Agere Systems Inc.

Charles A Storey

Jose Omar Rodriguez

Andres B Garcia

Frank Miceli

Margareth Seputro

Laurence D Schultz

Arun Kumar Nanda

John F Thompson

Jose Omar Rodriquez

A method and system are provided using an offset dial gage for alignment and adjustment of a polishing pad that has been attached to a turntable of a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) device. In a described embodiment, an offset dial gage has a surface that contacts a side of a turntable, while a sensor tip contacts the edge of a polishing pad positioned on the turntable. This provides an assessment of radial displacement of the polishing pad edge at this measurement point relative to the side of the turntable. Based on one or more such measurements, the polishing pad may be found acceptably positioned, may be trimmed, or may be replaced. The method and system reduce or eliminate the occurrence of a defect pattern found to be related to side unloading of semiconductor wafers from a CMP turntable.

System of using offset gage for CMP polishing pad alignment and adjustment

Method and system of using offset gage for CMP polishing pad alignment and adjustment

Disclosed herein is a process for diminishing contamination of an integrated circuit wafer caused by residual slurry components disposed on a back side of a carrier for engaging an integrated circuit wafer. Also disclosed is a CMP machine configured to wash a back side of a carrier.

Method and apparatus for cleaning slurry depositions from a water carrier

A carrier head for supporting a wafer during a chemical mechanical polishing process is provided. In one exemplary implementation, the carrier head may comprise a wear ring, and a slidably movable pressure plate disposed within the wear ring. The pressure plate may be arranged to provide slidable movement relative to the wear ring. This degree of freedom can accommodate height dimensional changes that may occur in the wear ring.

Carrier head for chemical mechanical polishing

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 groove of a first size and a groove of a second size, wherein the first and second groove sizes are different relative to one another.

Chemical mechanical polishing pad with grooves alternating between a larger groove size and a smaller groove size

A method () for conditioning a polishing pad () used for polishing semiconductor wafers (). The degradation in conditioning performance of a conditioning device () is accounted for by controlling at least one of the conditioning velocity (), conditioning down force () and conditioning time (). The amount of the degradation of conditioning performance during consecutive uses of a conditioning device () may be determined by measuring the friction force () between the conditioning device () and the polishing pad (), or it may be predicted on the basis of an algorithm () developed from data obtained from a plurality of representative conditioning devices ().

Method and apparatus for conditioning a polishing pad

The present invention provides an improved conditioning wheel for conditioning polishing pads used to polish semiconductor wafers. In one embodiment, the conditioning wheel includes a planar body having a metal surface located thereon. The metal surface has abrasive particles embedded therein and a retainer coating deposited over the metal surface and the abrasive particles. The retainer coating inhibits the abrasive particles from dislodging during a conditioning process.

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Orlando, FL, United States of America

Charles A Storey