Applied Materials, Inc.

International Business Machines Corporation

William L Guthrie

Manoocher Birang

Allan Gleason

Naftali Eliahu Lustig

Norm Shendon

Frank Benjamin Kaufman

William J Patrick

Tsungnan Cheng

Kenneth Parker Rodbell

Jeffrey S Marks

Robert D Tolles

Semyon Spektor

Charles L Standley

Kathleen A Perry

Ivan A Ocanada

John Edward Cronin

Daniel C Edelstein

Robert Fontana

Harry Q Lee

Sen-Hou Ko

Hung-Chin Guthrie

Klaus D Beyer

Jacob Riseman

Lawrence D David

Vlasta A Brusic

Carter W Kaanta

Mark A Jaso

Robert William Pasco

Paul M Feeney

Eric James Lee

Anton Nenadic

Michael T Sherwood

Barbara Jean Luther

William A Pliskin

Paul M Schaible

Ming-Fea Chow

Li-Chung Lee

Stanley R Makarewicz

Eric Mendel

Thomas Edwin Sandwick

Jeffrey William Carr

Peter D Roper

Randall M Feenstra

Melanie M Chow

Francisco Agustin Martin

David B Thompson

The polishing pad for a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus, and a method of making the same. The polishing pad has a covering layer with a polishing surface and a backing layer which is adjacent to the platen. A first opening in the covering layer with a first cross-sectional area and a second opening in the backing layer with a second, different cross-sectional area form an aperture through the polishing pad. A substantially transparent polyurethane plug is positioned in the aperture, and an adhesive material fixes the plug in the aperture.

Polishing assembly with a window

Polishing pad with window and method of fabricating a window in a polishing pad

Forming a transparent window in a polishing pad for a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus

Method of forming a transparent window in a polishing pad

Copper or a copper alloy is removed by chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) in a slurry of an oxidizer, an oxidation inhibitor, and an additive that appreciably regulates copper complexing with the oxidation inhibitor.

Chemical-mechanical planarization of metallurgy

Slurry is provided to the surface of the polishing pad by pumping the slurry up through a central port, or by dripping the slurry down onto the surface of the polishing pad from a slurry feed tube. A slurry wiper, which may have one or more flexible members, sweeps the slurry evenly and thinly across the polishing pad. A control system coordinates the distribution of slurry to the polishing pad with the motion of the carrier head.

Apparatus and method for distribution of slurry in a chemical mechanical polishing system

A method planarizes a first pole piece layer of a write head by lapping without delaminating the first pole piece layer from an underlying second read gap layer on a wafer substrate. This is accomplished by separating or dicing the first pole piece material layer in a field region about rows and columns of first pole piece layers of magnetic head assemblies so as to reduce the stress of the first pole piece material layer in the field. Accordingly, when the wafer substrate is lapped, such as by chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), a reduced stress prevents the first pole piece material layer from delaminating from the second read gap layer during the lapping operation.

Method of planarizing first pole piece layer of write head by lapping

Apparatus and method for distribution of slurry in a chemical mechanical

Forming a transparent window in a polishing pad for a chemical

In-line thickness measurement of a dielectric film layer on a surface of a workpiece subsequent to a polishing on a chemical-mechanical polishing machine in a polishing slurry is disclosed. The workpiece includes a given level of back-end-of-line (BEOL) structure including junctions. The measurement apparatus includes a platen and an electrode embedded within the platen. A positioning mechanism positions the workpiece above the electrode with the dielectric layer facing in a direction of the electrode. A slurry dam is used for maintaining a prescribed level of a conductive polishing slurry above the electrode, the prescribed level to ensure a desired slurry coverage of the workpiece. A capacitance sensor senses a system capacitance C in accordance with an RC equivalent circuit model, wherein the RC equivalent circuit includes a resistance R representative of the slurry and workpiece resistances and the system capacitance C representative of the dielectric material and junction capacitances. Lastly, a capacitance-to-thickness converter converts the sensed capacitance to a dielectric thickness in accordance with a prescribed system capacitance/optical thickness calibration, wherein the prescribed calibration corresponds to the given level of BEOL structure of the workpiece.

Method and apparatus for in-line oxide thickness determination in

The polishing pad for a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus and a method of making the same. The polishing pad has a covering lawyer with a polishing surface and a backing layer which is adjacent to the platen. A first opening in the covering layer with a first cross-sectional area and a second opening in the backing layer with a second, different cross-sectional area form an aperture through the polishing pad. A substantially transparent polyurethane plug is positioned in the aperture, and an adhesive material fixes the plug in the aperture.

A process using a retaining ring assembly of a carrier head to precompress a polishing pad to reduce or minimize the edge effect in a chemical mechanical polishing process.

Method and apparatus for using a retaining ring to control the edge

A method of laser planarizing metallic thin films minimizes the laser fluences required to melt or nearly melt the metalization. This is accomplished by reducing the optical reflectivity of the metallic lines and vias by using textured thin films. This reduction of optical reflectivity, in turn, reduces the minimum fluence needed to melt or nearly melt the metal using a laser, thus improving the process window and minimizing the damage to the surrounding media.

Laser planarization of zone 1 deposited metal films for submicron metal

Growing community of inventors

Saratoga, CA, United States of America

William L Guthrie