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:
Jan. 23, 2007
Filed:
Jan. 25, 2005
Stephen J. Benner, Lansdale, PA (US);
Yuzhuo LI, Norwood, NY (US);
Stephen J. Benner, Lansdale, PA (US);
Yuzhuo Li, Norwood, NY (US);
TBW Industries Inc., Furlong, PA (US);
Abstract
A system and method for providing process control in a CMP system utilizes a vacuum-assisted arrangement for conditioning a wafer polishing pad so that the effluent (i.e., wafer debris, polishing slurry, chemical or other by-products) from the conditioning process is diverted from the waste stream and instead introduced into an analysis module for further processing. The analysis module functions to determine at least one parameter within the effluent and generate a process control signal based upon the analysis. The process control signal is then fed back to the planarization process to allow for the control of various parameters such as polishing slurry composition, temperature, flow rate, etc. The process control signal can also be used to control the conditioning process and/or determining the endpoint of the planarization process itself.