Speedfam-Ipec Corporation

Alliedsignal Inc.

James L Farmer

Stephen C Schultz

Nikolay N Korovin

John Derwood Herb

Mark S Maggio

Michael D Smigel

Randy McNurlin

Ann Wilkey

Shawn Robertson

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 the bladder is supported by a rib that is coupled to a carrier plenum. By adjusting the pressure in the carrier plenum, the pressure exerted on the edge of a work piece during a planarization operation can be adjusted. The carrier also includes a floating wear ring that surrounds the work piece bladder and a work piece mounted on that bladder. By adjusting the force exerted by the wear ring on a polishing pad, independently of the pressure exerted by the rib at the edge of the bladder, the material removal rate near the edge of the work piece can be controlled.

Work piece carrier with adjustable pressure zones and barriers and a method of planarizing a work piece

A two sided wafer handling end-effector provides for the efficient loading and unloading of wafers into and out of a wafer processing apparatus. Each side of the end-effector includes spaced apart rotatable catch mechanisms between which a wafer is firmly grasped. When the end-effector is positioned beneath the wafer processing apparatus the catch mechanisms are rotated to an open position and a lifting surface on the catch mechanisms lifts the wafer into the wafer processing apparatus. When the catch mechanisms are in the open position the wafer is centered on the end-effector by rotatable rocker assemblies that contact the edge of the wafer. As the end-effector is raised into contact with the processing apparatus, the rocker assemblies rotate to a lowered position in the end-effector while arcuate surfaces on the assemblies maintain contact with the wafer edge.

Workpiece handling end-effector and a method for processing workpieces using a workpiece handling end-effector

A two sided wafer handling end-effector provides for the efficient loading and unloading of wafers into and out of a wafer processing apparatus. Each side of the end-effector includes spaced apart rotatable catch mechanisms between which a wafer is firmly grasped. When the end-effector is positioned beneath the wafer processing apparatus, the catch mechanisms are rotated to an open position and a lifting surface on the catch mechanisms lifts the wafer into the wafer processing apparatus. When the catch mechanisms are in the open position, the wafer is centered on the end-effector by rotatable rocker assemblies that contact the edge of the wafer. As the end-effector is raised into contact with the processing apparatus, the rocker assemblies rotate to a lowered position in the end-effector while arcuate surfaces on the assemblies maintain contact with the wafer edge.

Workpiece carrier with adjustable pressure zones and barriers

A turbomachinery disk is provided that has a rim portion, an intermediate portion, and a hub portion. Annular flanges extend axially on both direction from the hub portion. Disposed concentrically about these flanges is a ring of reinforced composite fibers. The ring of composite fibers is of sufficient mass that some of the hoop stress in the hub portion will be transferred to the ring. As a result the mass of the disk is less than the mass of a conventional disk without the composite ring.

High strength composite reinforced turbomachinery disk

A turbine or compressor blade designed for deliberate, controlled failure in a gas turbine engine during testing of the engines, includes a lower-strength tubular insert in an axial through bore in the root portion of the blade, which insert fails at preselected conditions to induce blade failure.

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Tempe, AZ, United States of America

James L Farmer