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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8070560 | Polishing apparatus and method 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 polishing head having at least one elastic membrane configured to form a p... | 12/06/2011 |
| 7780505 | Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and semiconductor manufacturing method A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes a supporting unit for supporting a semiconductor wafer received from a CMP apparatus and a vacuuming system for holding the wafer on the supporting unit. The vacuuming is applied only in a peripheral area of the wafer... | 08/24/2010 |
| 7632173 | 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... | 12/15/2009 |
| 7491118 | Chemical mechanical polishing apparatus and methods using a polishing surface with non-uniform rigidity A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus includes a platen, a polishing pad affixed to a surface of the platen, and a polishing head configured to retain and rotate a wafer while pressing a surface of the rotating wafer against the polishing pad. A first portion of... | 02/17/2009 |
| 7445543 | Polishing apparatus A polishing apparatus has a top ring configured to hold a semiconductor wafer on a substrate holding surface, and a pushser configured to deliver the semiconductor wafer to the top ring and receive the semiconductor wafer from the top ring. The pushser includes a pu... | 11/04/2008 |
| 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 |
| 7335088 | CMP system with temperature-controlled polishing head A chemical mechanical polish system for polishing a wafer includes a polishing head; an inner tube connected to the polishing head, wherein the inner tube is filled with a heat media; a media heater connected to the inner tube; and a pressure controller connected to... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7303467 | Chemical mechanical polishing apparatus with rotating belt A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus has a movable platen, a drive mechanism and a chucking mechanism. The drive mechanism is attached to the platen, is configured to support a generally linear polishing sheet with a portion of the polishing sheet extending ove... | 12/04/2007 |
| 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 |
| 7303461 | Method of machining airfoils by disc tools A method for machining a rotor having a disc and a plurality of integral airfoils projecting outwardly from the disc, according to one aspect of the invention, comprises a step of machining each airfoil with a disc tool having a grinding periphery thereof adapted fo... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7255771 | Multiple zone carrier head with flexible membrane A carrier head for chemical mechanical polishing of a substrate includes a base and a flexible membrane extending beneath the base. The flexible membrane includes a central portion with an outer surface providing a substrate receiving surface, a perimeter portion co... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7247083 | Polishing apparatus The polishing apparatus is capable of precisely controlling polishing pressure, correctly positioning a press plate and uniformly polishing a workpiece. In the polishing apparatus, a holding head comprises: first pressing means for introducing a pressurized fluid in... | 07/24/2007 |
| 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 |
| 7223158 | Method for polishing a semiconductor wafer An apparatus for polishing a wafer comprises a supporting portion having an abrasive pad disposed thereon, and a polishing head disposed over the abrasive pad. The polishing head comprises a carrier having at least two fluid passages, a retainer ring disposed on a l... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7223153 | Apparatus and method for polishing semiconductor wafers using one or more polishing surfaces An apparatus and method for polishing objects, such as semiconductor wafers, utilizes one or more polishing surfaces, multiple wafer carriers and at least one load-and-unload cup. The load-and-unload cup may be configured to move to and from the wafer carriers in a ... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7214548 | Apparatus and method for flattening a warped substrate A method, apparatus, and computer program product for flattening a warped substrate. The substrate is placed on a planar surface of a clamping apparatus in direct mechanical contact with the planar surface. The substrate comprises surface regions S1, S | 05/08/2007 |
| 7207862 | Polishing apparatus and method for detecting foreign matter on polishing surface A polishing apparatus comprises a polishing tool having a polishing surface, and a holder device (top ring) for holding a semiconductor wafer (a substrate). The polishing apparatus further comprises a color CCD camera for taking a color image of a region on the poli... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7207871 | Carrier head with multiple chambers A system for chemical mechanical polishing having a carrier head with pressurizeable chambers that can be configured into pressure zones is described. The system includes a carrier head with a membrane for contacting a substrate during polishing. Pressurizeable cham... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7201647 | Subpad having robust, sealed edges Provided are encapsulated belts and encapsulated pads for use in a variety of polishing application, including the chemical-mechanical polishing and planarization of semiconductor wafers and other workpieces. The encapsulated belts and pads are characterized by a ro... | 04/10/2007 |
| 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 |
| 7189141 | Polishing pad with transparent window having reduced window leakage for a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus The polishing pad for a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus and method of making the same has a polishing pad with a bottom layer, a polishing surface on a top layer and a transparent sheet of material interposed between the two layers. Slurry from the chemical ... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7175509 | Grinder and method of and apparatus for non-contact conditioning of tool Truing of a grinder is performed by irradiating a laser beam onto abrasive grains on the outermost periphery of the grinder from the tangential direction of the grinder. Truing of the grinder for adjusting the number of working abrasive grains and the shape of the a... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7175504 | Vacuum suction holding apparatus and holding method, polishing apparatus using this holding apparatus, and device manufacturing method using this polishing apparatus The vacuum suction holding apparatus of the present invention has a vacuum duct which is disposed inside a polishing head, with one end of this vacuum duct being opened in the attachment surface and the other end thereof being connected to a vacuum source. A polishi... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7169014 | Apparatuses for controlling the temperature of polishing pads used in planarizing micro-device workpieces Temperature regulation systems and methods for controlling the temperature of polishing pads used in planarizing micro-device workpieces are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, an apparatus for polishing a workpiece includes a platen defining a planarizing zone and... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7166013 | Polishing apparatus and method for producing semiconductors using the apparatus The present invention relates to a polishing apparatus, and a semiconductor manufacturing method using the apparatus. Dressing of a grindstone surface is ground by sizing processing whereby dressing of a tool surface can be done while preventing occurrence of cracks... | 01/23/2007 |
| 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 |
| 7160105 | Temperature controlled vacuum chuck A temperature controllable vacuum chuck includes a mounting bracket, a porous plate, a heating element, and a temperature sensor. The porous plate is mounted to the mounting bracket and is configured for securing a substrate to the vacuum chuck when air is suctioned... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7156722 | Platen structure of polishing apparatus for processing semiconductor wafer and method for exchanging polishing pad affixed to the same A platen structure of a polishing apparatus for semiconductor wafer and a method for exchanging a polishing pad affixed to the same are provided in which the polishing pad supported by the platen is exchanged with convenience within a short time. The platen structur... | 01/02/2007 |
| 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 |
| 7121934 | Carrier head for chemical mechanical polishing apparatus Disclosed is a carrier head of a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus for planarizing a semiconductor wafer. An adjustment chamber is provided in a space section formed between a membrane lower holder and a membrane upper holder of a wafer support assembly. Press... | 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 |
| 7112889 | Semiconductor device having an alignment mark formed by the same material with a metal post A semiconductor device has an alignment mark which can be recognized by a conventional wafer prober. A redistribution layer connects electrodes of the semiconductor device to electrode pads located in predetermined positions of the redistribution layer. Metal posts ... | 09/26/2006 |
| 7108590 | Draining device and lens processing system having the same A draining device for removing processing water attached to a lens includes: a first lens holding shaft to which a cup attached to a refractive surface of the lens as a processing jig can be fitted; and a rotating unit which rotates the first lens holding shaft to r... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7108591 | Compliant wafer chuck A semiconductor substrate support is provided. The semiconductor substrate support includes a chuck configured to change between a compliant state and a rigid state. An electromagnetic field source configured to apply an electromagnetic field to the chuck is include... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7101253 | Load cup for chemical mechanical polishing A load cup for transferring a substrate in a chemical mechanical polishing system is provided. In one embodiment, a load cup for transferring substrates in a chemical mechanical polishing system includes a substrate support having a first side adapted to support a s... | 09/05/2006 |
| 7097544 | Chemical mechanical polishing system having multiple polishing stations and providing relative linear polishing motion An apparatus and associated methods for polishing semiconductor wafers and other workpieces that includes polishing surfaces located at multiple polishing stations. Multiple wafer heads, preferably at least one greater in number than the number of polishing stations... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7094139 | Retaining ring with flange for chemical mechanical polishing A retaining ring has a generally annular body with a top surface, a bottom surface, an inner diameter surface, and an outer diameter surface. The outer diameter surface includes an outwardly projecting flange having a lower surface, and the bottom surface includes a... | 08/22/2006 |
