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:
Mar. 23, 1999
Filed:
May. 12, 1997
Applicant:
Inventors:
Douglas P Kreager, Lake Oswego, OR (US);
Junedong Lee, Gilbert, AZ (US);
Assignee:
Integrated Process Equipment Corp., Phoenix, AZ (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
B24B / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
451443 ; 451 56 ; 451444 ; 451324 ;
Abstract
A flexible conditioning apparatus and method for uniformly conditioning a polishing surface of a pad used to remove undesirable irregularities from a silicon wafer and to achieve a planar condition of the polishing pad. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a roughening member comprising a plurality of point contacts, such as diamond particles, is adapted for movement into and out of engagement with the surface of the pad. A flexible member supporting the roughening member allows the roughening member to conform to the surface of the pad to achieve uniform polishing of the pad.