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US 12,678,912 B2Granted
Chemical mechanical polishing temperature scanning apparatus for temperature control
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsHari Soundararajan, Shou-Sung Chang, Haosheng Wu, Jianshe Tang
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Abstract
A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus includes a platen having a top surface to hold a polishing pad, a carrier head to hold a substrate against a polishing surface of the polishing pad during a polishing process, and a temperature monitoring system. The temperature monitoring system includes a non-contact thermal sensor positioned above the platen that has a field of view of a portion of the polishing pad on the platen. The sensor is rotatable by the motor around an axis of rotation so as to move the field of view across the polishing pad.
Claims23
A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus comprising:
- a platen that is rotatable about an axis and having a top surface to hold a polishing pad;
- a motor to rotate the platen in a first direction;
- a support extending over the platen, wherein the support is movable relative to the platen;
- a carrier head suspended from and affixed to the support and arranged to hold a substrate against a polishing surface of the polishing pad during a polishing process;
- a temperature control system including a dispenser to deliver a temperature controlled fluid onto the polishing pad;
- and
- a temperature monitoring system including a non-contact thermal imaging sensor suspended from and affixed to the support,
- wherein the support including the affixed carrier head and the affixed non-contact thermal imaging sensor is configured to move with respect to the platen such that the non-contact thermal imaging sensor is positioned above the platen to have a field of view of a portion of the polishing pad on the platen and wherein the motor rotates the platen and the thermal imaging sensor is positioned such that the field of view is positioned to measure a section of the polishing pad after the section of the polishing pad has passed below the substrate and before the section of the polishing pad passes below the dispenser.
5 more elements
A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus comprising:
- a platen that is rotatable about an axis and having a top surface to hold a polishing pad;
- a support extending over the platen, wherein the support is movable relative to the platen;
- a carrier head suspended from and affixed to the support and arranged to hold a substrate against a polishing surface of the polishing pad during a polishing process;
- a temperature monitoring system including a non-contact thermal imaging sensor suspended from and affixed to the support, wherein the support including the affixed carrier head and the affixed non-contact thermal imaging sensor is configured to move with respect to the platen such that the non-contact thermal imaging sensor is positioned above the platen to have a field of view of a portion of the polishing pad on the platen;
- and
- a controller configured to generate a temperature profile from sensor data captured by the thermal imaging sensor of the portion of the polishing pad on the platen, and wherein the temperature profile comprises an aggregate temperature of the portion of the polishing pad on the platen.
3 more elements
A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus comprising:
- a rotatable platen having an axis of rotation and a top surface to hold a polishing pad;
- a carrier head to hold a substrate against a polishing surface of the polishing pad during a polishing process;
- a temperature control system including a heater and/or cooler,
- a support extending over the platen,
- a temperature monitoring system including a non-contact thermal sensor positioned above the platen to have a field of view of a portion of the polishing pad on the platen;
- a linear actuator to move the thermal sensor along the support;
- a controller coupled to the temperature control system, the temperature monitoring system and the linear actuator and configured to
- control the linear actuator so as to cause the thermal sensor to move linearly along the support,
- receive a plurality of temperature measurements from thermal sensor at a plurality of positions on the polishing pad,
- determine radial positions of the field of view of the thermal sensor relative to the axis of rotation of the platen for the plurality of temperature measurements,
- generate a radial temperature profile of the polishing pad using the plurality of temperature measurements and the radial positions, and
- adjust operation of the heater and/or cooler based on the radial temperature profile so as to improve temperature uniformity of the polishing pad.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.