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:
Aug. 22, 2000
Filed:
May. 08, 1998
Christopher H Raeder, Austin, TX (US);
Kevin D Shipley, Austin, TX (US);
Peter A Burke, Austin, TX (US);
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Austin, TX (US);
Abstract
A polishing pad having a wear level indicator and a polishing system employing the same is provided. A polishing pad, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, includes a pad structure and an indicator, disposed in the pad structure, indicating the wear level of the pad structure. The pad structure may, for example, include a top pad and a bottom pad with the indicator being disposed in the top pad. The wear level may, for example, be a critical thickness of the polishing pad which indicates the end of the pad lifetime or which indicates the need to change polishing processing. The use of a wear level indicator allows for efficient and reliable pad wear level indication.