Parallel alignment method and apparatus for chemical mechanical polishing
AssigneeLam Research Corporation
InventorThomas Walsh
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a single polishing pad and a leaf structure having a pair of fingers. Each finger holds a carrier device designed to hold a wafer to be polished. The leaf structure is configured to apply each of the wafers onto the single polishing pad.
Claims22
An apparatus for chemical mechanical polishing a surface of a workpiece, comprising:
- a housing configured to encase a processing area, the processing area including,
- a wafer loading and unloading station;
- a plurality of polishing areas;
- and
- a handler configured to include a leaf structure rotatably coupled to a turret, the leaf structure including a pair of carrier devices designed to hold a pair of workpieces to be polished on at least one of the polishing areas,
- wherein the pair of workpieces are capable of being polished substantially at the same time on the at least one of the plurality of the polishing areas.
An apparatus for chemical mechanical polishing a surface of a workpiece as recited in claim 2, wherein the leaf structure is configured to rotate about the turret so as to move the pair of workpieces between the loading and unloading area and the polishing area.
A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus, comprising:
- a polishing area;
- a leaf structure rotatably coupled to a turret, the leaf structure having a pair of fingers, each finger configured to include a carrier device designed to hold a workpiece to be polished, each carrier device configured to apply each of the workpieces onto the polishing area.
A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus, comprising:
- a single polishing pad;
- a leaf structure having a pair of fingers, each finger configured to hold a carrier device designed to hold a wafer to be polished, the leaf structure configured to apply each of the wafers onto the single polishing pad.
A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus, comprising:
- a plurality of polishing areas;
- a pair of leaf structures rotatably coupled to a turret, each leaf structure configured to include a pair of fingers, each pair of fingers configured to hold a pair of carrier devices each designed to hold a workpiece to be polished,
- wherein each pair of carrier devices is configured to be applied onto a respective polishing area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.