The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 07, 1998
Filed:
Oct. 08, 1996
Gary O Henderson, Boise, ID (US);
Micron Technology, Inc., Boise, ID (US);
Abstract
A contour indicator that visually indicates non-uniformities in the planarity of the planarizing surface of a polishing pad. In one embodiment of the invention, a polishing pad has a polishing body with a planarizing surface facing the wafer and a contour indicator embedded in the polishing body. The contour indicator is preferably the material of the polishing body dyed to a color or shade that is visually distinguishable from the polishing body. The contour indicator preferably has first and second sidewalls spaced apart from one another at the planarizing surface of the polishing body, and the contour indicator also has a cross-sectional shape so that the distance between the first and second sidewalls changes with increasing the depth within the pad. In operation, the distance between the first and second sidewalls of the contour indicator changes as material is removed from the planarizing surface, and the distance between the first and second sidewalls at the planarizing surface indicates the contour of the planarizing surface.