Slurry recycling for chemical mechanical polishing system
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorWen-Kuei Liu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure describes an apparatus and a method for a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process that recycles used slurry as another slurry supply. The apparatus includes a pad on a rotation platen, a first feeder and a second feeder where each of the first and the second feeder is fluidly connected to a respective flow regulator and configured to dispense a first and a second slurry on the pad, a flotation module configured to provide a recycled slurry, and a detection module configured to detect a polishing characteristic associated with polishing the substrate. The flotation module further includes an inlet configured to provide a fluid sprayed from the pad and a tank configured to store chemicals that include a frother and a collector configured to chemically bond with the fluid.
Claims20
A polishing apparatus for polishing a substrate, comprising:
- a rotating platen having a pad thereon;
- first and second flow regulators;
- first and second feeders fluidly connected to the first and second flow regulators respectively, the first and second feeders configured to dispense respective first and second slurries onto the pad;
- a flotation module configured to provide a recycled slurry, the flotation module comprising:
- a tank configured to store a plurality of chemicals to react with a waste liquid;
- a first inlet coupled to a middle portion of the tank and configured to receive the waste liquid from the pad;
- a second inlet coupled to a bottom portion of the tank and configured to provide a gas into the tank;
- a first outlet coupled to the middle portion of the tank and configured to output the recycled slurry from the tank;
- and
- a second outlet coupled to the bottom portion of the tank and configured to output precipitations sinking at the bottom portion of the tank;
- and
- a detection module embedded in the rotating platen, wherein the detection module comprises an electrode configured to detect an electrical current associated with a thickness of a film on the substrate.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a rotating platen;
- a polishing pad on the rotating platen and configured to polish a substrate;
- a first slurry feeder configured to dispense a first slurry on the polishing pad;
- a second slurry feeder configured to dispense a second slurry on the polishing pad;
- a flotation device coupled to the second slurry feeder and decoupled from the first slurry feeder, wherein the flotation device is configured to:
- collect a polishing waste sprayed from the polishing pad;
- and
- recycle the polishing waste into the second slurry;
- and wherein the flotation device comprises:
- a first tank configured to separate the second slurry from the polishing waste;
- a second tank coupled to a top portion of the first tank and configured to collect agglomerations produced by the first tank;
- an inlet coupled to the first tank and configured to receive the polishing waste;
- and
- an outlet coupled to the first tank and configured to provide the second slurry to the second slurry feeder;
- a detector attached to the polishing pad and configured to detect a polishing characteristic associated with polishing the substrate;
- and
- flow regulators configured to adjust flow rates of the first and second slurries based on the polishing characteristic.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a polishing pad configured to:
- receive a raw slurry and a recycled slurry;
- and
- produce a waste liquid during a semiconductor process to polish a substrate;
- a detector configured to detect a surface profile of the substrate during the semiconductor process to polish the substrate;
- a first slurry feeder configured to dispense the raw slurry on the polishing pad;
- a tank coupled to the first slurry feeder and configured to supply the raw slurry to the first slurry feeder;
- a second slurry feeder configured to dispense the recycled slurry on the polishing pad;
- a flotation device coupled to the second slurry feeder and decoupled from the tank, wherein the flotation device is configured to:
- transform the waste liquid into the recycled slurry;
- and
- examine properties of the recycled slurry;
- and wherein the flotation device comprises:
- a first tank configured to extract the recycled slurry from the waste liquid;
- a second tank coupled to the first tank and configured to collect agglomerations produced by the first tank;
- a first inlet coupled to the first tank and configured to receive the waste liquid;
- a second inlet coupled to the first tank and configured to provide a gas into the first tank;
- a first outlet coupled to the first tank and configured to provide the recycled slurry to the second slurry feeder;
- and
- a second outlet coupled to the first tank and configured to output precipitations separated from the waste liquid;
- and
- a control device configured to regulate a flow rate of the recycled slurry provided to the second slurry feeder based on the properties of the recycled slurry.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.