Chemical mechanical polishing apparatus using a magnetically coupled pad conditioning disk

A method of manufacturing a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) apparatus, the method comprising:

• disposing a polishing pad on a top surface of a platen that is configured to rotate around a vertical axis passing through the platen;
• disposing a wafer carrier over the top surface of the platen, wherein the wafer carrier is configured to hold a substrate on a bottom surface thereof and to press the substrate onto the top surface of the polishing pad;
• disposing a slurry dispenser configured to dispense slurry over the top surface of the polishing pad;
• attaching a pad conditioning disk to a conditioning head, wherein the pad conditioning disk comprises a first ferromagnetic material portion and the conditioning head comprises an electromagnet configured to generate a magnetic field that attracts the first ferromagnetic material portion, whereby a pad conditioning unit including the conditioning head and the pad conditioning disk is formed;
• and
• disposing the pad conditioning unit over the top surface of the platen,
• wherein:
• the conditioning head comprises a cylindrical cavity;
• the conditioning head comprises a contact switch located at a top portion of the cylindrical cavity and configured to detect physical contact with the pad conditioning disk;
• and
• the method comprises fitting an upper portion of the pad conditioning disk into the cylindrical cavity and moving the pad conditioning disk upward until the contact switch detects physical contact with the pad conditioning disk.

A method of operating a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) apparatus, comprising:

• providing a CMP apparatus comprising:
• a polishing pad located on a top surface of a platen configured to rotate around a vertical axis passing through the platen,
• a wafer carrier facing a top surface of the polishing pad,
• a slurry dispenser configured to dispense slurry over the top surface of the polishing pad, and
• a conditioning head comprising an electromagnet;
• and
• attaching a pad conditioning disk to the conditioning head, wherein the pad conditioning disk comprises a first ferromagnetic material portion configured to be attracted to the electromagnet when the electromagnet is energized,
• wherein:
• the conditioning head comprises a cylindrical cavity;
• the method comprises fitting an upper portion of the pad conditioning disk into the cylindrical cavity;
• the conditioning head comprises a contact switch located at a top portion of the cylindrical cavity;
• and
• the method comprises moving the pad conditioning disk up the cylindrical cavity until the contact switch detects physical contact with a top surface of the pad conditioning disk.