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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8066552 | Multi-layer polishing pad for low-pressure polishing A polishing pad has a polishing layer and a backing layer secured to the polishing layer. The polishing layer has a polishing surface, a first thickness, a first compressibility, and a hardness between about 40 to 80 Shore D. The backing layer has a second thickness... | 11/29/2011 |
| 7988537 | Substrate holding apparatus and polishing apparatus A substrate holding apparatus is 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 comprises a vertically movable member, and an elastic member for defining a ... | 08/02/2011 |
| 7867063 | Substrate holding apparatus and polishing apparatus A substrate holding apparatus is 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 comprises a vertically movable member, and an elastic member for defining a ... | 01/11/2011 |
| 7850509 | Substrate holding apparatus The present invention relates to a substrate holding apparatus for holding and pressing a substrate against a polishing surface. The substrate holding apparatus includes a top ring body for holding the substrate, an elastic pad for contacting the substrate, and a su... | 12/14/2010 |
| 7819723 | Retainer ring and polishing machine To provide a retainer ring by which an object to be polished can be uniformly polished, and deterioration thereof can be suppressed, and it does not take time to recycle, and a polishing machine having the retainer ring. The retainer ring 1 includes: a first ... | 10/26/2010 |
| 7749052 | Carrier head using flexure restraints for retaining ring alignment One embodiment provides a retaining ring assembly. The retaining ring assembly comprises a retaining ring configured to circumferentially surround and retain the substrate within an inner surface of the retaining ring, and a flexure coupled to the retaining ring. Th... | 07/06/2010 |
| 7654885 | Multi-layer polishing pad A polishing pad has a polishing layer and a backing layer secured to the polishing layer. The polishing layer has a polishing surface, a first thickness, a first compressibility, and a hardness between about 40 to 80 Shore D. The backing layer has a second thickness... | 02/02/2010 |
| 7635292 | Substrate holding device and polishing apparatus A substrate holding device according to the present invention includes an elastic membrane to be brought into contact with a rear surface of a substrate, an attachment member for securing at least a portion of the elastic membrane, and a retainer ring for holding a ... | 12/22/2009 |
| 7597609 | Substrate retaining ring for CMP The edge effect or variation in polishing edge profile on a substrate undergoing CMP is reduced by structuring a retaining ring, housed in a carrier head for retaining the substrate, such that the polishing edge profile shifts back and forth with respect to the cent... | 10/06/2009 |
| 7575504 | Retaining ring, flexible membrane for applying load to a retaining ring, and retaining ring assembly A carrier head that has a base assembly, a retaining ring assembly, a carrier ring, and a flexible membrane is described. A retaining ring assembly has a flexible membrane shaped to provide an annular chamber and an annular retaining ring, wherein annular concentric... | 08/18/2009 |
| 7568970 | Chemical mechanical polishing pads The present invention provides a deformable pad useful for chemical mechanical polishing (“CMP”), a CMP apparatus incorporating the deformable pad of the present invention, and methods for using the deformable pad and CMP apparatus of the present invention. The ... | 08/04/2009 |
| 7491117 | Substrate holding apparatus The present invention relates to a substrate holding apparatus for holding and pressing a substrate against a polishing surface. The substrate holding apparatus includes a top ring body for holding the substrate, an elastic pad for contacting the substrate, and a su... | 02/17/2009 |
| 7467990 | Back pressure control system for CMP and wafer polishing A wafer carrier with a back pressure applicator system adapted to provide high resolution back pressure control. A plurality of millimeter scale distensible elements are disposed between the wafer carrier pressure plate and a process wafer, and selectively distended... | 12/23/2008 |
| 7438795 | Electrochemical-mechanical polishing system Provided is a polishing apparatus and polishing pad, intended for polishing a substrate, and designed for improved flow and distribution of a polishing composition to the area of interaction between the pad and substrate. In one aspect, a polishing pad is provided h... | 10/21/2008 |
| 7410411 | Method of determining the number of active diamonds on a conditioning disk The invention relates to a method for determining the number of active diamonds on a conditioning disk. In particular, the method comprises (a) contacting a diamond conditioner disk with a hard surface, wherein the diamond-containing side of the diamond conditioning... | 08/12/2008 |
| 7402098 | Carrier head for workpiece planarization/polishing An edge control system for deployment on a CMP carrier head comprising a bladder and a carrier head housing having a passage extending therethrough. The bladder includes a flexible diaphragm and is coupled to the carrier head housing. The edge control system compris... | 07/22/2008 |
| 7374471 | Apparatus and method for polishing semiconductor wafers using one or more pivotable load-and-unload cups An apparatus and method for polishing objects, such as semiconductor wafers, utilizes one or more pivotable load-and-unload cups to transfer the objects to and/or from one or more object carriers to polish the objects. Each pivotable load-and-unload cup may be confi... | 05/20/2008 |
| 7364496 | Polishing head for polishing semiconductor wafers A polishing head and method for handling and polishing semiconductor wafers uses a base structure with at least one recess region and an outer flexible membrane that can conform to the at least one recess region to form at least one depression to hold a semiconducto... | 04/29/2008 |
| 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 |
| 7364493 | Lap grinding and polishing machine An apparatus, system and method for grinding or polishing an optic is provided. The apparatus includes a shell adapted to a bending profile, torque actuators attached at an outer edge of the shell and coupled to each other, a tensioning system attached at the outer ... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7357704 | Polishing pad An improved polishing pad for polishing semi-conductors and other planar substrates in the presence of a slurry which optionally may contain abrasive particles is disclosed. The polishing pad comprises a non-woven fibrous component, a portion which may optionally co... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7357695 | Systems and methods for mechanical and/or chemical-mechanical polishing of microfeature workpieces Systems and methods for polishing microfeature workpieces. In one embodiment, a method includes determining a status of a characteristic of a microfeature workpiece and moving a carrier head and/or a polishing pad relative to the other to rub the microfeature workpi... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7357699 | Substrate holding apparatus and polishing apparatus A substrate holding apparatus is 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 comprises a vertically movable member, and an elastic member for defining a ... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7335092 | Carrier head for workpiece planarization/polishing A carrier head for supporting a workpiece is provided. The carrier head comprises a mount plate having an aperture therethrough, and a clamp ring having a foot portion and a first leg portion extending therefrom. The first leg portion extends through the aperture, a... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7331847 | Vibration damping in chemical mechanical polishing system A carrier head for chemical mechanical polishing, includes a base, a support structure attached to the base having a surface for contacting a substrate, and a retaining structure attached to the base to prevent the substrate from moving along the surface. The retain... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7331237 | Technique for improving Pirani gauge temperature compensation over its full pressure range A method and apparatus are provided for achieving nearly perfect temperature compensation of a heat-loss vacuum gauge over its full pressure range. A voltage is measured across a sensor leg, a sensor leg and a temperature compensating leg connected together in serie... | 02/19/2008 |
| 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 |
| 7322787 | Devices and methods for reversing, transporting, and processing substrates A substrate is supported on a plurality of substrate supporting pins mounted to a second movable member. Next, so as to bring the plurality of substrate supporting pins close to a plurality of substrate supporting pins mounted to a first movable member, the first mo... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7316602 | Constant low force wafer carrier for electrochemical mechanical processing and chemical mechanical polishing A carrier head for holding a workpiece during processing of a workpiece surface is provided. The carrier head includes a carrier housing, a base and a pressure member. The base is configured to hold the workpiece and is movable with respect to the carrier housing. T... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7314402 | Method and apparatus for controlling slurry distribution A method and apparatus for ‘through-the-pad’ delivery of slurry polishing agents directly to the land areas of a polishing pad is disclosed. The present invention further provides for improved control of the chemical composition of the slurry to address loss of ... | 01/01/2008 |
| 7311586 | Apparatus and method for chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) head having direct pneumatic wafer polishing pressure A resilient pneumatic annular sealing bladder is coupled for fluid communication to a first pressurized pneumatic fluid to define a first pneumatic zone and is attached to a first surface of the wafer stop plate adjacent the retaining ring interior cylindrical surfa... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7311585 | 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 according to the present invention comprises a... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7303466 | Carrier head of chemical mechanical polishing apparatus having barriers dividing pressure chamber into a plurality of pressure zones A carrier head of a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus has a support, an elastic membrane secured to the support and spaced from the bottom surface of the support so that a pressure chamber is defined between the membrane and the bottom surface of the support; ... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7303662 | 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... | 12/04/2007 |
| 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 |
| 7292427 | Pin lift chuck assembly for warped substrates A vacuum chuck apparatus may include chuck plate having a substantially flat chucking surface, one or more lift pins, and a lifting mechanism. The lift pins are configured to clamp a substrate at three or more locations. The lifting mechanism lifts the heads of the ... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7291057 | Apparatus for polishing a substrate A method of polishing substrates enables the size of a polishing table to be reduced. A surface of a substrate to be polished is brought into contact with a polishing surface of a polishing table in such a manner that a portion of the surface of the substrate extend... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7285037 | Systems including differential pressure application apparatus A differential pressure application apparatus is configured to apply different amounts of pressure to different locations of a substrate, such as a semiconductor device structure. The apparatus may be used during polishing or planarization processes. The apparatus i... | 10/23/2007 |
| 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 |
| 7273411 | Polishing apparatus A chemical-mechanical polishing apparatus is provided with a downstream device for conditioning a web-shaped polishing pad. The device may be used to condition a glazed portion of the pad, and then the conditioned pad portion may be used again for polishing. The con... | 09/25/2007 |
