Chemical mechanical polishing apparatus and methods with porous vacuum chuck and perforated carrier film

Apparatus for mounting a wafer for chemical mechanical polishing operations, the apparatus comprising:

• a vacuum chuck having opposite first and second surfaces, the first surface defining a first mounting area, the vacuum chuck having a rigid porous structure extending between the first and second surfaces adjacent to substantially all of the first mounting area, the porous structure being defined by sintered ceramic material having micropores therein extending in three orthogonal directions between the opposite first and second surfaces;
• and
• a carrier film having a third surface configured to engage a wafer and a fourth surface configured to engage the first surface of the vacuum chuck, the film having a uniform arrangement of holes extending in two of the three orthogonal directions between the third and fourth surfaces adjacent to substantially all of the fourth surface, each of the holes extending parallel to the third dimension between the third and fourth surfaces, the uniform arrangement spacing a first one of the holes at substantially equal distances from adjacent other ones of the holes, each of the holes being overlapped by a plurality of the micropores of the ceramic material when the first surface of the vacuum chuck engages the fourth surface of the carrier film.

A method for coordinating configurations of structures of a wafer carrier film and of a vacuum chuck to reduce the effects of the structures on chemical mechanical polishing operations performed on the wafer mounted on the structures, the method comprising the operations of:

• providing the carrier film having a first surface configured to engage a wafer and a second surface configured with a pressure transfer area, the film having a uniform two-dimensional arrangement of holes extending completely across the pressure transfer area, each of the holes extending along a third dimension between the first and second surfaces;
• and
• aligning all of the holes of the uniform two-dimensional arrangement of holes with passages through the vacuum chuck by providing the vacuum chuck with a rigid porous defined by sintered ceramic material, the structure being in engagement with the pressure transfer area.