cut with an ultrasonically vibrated cutting ... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7329335 | Device providing electrical contact to the surface of a semiconductor workpiece during processing Substantially uniform deposition of conductive material on a surface of a substrate, which substrate includes a semiconductor wafer, from an electrolyte containing the conductive material can be provided by way of a particular device which includes first and second ... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7309413 | Providing electrical contact to the surface of a semiconductor workpiece during processing Substantially uniform deposition of conductive material on a surface of a substrate, which substrate includes a semiconductor wafer, from an electrolyte containing the conductive material can be provided by way of a particular device which includes first and second ... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7303462 | Edge bead removal by an electro polishing process A method and apparatus for the removal of a deposited conductive layer along an edge of a substrate using an electrode configured to electro polish a substrate edge are disclosed. The electro polishing of the substrate edge may occur simultaneously during electroche... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7261625 | Polishing pad A single-layered polishing pad suitable for chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) of semiconductor wafers, etc., which attains excellent step height reduction and in-plane uniformity and is integrally molded by reaction injection molding, is provided. The polishing pa... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7250103 | Method and apparatus for eliminating defects and improving uniformity in electrochemically processed conductive layers A method of removing material from a conductive surface of a workpiece while the conductive surface and an electrode are wetted by a process solution. The method comprises the steps of applying power between the conductive surface and the electrode, rendering the co... | 07/31/2007 |
| 7247557 | Method and composition to minimize dishing Processes are disclosed for producing electronic interconnect devices, particularly semi-conductor wafers, with metal interconnect traces thereon wherein the surface of said device has improved planarity. Said planarity is achieved initially through the use of pulse... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7238092 | Low-force electrochemical mechanical processing method and apparatus The present invention relates to semiconductor integrated circuit technology and discloses an electrochemical mechanical processing system for uniformly distributing an applied force to a workpiece surface. The system includes a workpiece carrier for positioning or ... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7229535 | Hydrogen bubble reduction on the cathode using double-cell designs An apparatus and method for planarizing a surface of a substrate using a chamber separated into two parts by a membrane, and two separate electrolytes is provided. The embodiments of the present invention generally provide an electrochemical mechanical polishing sys... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7201829 | Mask plate design The present invention includes a mask plate design that includes at least one or a plurality of channels portions on a surface of the mask plate, into which electrolyte solution will accumulate when the mask plate surface is disposed on a surface of wafer, and out o... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7192335 | Method and apparatus for chemically, mechanically, and/or electrolytically removing material from microelectronic substrates Method and apparatus for chemically, mechanically and/or electrolytically removing material from microelectronic substrates. A polishing medium for removing material can include a liquid carrier, an electrolyte disposed in the liquid carrier, and abrasives disposed ... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7186164 | Processing pad assembly with zone control An electrochemical mechanical processing station having a zoned polishing pad assembly is provided. The zoned polishing pad assembly includes a conductive layer coupled to an upper layer having a non-conductive processing surface. At least two zones of different cur... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7160432 | Method and composition for polishing a substrate Polishing compositions and methods for removing conductive materials from a substrate surface are provided. In one aspect, a method is provided for processing a substrate to remove conductive material disposed over narrow feature definitions formed in a substrate at... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7153777 | Methods and apparatuses for electrochemical-mechanical polishing Methods and apparatuses for removing material from a microfeature workpiece are disclosed. In one embodiment, the microfeature workpiece is contacted with a polishing surface of a polishing medium, and is placed in electrical communication with first and second elec... | 12/26/2006 |
| 7141155 | Polishing article for electro-chemical mechanical polishing A polishing pad or other shaped article for the electrochemical mechanical polishing (ECMP) of a workpiece. The article includes an electrically-conductive compound which is formed into a layer. The compound is formulated as an admixture which includes a polymeric c... | 11/28/2006 |
| 7138066 | Gear surface treatment procedure A method of surface treating heat treated members to remove oxide scale. The heat treated members are subjected to a staged series of discrete chemical and physical cleaning steps yielding a substantially scale-free surface readily adaptable for subsequent applicati... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7137868 | Pad assembly for electrochemical mechanical processing Embodiments of a pad assembly for processing a substrate are provided. The pad assembly includes a processing layer having a working surface adapted to process a substrate, a lower layer coupled to and disposed below the processing layer, and an electrode having an ... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7128825 | Method and composition for polishing a substrate Polishing compositions and methods for removing conductive materials from a substrate surface are provided. In one aspect, a composition includes an acid based electrolyte system, one or more chelating agents, one or more corrosion inhibitors, one or more inorganic ... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7125477 | Contacts for electrochemical processing Systems and methods for electrochemically processing. A contact element defines a substrate contact surface positionable in contact a substrate during processing. In one embodiment, the contact element comprises a wire element. In another embodiment the contact elem... | 10/24/2006 |
| 7101471 | Method for planar material removal technique using multi-phase process environment An electroetching process of the present invention uses a multiphase environment for planarizing a wafer with conductive surface having a non-uniform topography. The multiphase environment includes a high resistance phase and an etching solution phase. The conductiv... | 09/05/2006 |
| 7097536 | Electrically enhanced surface planarization A substrate processing apparatus equipped to employ electrical potential to assist in planarization and/or conditioning is provided. ... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7097755 | Electrochemical mechanical processing with advancible sweeper The present invention provides an apparatus for electrochemical mechanical processing of a surface of a workpiece by utilizing a process solution. The apparatus of the present invention includes an electrode touching the process solution, a belt workpiece surface in... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7084064 | Full sequence metal and barrier layer electrochemical mechanical processing A method and apparatus for electrochemically processing metal and barrier materials is provided. In one embodiment, a method for electrochemically processing a substrate includes the steps of establishing an electrically-conductive path through an electrolyte betwee... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7077721 | Pad assembly for electrochemical mechanical processing Embodiments of a processing pad assembly for processing a substrate are provided. The processing pad assembly includes an upper layer having a processing surface and an electrode having a top side coupled to the upper layer and a bottom side opposite the top side. A... | 07/18/2006 |
| 7052996 | Electrochemically polishing conductive films on semiconductor wafers An electropolish process may remove a conductive film from a semiconductor wafer. An electropolish apparatus having a pad over a platen may make surface-to-surface electrical contact with the conductive film of the wafer across the entire surface of the pad and the ... | 05/30/2006 |
| 7029365 | Pad assembly for electrochemical mechanical processing Embodiments of a pad assembly for processing a substrate are provided. The pad assembly includes a processing layer having a working surface adapted to process a substrate, a lower layer coupled to and disposed below the processing layer, and an electrode having an ... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7025860 | Method and apparatus for the electrochemical deposition and removal of a material on a workpiece surface An apparatus for performing an electrochemical process on a metallic surface of a workpiece, comprised of a substantially incompressible workpiece support plate. A platen for supporting the workpiece support plate, has at least one opening coupled to a source of ele... | 04/11/2006 |
| 6979248 | Conductive polishing article for electrochemical mechanical polishing An article of manufacture, method, and apparatus are provided for planarizing a substrate surface. In one aspect, an article of manufacture is provided for polishing a substrate including a polishing article having a body comprising at least a portion of fibers coat... | 12/27/2005 |
