Method and apparatus for improved conditioning of polishing pads
OwnerMichael A. Ravkin, Ilya A. Ravkin +1inventors
InventorsMichael A. Ravkin, Ilya A. Ravkin, Yuli Verhovsky
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for conditioning the surface of a polishing pad used to polish a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer. A conditioning apparatus uses two or more end effectors to abrade and/or remove the polishing byproducts from the surface of the pad. Different types of conditioning performance can be achieved when the end effectors are employed individually, sequentially or simultaneously during a polishing process.
Claims20
An apparatus for conditioning a surface of a polishing pad utilized for polishing a surface, comprising:
- a first conditioner having a first conditioning material;
- a second conditioner coupled to said first conditioner and having a second conditioning material which is different from said first conditioning material.
An apparatus for conditioning a surface of a polishing pad utilized for polishing a surface, comprising:
- a support arm;
- a first conditioner coupled to said support arm and having a first conditioning material resident thereon for providing a first conditioning characteristic when conditioning said polishing pad;
- and
- a second conditioner coupled to said support arm and having a second conditioning material resident thereon for providing a second conditioning characteristic when conditioning said polishing pad.
In a polishing tool, a method of conditioning a surface of a polishing pad utilized for polishing a surface, comprising the steps of:
- conditioning the surface of the polishing pad with a first conditioner;
- and,
- conditioning the surface of the polishing pad with a second conditioner without removing said first conditioner from said polishing tool.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.