Planarizing pads, planarizing machines and methods for making and using planarizing pads in mechanical and chemical-mechanical planarization of microelectronic device substrate assemblies

Abstract

Planarizing pads and methods for making or using planarizing pads to polish or planarize semiconductor wafers, field emission displays, or other microelectronic substrates and substrate assemblies. In one embodiment, the planarizing pad comprises a compressible body and a plurality of discrete contact elements. The compressible body can comprise a base having a backside facing a support surface of a table and a front side facing away from the support surface. The contact elements can comprise raised sections of a single layer or separate plates. The contact elements have a bottom surface attached to the front side of the base and a top surface configured to contact a microelectronic substrate facing away from the base. The compressible body has a first hardness and the contact elements have a second hardness greater than the first hardness, and/or the body has a first compressibility and the contact elements have a second compressibility less than the first compressibility. The compressible body can be a compressible foam (e.g., foamed polyurethane), and the contact elements can be a hard, rigid material (e.g., polycarbonate, resin, polyester or high density polyurethane). In operation, the contact elements can move independently from one another in a direction transverse to the substrate.