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:
Sep. 12, 2001
Steven T. Mayer, Lake Oswego, OR (US);
Seshasayee Varadarajan, Wilsonville, OR (US);
Andrew J. McCutcheon, Oregon City, OR (US);
Novellus Systems, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
Chemical etching methods and associated modules for performing the removal of metal from the edge bevel region of a semiconductor wafer are described. The methods and systems apply liquid etchant in a precise manner at the edge bevel region of the wafer under viscous flow conditions, so that the etchant is applied on to the front edge area and flows over the side edge and onto the back edge in a viscous manner. The etchant thus does not flow or splatter onto the active circuit region of the wafer. An edge bevel removal embodiment involving that is particularly effective at obviating streaking, narrowing the metal taper and allowing for subsequent chemical mechanical polishing, is disclosed.