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:
Jun. 12, 2007
Filed:
Jul. 02, 2004
John F. Stumpf, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Franklin D. Root, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Brian Severson, Chandler, AZ (US);
David Marquardt, Phoenix, AZ (US);
John Derwood Herb, Phoenix, AZ (US);
James Jed Crawford, Chandler, AZ (US);
Rand Conner, Chandler, AZ (US);
Jasent Montano, Chandler, AZ (US);
Kevin Bertsch, Gilbert, AZ (US);
Robert Marshall Stowell, Wilsonville, OR (US);
Edmund Minshall, Sherwood, OR (US);
Timothy Cleary, Portland, OR (US);
John F. Stumpf, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Franklin D. Root, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Brian Severson, Chandler, AZ (US);
David Marquardt, Phoenix, AZ (US);
John Derwood Herb, Phoenix, AZ (US);
James Jed Crawford, Chandler, AZ (US);
Rand Conner, Chandler, AZ (US);
Jasent Montano, Chandler, AZ (US);
Kevin Bertsch, Gilbert, AZ (US);
Robert Marshall Stowell, Wilsonville, OR (US);
Edmund Minshall, Sherwood, OR (US);
Timothy Cleary, Portland, OR (US);
Novellus Systems, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods and apparatus are provided for the chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) of a surface of a work piece. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention the apparatus comprises a plurality of CMP systems, a plurality of load cups for loading unprocessed work pieces into and unloading processed work pieces from the plurality of CMP systems, a plurality of cleaning stations for cleaning processed work pieces unloaded from the CMP systems, and a single robot configured to transfer unprocessed work pieces to the plurality of load cups and to transfer processed work pieces from the load cups to the plurality of cleaning stations.