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:
May. 29, 2001
Filed:
Apr. 30, 1999
Joseph V. Cesna, Nlles, IL (US);
Speed Fam-IPEC Corp., Chandler, AZ (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for the improved polishing or planarizing of workpiece surfaces which includes polishing pad with a plurality of self-cleaning and anti-tracking grooves along the surface of the pad. The self-cleaning grooves uniformly guide slurry and polishing debris radially outward across the surface of the pad while the anti-tracking capability acts to passively reduce the creation of localized wear zones into the polishing surface. Preferably, the grooves define a concentric pattern upon the surface of the pad and have a cross-section that is cut into a compound shape that has both a vertical and sloped surfaces. Other embodiments may include grooves with sloped parallel surfaces formed into spiral or radial patterns.