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. 08, 2013
Filed:
Oct. 23, 2008
Hung Chih Chen, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Sen-hou Ko, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Shou-sung Chang, Stanford, CA (US);
Hung Chih Chen, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Sen-Hou Ko, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Shou-Sung Chang, Stanford, CA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention generally provide an improved conditioning module and conditioning disks for improved pressure distribution during the process of conditioning a polishing pad of a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) system. In one embodiment, a conditioning module comprising multiple, small conditioning disks is provided. In one embodiment, a conditioning disk having a compliant backing member is provided. In one embodiment, the compliant backing member comprises a semi-rigid backing member cut into a spiral shape to provide compliancy. In another embodiment, the compliant backing member comprises a fluid-pressurized, flexible membrane. Each embodiment of the present invention provides an improved pressure distribution across the face of each conditioning disk, resulting in increased disk life as well as increased conditioning rate and uniformity.