Applied Materials, Inc.

Yongqi Hu

Liang-Yuh Chen

Stan D Tsai

Feng Quan Liu

Yan Wang

Alain Duboust

Paul D Butterfield

Simon Yavelberg

Antoine P Manens

Siew Neo

Rashid Mavliev

Periya Gopalan

Christopher Richard Mahon

Rajkumar Alagarsamy

Kadthala Ramaya Narendrnath

Yuan Tian

Shou-Sung Chang

Zhihong Wang

Tony Kaushal

Renhe Jia

Thomas Lawrence Terry

Fred Conrad Redeker

Rajeev Bajaj

Shijian Li

Jui-lung Li

Sen-Hou Ko

Ralph M Wadensweiler

You Wang

Kapila P Wijekoon

Daxin Mao

Gangadhar Sheelavant

Shi-Ping Wang

David H Mai

Rahul Surana

Gary Lam

Yongsik Moon

Sasson Roger Somekh

Ratson Morad

Wei-Yung Hsu

Lizhong Sun

Wen-Chiang Tu

Chuong Q Dam

Donald J K Olgado

Mats Larsson

Ming-Kuei Tseng

Martin S Wohlert

Huyen Karen Tran

Tianbao Du

Patrick Ala

Bo B Ding

A polishing article has a polishing surface and an aperture, the aperture including a first section and a second section. The polishing article includes a projection extending inwardly into the aperture. The polishing article includes a lower portion on a side of the first surface farther from the polishing surface. A window has a first portion positioned in the first section of the aperture and a second portion extending into the second section of the aperture. The window has a second surface substantially parallel to the polishing surface. A first adhesive adheres the first surface of the projection to the second surface of the window to secure the window to the projection and a second adhesive of different material composition than the first adhesive. The second adhesive is positioned laterally between the second portion of the window and the lower portion of the polishing article.

Polishing pad with secondary window seal

A polishing pad includes a polishing layer stack that has a polishing surface, a bottom surface, and an aperture from the polishing surface to the bottom surface. The polishing layer stack includes a polishing layer that has the polishing surface. A fluid-impermeable layer spans the aperture and the polishing pad. A first adhesive layer of a first adhesive material is in contact with and secures the bottom surface of the polishing layer to the fluid-impermeable layer. The first adhesive layer spans the aperture and the polishing pad. The light-transmitting body is positioned in the aperture and has a lower surface in contact with, is secured to the first adhesive layer, and is spaced apart from a side-wall of the aperture by a gap. An adhesive sealant of a different second material is disposed in and laterally fills the gap.

Window in thin polishing pad

A retaining ring and a chemical mechanical planarization system (CMP) are disclosed. In one embodiment, a retaining ring for a polishing system includes a ring-shaped body having a polished inner diameter. The body has a bottom surface having grooves formed therein, an outer diameter wall, and an inner diameter wall, wherein the inner diameter wall is polished to a roughness average (R) of less than about 30 microinches (&#x3bc;in).

Retaining ring for lower wafer defects

Method of placing window in thin polishing pad

An external clamp ring for a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) carrier head having a hydrophobic coating, and a carrier head having the same are described herein. In one embodiment, an external clamp ring is provided that includes a cylindrical body having an outer cylindrical wall and an inner cylindrical wall. A hydrophobic layer disposed is on the outer cylindrical wall.

External clamp ring for a chemical mechanical polishing carrier head

Implementations described herein protect a retaining ring for a polishing system from corrosive polishing chemistries. In one embodiment, a retaining ring has a ring-shaped body having a top surface, an inside diameter sidewall, an outer diameter sidewall and a bottom surface. The inside diameter side wall is configured to circumscribe a substrate. The ring shaped body has a rigid ring-shaped portion, a polymeric ring-shaped portion stacked on the rigid ring-shaped portion and covering at least three sides of the rigid ring-shaped portion, a plurality of grooves formed in the bottom surface, and a plurality of wash ports formed through the polymeric ring-shaped portion, wherein the wash ports are isolated from the rigid ring-shaped portion.

Corrosion resistant retaining rings

A method and apparatus for evaluating a conditioned electrochemical mechanical polishing pad are provided. A polishing pad is conditioned using a first set of process conditions. A sheet wafer and a residue wafer are polished on the polishing pad. The removal rates of one or more materials from the sheet wafer and the residue wafer are measured. A normalized removal rate is calculated. The polishing pad is further conditioned if the normalized removal rate is not within a minimum value and a maximum value. In one embodiment, the normalized removal rate comprises a ratio of the removal rate of the residue wafer to the removal rate of the sheet wafer.

Method and apparatus for evaluating polishing pad conditioning

Embodiments of the invention generally provide a method and apparatus for processing a substrate in an electrochemical mechanical planarizing system. In one embodiment, a cell for polishing a substrate includes a processing pad disposed on a top surface of a platen assembly. A plurality of conductive elements are arranged in a spaced-apart relation across the upper planarizing surface and adapted to bias the substrate relative to an electrode disposed between the pad and the platen assembly. A plurality of passages are formed through the platen assembly between the top surface and a plenum defined within the platen assembly. In another embodiment, a system is provided having a bulk processing cell and a residual processing cell. The residual processing cell includes a biased conductive planarizing surface. In further embodiments, the conductive element is protected from attack by process chemistries.

Method and apparatus for electrochemical mechanical processing

Compositions and methods for processing a substrate having a conductive material layer disposed thereon are provided. In one embodiment, a composition for processing a substrate having a conductive material layer disposed thereon is provided which composition includes an acid based electrolyte, a chelating agent, a corrosion inhibitor, a passivating polymeric material, a pH adjusting agent, a solvent, and a pH between about 3 and about 10. The composition is used in a method to form a passivation layer on the conductive material layer, abrading the passivation layer to expose a portion of the conductive material layer, applying a bias to the substrate, and removing the conductive material layer.

Process and composition for conductive material removal by electrochemical mechanical polishing

Aspects of the present invention include a method and an apparatus that may be utilized to reduce dishing and improve cleaning efficiency of a material layer residue (e.g., copper residual) by varying a substrate potential in a substrate processing system. For example, by utilizing multiple polishing steps and applying different voltages (e.g., while a substrate is being in a polishing station), ECMP can be used to effectively reduce dishing and it can be used to enhance copper residual cleaning as well as minimizing a possibility of arcing, which can occur at the end of the polishing process, when a substrate is moved from a polishing station.

Method for electrochemically mechanically polishing a conductive material on a substrate

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Campbell, CA, United States of America

Yongqi Hu