Ebara Corporation

Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Fujio Aoyama

Norio Kimura

Hiroshi Ishii

Tamami Takahashi

Katsuya Okumura

Seiji Ishikawa

Masayoshi Hirose

Noburu Shimizu

Ritsuo Kikuta

Kouki Yamada

Norio Yamada

Yoshimi Sasaki

Hidetoshi Nose

Seigo Murakami

Koji Kato

A rotary shaft having a predetermined diameter and a cylindrical cleaning element having an axial through-hole formed therein and capable of being either in a wet or a dry state are prepared. The through-hole has, in a wet state, a predetermined diameter smaller than that of the rotary shaft. The cleaning element is wetted and the through-hole of the wet cleaning element enlarged so that it has a diameter larger than that of the rotary shaft. The enlarged cleaning element is dry-set and the rotary shaft is inserted into the through-hole of the cleaning element. The cleaning element is then wetted, to contract the diameter of the through-hole of the cleaning element and provide a press-fit between the cleaning element and the shaft. A, cleaning member comprising a cylindrical cleaning element and a rotary shaft held therein with a press-fit is obtained.

Cleaning member and cylindrical cleaning element

A polishing cloth mounted on a turntable of a polishing apparatus and a polishing apparatus having such a polishing cloth for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat mirror finish. The polishing cloth comprises a first elastic region contacting the surface of the workpiece and having a certain elastic modulus, and a second elastic region contacting the surface of the workpiece and having an elastic modulus different from the first elastic region. The second elastic region is surrounded by the first elastic region and has a smaller dimension in a radial direction of the turntable than a diameter of the workpiece when the second elastic region is held in contact with the workpiece. The position of the second elastic region is determined on the basis of an area in which the second elastic region acts on the workpiece.

Polishing cloth and polishing apparatus having such polishing cloth

A drum-type polishing apparatus for producing a flat mirror polish on an object such as a semiconductor wafer, is capable of three degrees of freedom of movement of a drum member with respect to the wafer. The relative movements can be made, successively or simultaneously, at right angles to an axis of the drum, parallel to the surface of the wafer, as well as at any desired angular orientations. Combined with a follower device to provide automatic compensation for unevenness in pressing pressure applied to the wafer during polishing, the polishing apparatus offers outstanding uniformity in polishing quality and high productivity, even for large diameter wafers, with a comparatively modest investment in both facility space and equipment cost.

Revolving drum polishing apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Fujio Aoyama