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AssigneeSpeedfam Corporation
InventorsGregory A. Olsen, Carey R. Smith, Wayne Pratt
Estimating the term…
Methods and apparatus for measuring and controlling the flow rates of processing solutions to a CMP machine during the polishing and planarization process. The apparatus comprises a processing solution source, a processing solution dispensing system for applying the solution to the CMP machine, a mechanism for transferring the processing solution from the solution source to the dispensing system, and a metering or sensing system for accurately measuring the amount of processing solution actually dispensed to the CMP machine. Preferably, the metering system comprises a coriolis mass flow meter and a controller for controlling its operation. The metering system may interface with the CMP machine controller in a feed-back loop configuration so that the actual flow rates of the solutions may be controlled in real time.
A method for controlling an amount of slurry dispensed to a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) system having a slurry source, a slurry dispensing system for applying the slurry from said slurry source to a polishing surface of said CMP system, a pump for transferring said slurry from said slurry source to said dispensing system, a meter for measuring an amount of said slurry dispensed to said CMP system, and a controller for controlling the operation of said pump, said method comprising the steps of:
An apparatus for dispensing slurry to a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) system having a polishing surface configured to process workpieces, said apparatus comprising:
An apparatus for regulating the amount of slurry applied to a polishing surface utilized by a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) system, said polishing surface being configured to process workpieces during a CMP procedure, said apparatus comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.