Applied Materials, Inc.

Jamie Leighton

Jeonghoon Oh

Van H Nguyen

Roger M Johnson

Manoj A Gajendra

John Anthony Garcia

Manoj Balakumar

Douglas R McAllister

Stacy Meyer

Young Jeen Paik

Abhijit Desai

Mahadev Joshi

Joseph Antony Jonathan

Yee Sheen Pong

Ashish Bhushan

Gagan Dobhal

Chetan Kumar Mylappanahalli Narasingaiah

Sanjay Bhanurao Chavan

Stephen Thomas Cormier

Nick Joseph Jackson

Nandkishore Patidar

A system and method for sequential single-sided CMP processing of opposite facing surfaces of a silicon carbide (SiC) substrate are disclosed. A method includes urging a first surface of a substrate against one of plurality of polishing pads, wherein the plurality of polishing pads are disposed on corresponding ones of a plurality of rotatable polishing platens. The method includes transferring, using the first side of the end effector, the substrate from the substrate carrier loading station to a substrate alignment station. The method includes transferring, using the first side of the end effector, the substrate from the substrate alignment station to a substrate carrier loading station. The method includes urging a second surface of the substrate against one of the plurality of polishing platens.

Substrate handling systems and methods for CMP processing

A method and apparatus for polishing a substrate is disclosed herein. More specifically, the apparatus relates to an integrated CMP system for polishing substrates. The CMP system has a polishing station configured to polish substrates. A spin rinse dry (SRD) station configured to clean and dry the substrates. A metrology station configured to measure parameters of the substrates. A robot configured to move the substrate in to and out of the SRD station. And an effector rinse and dry (EERD) station configured to clean and dry an end effector of the robot.

Automated dry-in dry-out dual side polishing of silicon substrates with integrated spin rinse dry and metrology

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to chemical mechanical polishing systems (CMP) systems and processes used in the manufacturing of electronic devices. In particular, embodiments herein relate to methods of detecting non-conforming substrate processing events during a polishing process. In one embodiment, a method of processing a substrate on a polishing system includes urging a surface of a silicon carbide substrate against a polishing pad in the presence of a polishing fluid, determining a temperature of the polishing pad using a temperature sensor that is positioned above the platen, monitoring the temperature of the polishing pad, and, if the change in polishing pad temperature reaches a threshold value, initiating a response using a controller of the polishing system.

Methods of detecting non-conforming substrate processing events during chemical mechanical polishing

Embodiments of a system and method for polishing substrates are provided. In one embodiment, a polishing system is provided that includes a polishing module having a platen, and a platen temperature control system. The platen temperature control system includes a PID controller, a fluid controller, and a heat exchanger. The flow controller is configured to control an amount of fluid provided from the heat exchanger to a channels of the platen in response to instructions provided by the PID controller.

Chemical mechanical polishing system with platen temperature control

An apparatus and method for sequential application of cleaning fluids for improved maintenance of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) systems is disclosed. A method includes transferring a first substrate to a first polishing station of a plurality of polishing stations, polishing the first substrate at the first polishing station, transferring the first substrate to a second polishing station, and transferring a second substrate to the first polishing station. The method includes cleaning a first surface of a plurality of surfaces of the polishing system by dispensing a first cleaning fluid from a first one or more nozzles of a plurality of nozzles to direct the first cleaning fluid onto the first surface and dispensing a second cleaning fluid from the first one or more nozzles to direct the second cleaning fluid onto the first surface, where the second cleaning fluid is different from the first cleaning fluid.

Sequential application of cleaning fluids for improved maintenance of chemical mechanical polishing systems

A reinforcement ring can be placed in a carrier head to abut an inner surface of a perimeter portion of a flexible membrane. The reinforcement ring has a substantially vertical cylindrical portion, a flange projecting outwardly from the bottom of the cylindrical portion, and a lip projecting outwardly from a top of the cylindrical portion. The flange projects outwardly farther than the lip.

Reinforcement ring for carrier head with flexible membrane

A flexible membrane for a carrier head of a chemical mechanical polisher includes a main portion, an annular outer portion, and three annular flaps. The main portion has a substrate mounting surface with a radius R. The annular outer portion extends upwardly from an outer edge of the main portion and has a lower edge connected to the main portion and an upper edge. The three annular flaps include a first annular flap joined to an inner surface of the main portion at a radial position between 75% and 95% of R, a second inwardly-extending annular flap joined to the annular outer portion at a position between the lower edge and the upper edge, and a third inwardly-extending annular flap joined to the upper edge of the annular outer portion.

Three-zone carrier head and flexible membrane

Systems and methods are provided for controlling a polishing process in real-time. First and second characteristics are identified in first and second data sets, respectively, with each data set corresponding to a real-time wafer polishing data. A time delta is computed between the times at which the first and second characteristics occur within their respective data sets, and polishing parameters are then updated in real-time based on the computed time delta.

Method and system for real-time polishing recipe control

A reinforcement ring is for placement in a carrier head to abut an inner surface of a perimeter portion of a flexible membrane. The reinforcement ring includes a substantially vertical cylindrical portion, a first flange projecting inwardly from the bottom of the cylindrical portion, and a second flange projecting outwardly from a bottom of the cylindrical portion. The second flange projects downwardly at a non-zero angle from vertical.

Reinforcement ring for carrier head

Embodiments of the invention provide a slurry delivery and rinse system for a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) apparatus which is capable of self-cleaning, and which can adjustably deliver the slurry agent and rinse agent over a polishing pad. In one embodiment, the fluid delivery system has a distributed slurry delivery arm (DSDA) which contains at least one manifold, usually two or more manifolds attached to the lower surface of the delivery arm. Each DSDA manifold contains a plurality of slurry nozzles disposed along the length of the manifold. The delivery arm also contains a plurality of high pressure rinse nozzles extending from the lower surface of the delivery arm and disposed along the length of the delivery arm, parallel to each DSDA manifold. In one example, the delivery arm contains two DSDA manifolds disposed parallel to each other and a plurality of high pressure rinse nozzles disposed between the manifolds.

Growing community of inventors

Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

Jamie Leighton