Applied Materials, Inc.

Other

Young Jeen Paik

Ashish Bhatnagar

Kadthala Ramaya Narendrnath

Stacy Meyer

Arulkumar P Shanmugasundram

Alexander T Schwarm

Yuri Kokotov

Yossi Fisher

Christopher Richard Mahon

Padma Gopalakrishnan

Jacques Seror

Efim Entin

Aswathnarayanaiah Ravi

Shalomo Sarel

Irfanulla Khuddus Rahmathullah

Bopanna Ichettira Vansantha

Abraham Palaty

David Walter Groechel

David Seungwon Paik

Robert T Lum

Chiu Chan

Jamie Leighton

Li Wu

Daniel Martin

Sourabh Mishra

James Klingler

Satyasrayan Kumaraswamy

Nelson S Paik

An apparatus comprises a flexible membrane for use with a carrier head of a substrate chemical mechanical polishing apparatus. The membrane comprises an outer surface providing a substrate receiving surface, wherein the outer surface has a central portion and an edge portion surrounding the central portion, wherein the central portion has a first surface roughness and the edge portion has a second surface roughness, the first surface roughness being greater than the second surface roughness.

Carrier head membrane with regions of different roughness

Method of making carrier head membrane with regions of different roughness

Carrier head membrane roughness to control polishing rate

A reinforcement ring is for placement in a carrier head to abut an inner surface of a perimeter portion of a flexible membrane. The reinforcement ring includes a substantially vertical cylindrical portion, a first flange projecting inwardly from the bottom of the cylindrical portion, and a second flange projecting outwardly from a bottom of the cylindrical portion. The second flange projects downwardly at a non-zero angle from vertical.

Reinforcement ring for carrier head

A carrier head includes a base, a substrate mounting surface, a retaining ring secured to the base, and a plurality of stacked shims located between the base and the retaining ring. The retaining ring has a bottom surface for contacting a polishing pad during polishing.

Carrier head with shims

A retaining ring includes a generally annular upper portion having a top surface configured to be connected to a base of a carrier head and a lower surface, and a plurality of substantially identical arcuate segments detachably secured to the upper portion to form an annular lower portion. Each of the arcuate segments has an upper surface that abuts the lower surface of the upper portion and a bottom surface for contacting a polishing pad during polishing.

Retaining ring with attachable segments

A retaining ring includes an annular lower portion and an annular upper portion. The annular lower portion has a main body with a bottom surface for contacting a polishing pad during polishing, an inner rim projecting upward from the main body, an outer rim projecting upward from the main body and separated from the inner rim by a gap, and a plurality of azimuthally separated interlock features positioned between the inner rim and the outer rim, each interlock feature projecting upwardly from the main body. The annular upper portion has a top surface and a bottom surface and a plurality of azimuthally separated recesses in the bottom surface, the recesses defining thin portions of the upper portion, the plurality of interlock features fitting into the plurality of recesses. The lower portion is a plastic and the upper portion is a material that is more rigid than the plastic.

Two-part retaining ring with interlock features

In one aspect, a polishing pad includes a homogeneous unitary polishing layer having a polishing surface, an opposed bottom surface, a recess in the polishing surface extending partially but not entirely through the polishing layer, and a solid light-transmissive window is secured in the recess. In another aspect, a polishing pad includes a polishing layer having a polishing surface, and the polishing surface includes a first region having a first plurality of grooves with a first depth extending partially but not entirely through the polishing layer and a second region surrounded by the first region and having a second plurality of grooves with a second depth extending partially but not entirely through the polishing layer, the second depth greater than the first depth.

Leak proof pad for CMP endpoint detection

A flexible membrane includes a horizontal central portion, a vertical portion coupled to the central portion, a thick rim portion coupled to the vertical portion, and an extension coupled to the thick rim portion. An outer surface of the horizontal central portion provides a mounting surface configured to receive a substrate. The thick rim portion has a thickness that is greater than a portion directly adjacent to the thick rim portion. The thick rim portion is between the extension and the vertical portion and a greatest dimension of the extension is less than the thickness of the thick rim portion.

Carrier head membrane

A method, system, and medium of modeling and/or for controlling a manufacturing process is disclosed. In particular, a method according to embodiments of the present invention includes calculating a set of predicted output values, and obtaining a prediction model based on a set of input parameters, the set of predicted output values, and empirical output values. Each input parameter causes a change in at least two outputs. The method also includes optimizing the prediction model by minimizing differences between the set of predicted output values and the empirical output values, and adjusting the set of input parameters to obtain a set of desired output values to control the manufacturing apparatus. Obtaining the prediction model includes transforming the set of input parameters into transformed input values using a transformation function of multiple coefficient values, and calculating the predicted output values using the transformed input values.

Method, system and medium for controlling manufacture process having multivariate input parameters

A method, system and medium are provided for enabling improved feedback and feedforward control. An error, or deviation from target result, is observed during manufacture of semi conductor chips. The error within standard deviation is caused by two components: a white noise component and a signal component (such as systematic errors). The white noise component is random noise and therefore is relatively non-controllable. The systematic error, in contrast, may be controlled by changing the control parameters. A ratio between the two components is calculated autoregressively. Based on the ratio and using the observed or measured error, the actual value of the error caused by the signal component is calculated utilizing an autoregressive stochastic sequence. The actual value of the error is then used in determining when and how to change the control parameters. The autoregressive stochastic sequence addresses the issue of real-time control of the effects of run-to-run deviations, and provides a mechanism that can extract white noise from the statistical process variance in real time. This results in an ability to provide tighter control of feedback and feedforward variations.

Adjusting manufacturing process control parameter using updated process threshold derived from uncontrollable error

A method, system, and medium of modeling and/or for controlling a manufacturing process is disclosed. In particular, a method according to embodiments of the present invention includes the step of identifying one or more input parameters. Each input parameter causes a change in at least two outputs. The method also includes the step of storing values of the identified inputs and corresponding empirical output values along with predicted output values. The predicted output values are calculated based on, in part, the values of the identified inputs. The method also includes the step of calculating a set of transform coefficients by minimizing a score equation that is a function of differences between one or more of the empirical output values and their corresponding predicted output values. The method further includes the steps of receiving a new set of values for the identified inputs, transforming the new set of values for the identified input using the set of coefficients, and calculating a set of predicted output values using the transformed input values.

A method, system and medium is provided for enabling improved control systems. An error, or deviation from a target result, is observed for example during manufacture of semiconductor chips. The error within standard deviation is caused by two components: a white noise component and a signal component (such as systematic errors). The white noise component is, e.g., random noise and therefore is relatively non-controllable. The systematic error component, in contrast, may be controlled by changing the control parameters. A ratio between the two components is calculated autoregressively. Based on the ratio and using the observed or measured error, the actual value of the error caused by the systematic component is calculated utilizing an autoregressive stochastic sequence. The actual value of the error is then used in determining when and how to change the control parameters. The autoregressive stochastic sequence addresses the issue of the effects of run-to-run deviations, and provides a mechanism that can extract the white noise component from the statistical process variance in real time. This results in an ability to provide tighter control, for example in feedback and feedforward variations of process control.

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Campbell, CA, United States of America

Young Jeen Paik