Chemical mechanical polishing system and method of using
AssigneesTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd., Tsmc Nanjing Company, Limited
InventorWen Yen Kung
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Abstract
A method of conditioning a polishing pad includes receiving information on a roughness of the polishing pad from a first sensor. The method further includes conditioning the polishing pad using a conditioner. The method further includes detecting the roughness of the polishing pad following the conditioning. The method further includes repeating the conditioning in response to the detected roughness of the polishing pad being outside of a threshold roughness range.
Claims20
A method of conditioning a polishing pad comprising:
- performing a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process using the polishing pad;
- receiving information on a roughness of the polishing pad from a first sensor;
- conditioning the polishing pad using a conditioner;
- detecting the roughness of the polishing pad following the conditioning;
- tracking a number of iterations of the conditioning;
- and
- outputting a signal for replacing the polishing pad in response to the number of iterations reaching an iteration limit;
- and
- repeating the conditioning in response to the detected roughness of the polishing pad being outside of a threshold roughness range, wherein repeating the conditioning comprises continuing the CMP process during the repeating the conditioning.
A chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) system comprising:
- a polishing pad configured to polish a wafer;
- a first sensor configured to detect a roughness of the polishing pad;
- a conditioner configured to adjust the roughness of the polishing pad;
- and
- a controller configured to control the conditioner based on information received from the first sensor, wherein the controller is configured to:
- track a number of iterations of a conditioning process performed by the conditioner on the polishing pad, and
- generate a signal for replacing the polishing pad in response to the number of iterations reaching an iteration limit.
A chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) system comprising:
- a polishing head configured to hold a wafer during a CMP process;
- a polishing pad configured to polish the wafer;
- a plurality of sensors configured to detect a roughness of the polishing pad;
- a conditioner configured to adjust the roughness of the polishing pad;
- and
- a controller configured to control the conditioner based on information received from the plurality of sensors, wherein the controller is configured to:
- track a number of iterations of the conditioning;
- output a signal for replacing the polishing pad in response to the number of iterations reaching an iteration limit,
- control a location of the conditioner relative to the polishing pad, and
- control a pressure exerted on the polishing pad by the conditioner.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.