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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8100743 | Polishing apparatus A polishing apparatus is used for polishing a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat mirror finish. The polishing apparatus includes a polishing table having a polishing surface, a top ring body configured to hold and press a substrate against the polishi... | 01/24/2012 |
| 8033895 | Retaining ring with shaped profile Retaining rings with curved surfaces are described. The curved surfaces prevent damage to a fixed abrasive polishing pad when the retaining ring is used in a polishing process. The curved surfaces are on the bottom surface of the ring, such as along the outer diamet... | 10/11/2011 |
| 7857683 | CMP retaining ring An improved chemical mechanical polishing retaining ring. A representative embodiment comprises a base portion made from a wear-resistant plastic material, and an upper portion, or backbone portion, made from a stiffer and more wear resistant material. One of the ba... | 12/28/2010 |
| 7507148 | Polishing apparatus, polishing head and polishing method A polishing apparatus comprises a polishing plate (24), an abrasive cloth (25) attached to the surface of the polishing plate (24), a chuck (19) for holding and pressing one surface of a wafer (39) against the abrasive cloth (25... | 03/24/2009 |
| 7364497 | Polish pad and chemical mechanical polishing apparatus comprising the same A polishing pad for use in chemically mechanically polishing a semiconductor substrate enhances the uniformity of the rate at which material is removed from the surface of the semiconductor substrate, thereby ensuring the reproducibility of the chemical mechanical p... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7361076 | Method for estimating polishing profile or polishing amount, polishing method and polishing apparatus A polishing method can automatically reset polishing conditions according to a state of a polishing member based on data on a polishing profile changing with time, thereby extending life of the polishing member and obtaining flatness of a polished surface with highe... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7359069 | Polishing pad surface shape measuring instrument, method of using polishing pad surface shape measuring instrument, method of measuring apex angle of cone of polishing pad, method of measuring depth of groove of polishing pad, CMP polisher, and method of manufacturing semiconductor device The main sensor 15 measures the distance Lm to the surface of the pad 2a, and the sub-sensor 16 measures the distance Ls to the surface of the reference block 12. What is actually taken as the measured value is the value of (Lm+Ls)... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7354332 | Technique for process-qualifying a semiconductor manufacturing tool using metrology data A technique of the present invention utilizes qualification characteristics from a single wafer for qualifying a semiconductor manufacturing tool. Generally speaking, the technique commences with the processing of a wafer by the manufacturing tool. During processing... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7341502 | Methods and systems for planarizing workpieces, e.g., microelectronic workpieces Planarizing workpieces, e.g., microelectronic workpieces, can employ a process indicator which is adapted to change an optical property in response to a planarizing condition. This process indicator may, for example, change color in response to reaching a particular... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7326103 | Vertically adjustable chemical mechanical polishing head and method for use thereof The invention provides a vertically adjustable chemical mechanical polishing head having a pivot mechanism and method for use thereof. ... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7294040 | Method and apparatus for supporting a microelectronic substrate relative to a planarization pad A method and apparatus for planarizing a microelectronic substrate. In one embodiment, one surface of the microelectronic substrate is engaged with a planarizing pad and the opposite surface of the microelectronic substrate is positioned proximate to a substrate sup... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7276743 | Retaining ring with conductive portion A retaining ring for use with electrochemical mechanical processing is described. The retaining ring has a generally annular body formed with a conductive portion and a non-conductive portion. The non-conductive portion contacts the substrate during polishing. The c... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7255637 | Carrier head vibration damping A carrier head for chemical mechanical polishing that has a base having at least a portion formed of a polymer, a mounting assembly connected to the base having a surface for contacting a substrate, a retainer secured to the portion of the base to prevent the substr... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7255631 | Orbital polishing apparatus and method An abrasive flow apparatus for polishing a workpiece wherein a horizontal machine tool is adapted such that a workpiece may be secured to first shaft rotatable about a first longitudinal axis. A conjugate form to the workpiece may be secured to a second shaft which ... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7244336 | Temperature controlled hot edge ring assembly for reducing plasma reactor etch rate drift A temperature-controlled hot edge ring assembly adapted to surround a substrate support in a plasma reaction chamber. The assembly includes a conductive lower ring, a ceramic intermediate ring, and an upper ring. The intermediate ring overlies the lower ring and is ... | 07/17/2007 |
| 7244168 | Methods for reducing delamination during chemical mechanical polishing Method and apparatus are provided for polishing substrates comprising conductive and low k dielectric materials with reduced or minimum substrate surface damage and delamination. In one aspect, a method is provided for processing a substrate including positioning a ... | 07/17/2007 |
| 7238090 | Polishing apparatus having a trough Methods and apparatus for chemical mechanical polishing are described. In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a table top and a transfer station and multiple polishing stations are mounted on the table top. The apparatus further includes multiple washing stations,... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7238083 | Wafer carrier with pressurized membrane and retaining ring actuator A wafer carrier for controlling downward force and edge effect during chemical mechanical planarization. A retaining ring actuator is disposed within the retaining ring to control the height of the retaining ring relative to the bottom surface of the wafer carrier. ... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7217175 | Polishing apparatus and polishing method A polishing apparatus comprises a first polishing table having a first polishing surface, a substrate carrier for holding a substrate and positioning the substrate so as to bring a surface of the substrate into contact with the first polishing surface, a pressing me... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7201640 | Method of sucking water and water sucking device The method of sucking water is capable of easily removing excess water included in a backing member adhered on a plate of a polishing apparatus. In the method, the excess water is removed from the backing member by the steps of: pressing a water absorbing member ont... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7198561 | Flexible membrane for multi-chamber carrier head A flexible membrane for use with a carrier head of a substrate chemical mechanical polishing apparatus has a central portion with an outer surface providing a substrate receiving surface, a perimeter portion for connecting the central portion to a base of the carrie... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7198548 | Polishing apparatus and method with direct load platen A method and apparatus for chemical mechanical polishing includes a platen supports a polishing article, a robot located proximate the platen, a carrier head having a retaining ring, and a carrier heads support mechanism. The robot is configured to position a substr... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7189139 | Polishing apparatus A polishing apparatus can detect completion of initialization of a polishing pad quantitatively. The polishing apparatus has a polishing table having a polishing pad attached thereto and a substrate holder configured to bring a surface of a substrate into contact wi... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7186651 | Chemical mechanical polishing method and apparatus A method for removing material from the surface of a semiconductor wafer with a chemical mechanical polishing process is described. The method uses a polishing pad on which a line-pattern of grooves is formed. The pattern comprises orderly spaced grooved-area and ar... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7175510 | Method and apparatus for conditioning a polishing pad A method and apparatus for polishing a thin film on a semiconductor substrate is described. A polishing pad is rotated and a wafer to be polished is placed on the rotating polishing pad. The polishing pad has grooves that channels slurry between the wafer and polish... | 02/13/2007 |
| RE39471 | 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... | 01/16/2007 |
| 7160493 | Retaining ring for use on a carrier of a polishing apparatus The invention provides a unitary retaining ring for use in a CMP apparatus. The retaining ring features a pad engaging surface which is designed to be flat and planar when the retaining ring is mounted to a carrier of the CMP apparatus. The pad engaging surface incl... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7156725 | Substrate polishing machine There is provided a substrate polishing machine which comprises a polishing surface and a substrate carrier for holding a substrate and bringing it into contact with the polishing surface. The substrate carrier comprises a carrier body, a substrate holding member fo... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7153185 | Substrate edge detection A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus and method can use an eddy current monitoring system and an optical monitoring system. Signals from the monitoring systems can be combined on an output line and extracted by a computer. The eddy current monitoring system or ... | 12/26/2006 |
| 7153188 | Temperature control in a chemical mechanical polishing system The carrier head has a base and a substrate backing structure for holding a substrate against a polishing surface during polishing. The substrate backing structure is connected to the base and includes an external surface that contacts a backside of the substrate du... | 12/26/2006 |
| 7140956 | Work piece carrier with adjustable pressure zones and barriers and a method of planarizing a work piece An apparatus for planarizing a work piece includes an easily assembled work carrier. The carrier includes a carrier insert having a work piece bladder clamped to a carrier backing plate with a plurality of clamps to form a plurality of web plenums. The outer edge of... | 11/28/2006 |
| 7137874 | Semiconductor wafer, polishing apparatus and method A wafer polishing apparatus for polishing a semiconductor wafer. The polisher comprises a base (23), a turntable (27), a polishing pad (29) and a drive mechanism (45) for driven rotation of a polishing head (63). The polishing head... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7131892 | Wafer carrier with pressurized membrane and retaining ring actuator A wafer carrier for controlling downward force and edge effect during chemical mechanical planarization. A retaining ring actuator is disposed within the retaining ring to control the height of the retaining ring relative to the bottom surface of the wafer carrier. ... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7121938 | Polishing pad and method of fabricating semiconductor substrate using the pad It is provided a polishing pad of novel construction capable of controlling actively and efficiently a slurry flow during polishing a surface of a semiconductor substrate, such as a wafer, thus making it possible to precisely and stably performing a desired polishin... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7121926 | Methods for planarization of group VIII metal-containing surfaces using a fixed abrasive article A planarization method includes providing a Group VIII metal-containing surface (preferably, a platinum-containing surface) and positioning it for contact with a fixed abrasive article in the presence of a planarization composition, wherein the fixed abrasive articl... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7121922 | Method and apparatus for polishing a workpiece surface The invention relates to a method for machining a workpiece surface, wherein an area to be machined of the workpiece surface is machined under the influence of a polishing operation and wherein, during the machining, the displacement of the area to be machined relat... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7118456 | Polishing head, retaining ring for use therewith and method fo polishing a substrate A polishing apparatus is provided for removing material from a surface of a substrate. The apparatus includes a polishing head for positioning a surface of a substrate against a polishing surface of the apparatus. The polishing head includes a subcarrier adapted to ... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7115026 | Polishing apparatus An upper polishing plate is moved downward until facing a lower polishing plate to polish a work piece. The upper polishing plate is rotated in a horizontal plane together with a first elastic member, a second elastic member, an outer member and a connecting member.... | 10/03/2006 |
| 7115020 | Lapping system with mutually stabilized lapping carriers A lapping system for eliminating crowning in a surface to be lapped includes a first lapping carrier adapted to carry a first workpiece and a second lapping carrier adapted to carry a second workpiece. A stabilizer assembly interconnects the first and second lapping... | 10/03/2006 |
| 7108592 | Substrate holding apparatus and polishing apparatus The present invention relates to a substrate holding apparatus for holding a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer in a polishing apparatus for polishing the substrate to a flat finish. The substrate holding apparatus includes a vertically movable top ring body fo... | 09/19/2006 |
