Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

Victor J Bass

Landon B Vines

The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for cleaning and enhancing CMP polishing pads. According to an example embodiment of the present invention, a fluid source supplies cleaning elements to a CMP pad conditioner arrangement at pressure of about 20 PSI. A dispensing arrangement is coupled to the fluid source and is adapted to disperse the cleaning elements and to dispense the elements onto a CMP pad. The high-pressure cleaning of the CMP pad improves the ability to clean the pad over existing methods, reduces processing defects, increases the pad life, and improves the uniformity of the polish rate.

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San Antonio, TX, United States of America

Victor J Bass