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:
Jul. 01, 2003
Filed:
May. 03, 2001
Abstract
In method and apparatus for supplying a slurry for a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process, a slurry pre-treatment is provided for minimizing the size of abrasive particles in the slurry. In the slurry supplying method, after applying acoustic energy to the slurry to de-agglomerate agglomerated abrasive particles within the slurry, any remaining oversized abrasive particles having a diameter greater than a reference size are filtered out from the slurry. The acoustic energy application step and the filtering step are repeatedly performed for a predetermined time period while circulating the slurry. The slurry supplying apparatus includes a tank for holding a slurry, acoustic energy sources for applying acoustic energy to the slurry held within the tank, a slurry circulating line for circulating the slurry drawn out of the tank, which is connected to the tank, a filter for filtering out abrasive particle clumps having a diameter greater than a reference size from the slurry, which is disposed in the slurry circulating line, and a slurry supplying line for supplying the slurry from the slurry circulating line to a CMP equipment.