Membrane for applying pressure to pad in chemical mechanical polishing

Abstract

A chemical mechanical polishing system includes a chuck assembly that has a chuck to hold a substrate, a motor to rotate the chuck about a first axis, and a pad carrier assembly. The pad carrier assembly includes a support that is movably along a radial direction relative to the first axis, a lateral actuator coupled the support to cause the support to move along the radial direction, a support arm extending from the support over the chuck, a pad carrier suspended from the support arm, the pad carrier configured to receive and hold a polishing pad, and a flexible membrane secured to the support arm to form a plurality of individually pressurizable chambers between the pad carrier and the support arm such that variation of a pressure difference between the chambers adjusts a radial distribution of pressure on the pad carrier.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.