Modular chemical mechanical polisher with simultaneous polishing and pad treatment
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsSteven M. Zuniga, Jay Gurusamy
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure is directed towards polishing modules for performing chemical mechanical polishing of a substrate. The substrate may be a semiconductor substrate. The polishing modules described have a plurality of pads, such as polishing pads, disposed within a single polishing station. The pads are configured to remain stationary during processing, such as during polishing or buff operations. Either an x-y gantry assembly or a head actuation assembly is coupled to a system body of a polishing module and is configured to move a carrier head over the pads. Between process operations the polishing pads may be indexed to expose a new polishing pad to the carrier head.
Claims11
A substrate polishing system, comprising:
- a plurality of polishing stations that are positioned in a stacked orientation, wherein each of the polishing stations comprise:
- a system body that includes one or more walls that define a processing region;
- a platen disposed within the processing region of the system body having a rectangular pad supporting surface that is configured to receive a non-axisymmetric polishing pad, wherein a long side of the rectangular pad supporting surface is aligned in a first direction;
- and
- a head assembly disposed over the pad supporting surface of the platen, and wherein the head assembly comprises:
- a carrier head disposed over the pad supporting surface of the platen;
- a linear actuator connected to a central rail support;
- and
- a support arm that couples the carrier head to the linear actu ator,
- wherein the linear actuator is configured to position the carrier head and support arm in the first direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.