Systems and methods for wafer polishing
AssigneeLSI Logic Corporation
InventorRobert Donis
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electromagnetic polish head (100) comprises at least one electromagnet. An embodiment may also include the addition of a slurry component or components that can be affected by an electromagnetic field. During polishing or planarization, a field or fields may be generated by the polish head (100) to affect the polishing of a wafer by attracting or repelling the slurry to a portion or portions of the substrate.
Claims20
A polish head for polishing a substrate comprising:
- a carrier head for holding the substrate during polishing;
- and
- an electromagnet within the carrier head for affecting a slurry's distribution across at least a portion of the substrate's surface during polishing with a Polish pad.
A method for affecting the polishing rate on at least a portion of a substrate comprising:
- using a slurry with at least one component capable of being affected by a electromagnetic field;
- placing the substrate on a polish head comprising an electromagnet;
- using the electromagnet to generate an electromagnetic field to affect the slurry's distribution across at least a portion of the substrate's surface while polishing with a polish pad.
A slurry for use with a polish head and polish pad for polishing a substrate, said polish head comprising a carrier head for holding the substrate during polishing and an electromagnet within the carrier head that generates an electromagnetic field, the slurry comprising at least one polarizeable component that is affected by the electromagnetic field generated by the electromagnet wherein the slurry's distribution across at least a portion of a substrate's surface may be affected to be non-uniform during polishing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.