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:
Oct. 04, 2005
Filed:
Jul. 01, 2002
Joseph Yahalom, Emeryville, CA (US);
Deenesh Padhi, San Jose, CA (US);
Srinivas Gandikota, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Girish A. Dixit, San Jose, CA (US);
Joseph Yahalom, Emeryville, CA (US);
Deenesh Padhi, San Jose, CA (US);
Srinivas Gandikota, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Girish A. Dixit, San Jose, CA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a method and apparatus for planarizing a substrate by electropolishing techniques. Certain embodiments of an electropolishing apparatus include a contact ring adapted to support a substrate, a cell body adapted to hold an electropolishing solution, a fluid supply system adapted to provide the electropolishing solution to the cell body, a cathode disposed within the cell body, a power supply system in electrical communication with the contact ring and the cathode, and a controller coupled to at least the fluid supply system and the power supply system. The controller may be adapted to provide a first set of electropolishing conditions to form a boundary layer between the substrate and the electropolishing solution to an initial thickness and may be adapted to provide a second set of electropolishing conditions to control the boundary layer to a subsequent thickness less than or equal to the initial thickness.