Apparatus and system of chemical mechanical polishing

Details Apparatus and system of chemical mechanical polishing Apparatus and system of chemical mechanical polishing

2001-03-19

2003-12-16

Hail, III, Joseph J. (Department: 3723)

Abrading

Machine

Combined

C451S288000, C451S443000, C451S540000, C451S125000, C451S003000, C451S008000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06663474

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to chemical mechanical polishing equipment, and more particularly to apparatus of carrier in the chemical mechanical polishing equipment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fabrication of semiconductor integrated circuits (IC) is a complicated multi-step process creating microscope structures with various electrical properties to form a connected set of devices. As more layers are built up on the silicon wafer, problems caused by surface non-planarity become increasingly severe and can impact yield and chip performance. During the fabrication process, it may become necessary to remove excess material in a process referred to as planarization.
A common technique used to planarize the surface of a silicon wafer is CMP. CMP involves the use of a polishing pad affixed to a circular polishing table and a holder to hold the wafer face down against the rotating pad. A slurry containing abrasive and chemical additives are dispensed onto the polishing pad.
As depicted in
FIG. 1
, a CMP system
110
typically consists of a carrier module
120
, a support module
130
, a polishing pad module
140
, and a conditioning module
150
. Typically a polishing pad on the circular polishing table in the polishing pad module
140
is comprised of blown polyurethane with a felt surface layer containing many small pores to facilitate the flow of slurry to beneath the wafer being polished. The carrier module
120
provides the holder to hold the wafer face down against the rotating pad. Typically a retaining ring
125
in the carrier module
120
can prevent the wafer edge against contact with the polishing pad in a deformed shape.
On the other hand, the support module
130
comprises a rotation system
132
, a pressure system
134
and a chemical system
136
. The rotation system
132
is used for the rotation motion of the carrier module
120
. The pressure system
134
is used for providing the down force of the carrier module
120
to keep the wafer in contact with the polishing pad. The chemical system
136
is responsible for supply of the slurry containing abrasive and chemical additives. Furthermore, the conditioning module
150
comprises a conditioning chemical system
154
and a robot system
155
. The conditioning chemical system is responsible for the supply of the conditioning solution. The robot system
155
is used to the mechanical motion during conditioning process.
It is very important for the CMP system
110
to provide the smooth-changed and controllable polishing rate. However, the typical CMP system
110
only maintains the polishing rate in either ex-situ or non-real-time-in-situ pad conditioning, that is, the pad conditioning step can't be simultaneously implemented with the polishing step. Such an architecture may not fulfill the further shrunk IC design and manufacture. On the other hand, there is occupied space for the conditioning module, that causes the higher consumption of the CMP system in a semiconductor manufacture factory.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus of carrier and a system of chemical mechanical polishing. A retaining ring combined with the conditioning function can provide activating pad and polishing wafer real-in-situ.
It is another object of the present invention to provide apparatus of carrier and a system of chemical mechanical polishing. A retaining ring made of the material of the conventional conditioner can be controlled with independent rotation motion and down-force supply.
In the present invention, apparatus of carrier in chemical mechanical polishing equipment comprises a carrier module for holding a wafer face down. A retaining ring and conditioning module is coupled to the carrier module, which is used for protecting the wafer edge against contact with a polishing pad in a deformed shape and executing a conditioning of the polishing pad while the wafer is being polished. A first support module is coupled to the retaining ring and conditioning module, which is used for rotating, pressing down, and supplying conditioning chemicals for the retaining ring and conditioning module.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5842912 (1998-12-01), Holzapfel et al.
patent: 5913714 (1999-06-01), Volodarsky et al.
patent: 5941762 (1999-08-01), Ravkin et al.
patent: 6132298 (2000-10-01), Zuniga et al.
patent: 6428399 (2002-08-01), Tanabe et al.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Apparatus and system of chemical mechanical polishing does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Apparatus and system of chemical mechanical polishing, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Apparatus and system of chemical mechanical polishing will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3167299