Ebara Corporation

Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Mitsuo Tada

Taro Takahashi

Yasunari Suto

Hironobu Yamasaki

Tetsuji Togawa

Akira Nakamura

Kenichi Suzuki

Akihisa Hongo

Koichi Fukaya

Satoshi Sendai

Atsushi Chono

Hiroaki Shibue

Akira Ogata

Koji Mishima

Kenya Ito

Hiroshi Ota

Yoichi Kobayashi

Tamami Takahashi

Atsushi Shigeta

Itsuki Kobata

Junichiro Yoshioka

Noburu Shimizu

Kazuo Shimizu

Yoshitaka Mukaiyama

Yasumasa Hiroo

Shinrou Ohta

Tatsuya Kohama

Hiromitsu Watanabe

Kenya Tomioka

Shinro Ohta

Eisaku Hayashi

Naomitsu Ozawa

Motohiro Niijima

Hirofumi Ichihara

An end-point detection sensordetects an end point of polishing, the end-point detection sensorbeing arranged in a polishing table. The end-point detection sensorhas a pot core. The pot corehas a bottom portion, a magnetic core base portionand a peripheral wall base portion. The end-point detection sensorhas an exciting coil, and a detection coil. The back surfaceof the polishing padhas a spacewhich is arranged at a portion facing the polishing tableand houses a magnetic core extension portionand a peripheral wall extension portion. The magnetic core extension portionand the peripheral wall extension portionextending to the spaceare located in the space

Polishing apparatus

The object of the present invention is to provide a small-sized metal detection sensor for detecting fine metal contaminants, using an electromagnetic induction detection technique. A metal detection sensor fordetecting metalcontained in an object under inspection moving through a passagewaycomprises: magnetsgenerating static magnetic field; and a coilfor detecting a magnetic fieldgenerated by the metal. The magnetsare located outside of the coilalong its axial direction, and the coilis located outside of the magnetsalong the axial direction connecting the N poles and the S poles of the magnets. The magnetsare opposed to the coil

Metal detection sensor and metal detection method using same

A projecting/receiving unit () projects a laser light to a peripheral portion () and receives the reflected light while a liquid is being fed to a substrate () and is flowing on the peripheral portion (). A signal processing controller () processes the electric signal of the reflected light to decide the state of the peripheral portion (). The state of the peripheral portion being polished is monitored. Moreover, the polish end point is detected. A transmission wave other than the laser light may also be used. The peripheral portion () may also be enclosed by a passage forming member thereby to form a passage properly. The peripheral portion can be properly measured even in the situation where the liquid is flowing on the substrate peripheral portion.

Substrate peripheral portion measuring device, and substrate peripheral portion polishing apparatus

An eddy current sensor is used for detecting a metal film (or conductive film) formed on a surface of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer. The eddy current sensor is disposed near the metal film or the conductive film formed on the substrate to detect an eddy current generated in the metal film or the conductive film. The eddy current sensor includes a plurality of coils having different sizes formed by winding a wire or a conductive material. The plurality of coils includes an inner coil and an outer coil spaced from each other, and the outer coil is configured to surround the inner coil. The plurality of coils are configured to detect respective eddy currents generated in the metal film or the conductive film.

Eddy current sensor and polishing method

The polishing process includes a first state where an eddy current sensor and a polishing target object do not face each other and a second state where the eddy current sensor and the polishing target object face each other. The method of correcting a film thickness measurement value includes obtaining a first measurement signal (Xout, Yout) output from the eddy current sensor in the first state (step S), computing a correction value (&#x394;X, &#x394;Y) on the basis of the obtained first measurement signal and a reference signal (Xsd, Ysd) set in advance, obtaining a second measurement signal (X, Y) output from the eddy current sensor in the second state (step S), and correcting the obtained second measurement signal on the basis of the computed correction value while the polishing process is being performed (step S).

Method of correcting film thickness measurement value, film thickness corrector and eddy current sensor

A polishing apparatus is used for polishing and planarizing a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer on which a conductive film such as a copper (Cu) layer or a tungsten (W) layer is formed. The polishing apparatus includes a polishing table having a polishing surface, a motor for rotating the polishing table, a top ring for holding a substrate and pressing the substrate against the polishing surface, a film thickness measuring sensor disposed in the polishing table for scanning a surface of the substrate, and a computing device for processing signals of the film thickness measuring sensor to compute a film thickness of the substrate.

Polishing apparatus and polishing method

An eddy current sensor is used for detecting a metal film (or conductive film) formed on a surface of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer. The eddy current sensor includes a sensor coil disposed near a metal film or a conductive film formed on a substrate, and the sensor coil includes a detection coil operable to detect an eddy current produced in the metal film or the conductive film. The detection coil includes a coil formed by winding a wire by a single row and plural layers, the row being defined as a direction perpendicular to the substrate and the layer being defined as a direction parallel to the substrate.

Eddy current sensor and polishing method and apparatus

A method for polishing a substrate having a metal film thereon is described. The substrate has metal interconnects formed from part of the metal film. The polishing method includes performing a first polishing process of removing the metal film, after the first polishing process, performing a second polishing process of removing the barrier film, after the second polishing process, performing a third polishing process of polishing the insulating film. During the second polishing process and the third polishing process, a polishing state of the substrate is monitored with an eddy current sensor, and the third polishing process is terminated when an output signal of the eddy current sensor reaches a predetermined threshold.

Polishing method

The present invention relates to a substrate polishing apparatus and a substrate polishing method for polishing a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat finish. The substrate polishing apparatus includes a polishing table () having a polishing surface (), a substrate holder () for holding and pressing a substrate (W) against the polishing surface () of the polishing table (), and a film thickness measuring device () for measuring a thickness of a film on the substrate (W). The substrate holder () has a plurality of pressure adjustable chambers (to), and pressures in the respective chambers (to) are adjusted based on the film thickness measured by the film thickness measuring device ().

Substrate polishing apparatus and substrate polishing method

A method of detecting a characteristic (such as thickness) of first and second films formed on a substrate includes supplying a sensor coil with a first alternating current having a first frequency when detecting the first film, and a second alternating current having a second frequency when detecting the second film. An eddy current is thereby generated in the first film or the second film. An impedance across the sensor coil is measured, and the characteristic of any one of the first film and the second film is detected based on the impedance.

Method of detecting characteristics of films using eddy current

An eddy current sensor () has a sensor coil () disposed near a conductive film () formed on a semiconductor wafer (W) and a signal source () configured to supply an AC signal to the sensor coil () to produce an eddy current in the conductive film (). The eddy current sensor () includes a detection circuit operable to detect the eddy current produced in the conductive film (). The detection circuit is connected to the sensor coil (). The eddy current sensor () also includes a housing () made of a material having a high magnetic permeability. The housing () accommodates the sensor coil () therein. The housing () is configured so that the sensor coil () forms a path of a magnetic flux (MF) so as to effectively produce an eddy current in the conductive film ().

Eddy current sensor

A polishing apparatus comprises a polishing table having a polishing surface and a top ring for holding a substrate to be polished, in which the substrate when held by the top ring is pressed against the polishing surface of the polishing table and thus polished. A capacitance type sensor and/or an eddy-current type sensor is disposed at one or more location(s) in the vicinity of the top ring. The capacitance type sensor detects escaping of the substrate to be polished based on a change in capacitance between the capacitance type sensor and a top surface of the polishing table. The eddy-current type sensor detects escaping of the substrate to be polished based on a change in electrical resistance between the eddy-current type sensor and the top surface of the polishing table.

An eddy current sensor and a method for detecting the thickness of a film formed on a substrate. The eddy current sensor, which is capable of stable operation, is operable to accurately detect a polishing endpoint. The eddy current sensor detects the thickness of a conductive film from a change in an eddy current loss generated in the conductive film. The eddy current sensor comprises a sensor coil for generating an eddy current in the conductive film, and an active element unit connected to the sensor coil for oscillating a variable frequency corresponding to the eddy current loss. The sensor coil and active element unit are integrated to form the eddy current sensor. Alternatively, the eddy current sensor comprises a sensor coil for generating an eddy current in the conductive film, and a detector for detecting a change in the thickness of the conductive film from a change in a resistance component in an impedance formed by the sensor coil and conductive film.

Polishing device using eddy current sensor

A frequency measuring device capable of accurately detecting an end point of polishing a semiconductor wafer by obtaining a frequency measurement result highly accurately in a short period of time. A device FC, which measures the frequency of a measured signal comprises a counting section including a plurality of n-nary counters, a time reference circuit which outputs a time reference signal for every predetermined time interval, and a plurality of gate circuits whose outputs are connected to the inputs of the n-nary counters. The gate circuits receive the measured signal at a first input and receive the time reference signal at the predetermined time intervals at a second input. With this structure, the counting section supplies the frequency measured result of the measured signal every predetermined time interval.

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Tokyo, Japan

Mitsuo Tada