Ebara Corporation

Mitsubishi Materials Corporation

Scott Chin

Gerard S Maloney

Jiro Kajiwara

Tanlin K Dickey

William Dyson, Jr

Jason Price

John J Geraghty

Malik Charif

Huey-Ming Wang

Malek Charif

Gerard S Moloney

A resilient pneumatic annular sealing bladder is coupled for fluid communication to a first pressurized pneumatic fluid to define a first pneumatic zone and is attached to a first surface of the wafer stop plate adjacent the retaining ring interior cylindrical surface to receive the wafer and to support the wafer at a peripheral edge. The resilient pneumatic annular sealing bladder defines a second pneumatic zone radially interior to the first pneumatic zone and extends between the first surface of the wafer stop plate and the wafer when the wafer is attached to the polishing head during a polishing operation and is coupled for fluid communication to a second pressurized pneumatic fluid. The wafer attachment stop plate is operative during non polishing periods to prevent the wafer from flexing excessively from an applied vacuum force used to hold the wafer to the polishing head during wafer loading and unloading operations.

Apparatus and method for chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) head having direct pneumatic wafer polishing pressure

The invention provides structure and method for achieving a uniformly polished or planarized substrate such as a semiconductor wafer including achieving substantially uniform polishing between the center of the semiconductor wafer and the edge of the wafer. In one aspect the invention provides a polishing apparatus including a housing, a carrier for mounting a substrate to be polished, a retaining ring circumscribing the carrier for retaining the substrate, a first coupling attaching the retaining ring to the carrier such that the retaining ring may move relative to the carrier, a second coupling attaching the carrier to the housing such that the carrier may move relative to the housing, the housing and the first coupling defining a first pressure chamber to exert a pressure force against the retaining ring, and the housing and the second coupling defining a second pressure chamber to exert a pressure force against the subcarrier. In one embodiment, the couplings are diaphragms. The invention also provides a retaining ring having a special edge profile that assists in smoothing an pre-compressing the polisihng pad to increase polisihng uniformity. A method for polisihing and a semiconductor manufacture is also provided.

Chemical mechanical polishing head assembly having floating wafer carrier and retaining ring

Apparatus for chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) head having direct pneumatic wafer polishing pressure

The invention provides structure and method for achieving a uniformly polished or planarized substrate such as a semiconductor wafer including achieving substantially uniform polishing between the center of the semiconductor wafer and the edge of the wafer. In one aspect the invention provides a polishing apparatus including a housing, a carrier for mounting a substrate to be polished, a retaining ring circumscribing the carrier for retaining the substrate, a first coupling attaching the retaining ring to the carrier such that the retaining ring may move relative to the carrier, a second coupling attaching the carrier to the housing such that the carrier may move relative to the housing, the housing and the first coupling defining a first pressure chamber to exert a pressure force against the retaining ring, and the housing and the second coupling defining a second pressure chamber to exert a pressure force against the subcarrier. In one embodiment, the couplings are diaphragms. In another embodiment, the invention includes a single-or multiple-chambered wafer carrier or subcarrier capable of modifying a differential polishing pressure across the surface of the wafer or other substrate. The chambered-subcarrier permits customization of polishing pressure across the surface of the wafer to achieve greater material removal uniformity. The invention also provides a retaining ring having a special edge profile that assists in smoothing an pre-compressing the polishing pad to increase polishing uniformity. A method for polishing and a semiconductor manufacture is also provided by embodiments of the invention.

Chemical mechanical polishing head having floating wafer retaining ring and wafer carrier with multi-zone polishing pressure control

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Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

Scott Chin