Shimming substrate holder assemblies to produce more uniformly polished substrate surfaces
AssigneeLSI Logic Corporation
InventorsRonald J. Nagahara, Dawn M. Lee
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A substrate holder assembly for retaining a substrate during chemical mechanical polishing is described. The substrate holder assembly includes: (i) a backing plate including a contact surface adapted for supporting components of the substrate holder assembly and the substrate; (ii) a shim positioned adjacent the contact surface of the backing plate for applying pressure on the substrate during chemical-mechanical polishing; and (iii) a carrier film disposed adjacent the shim such that at least a portion of the carrier film adjacent the shim protrudes outwardly.
Claims23
A substrate holder assembly for retaining a substrate during chemical mechanical polishing, comprising:
- a backing plate including a contact surface adapted for supporting components of said substrate holder assembly and said substrate;
- a shim positioned adjacent said contact surface of said backing plate for applying pressure on said substrate during chemical-mechanical polishing;
- and
- a carrier film disposed adjacent said shim such that at least a portion of said carrier film adjacent said shim protrudes outwardly,
- wherein said backing plate having a concave area that recesses inwardly into the contact surface and sized to effectively hold said shim.
A backing plate adapted to support components of a substrate holder assembly and a substrate, comprising a contact surface having a concave area that recesses inwardly into said contact surface and said concave area is sized to effectively hold a shim.
A process of producing a substantially uniformly polished substrate surface by modifying a substrate holder, comprising;
- determining a location on a substrate surface where the substrate holder underpolishes the substrate surface;
- providing a shim sandwiched between a carrier film and a backing plate of a substrate holder assembly at a position that is aligned with the location of underpolished region on said substrate surface;
- polishing said substrate to produce the substantially uniformly polished substrate surface;
- determining an extent of uniformity achieved by providing said shim after said polishing said substrate;
- and
- if the extent of uniformity achieved is not acceptable, either (i) substituting another shim for said shim or (ii) placing another shim to form a composite of shims.
A process of producing a substantially uniformly polished substrate surface by modifying a substrate holder, comprising:
- determining a location on a substrate surface where the substrate holder underpolishes the substrate surface;
- providing a backing plate including a contact surface having a concave area that recesses inwardly into said contact surface and location of said concave area corresponds to location of underpolished regions on said substrate surface;
- retaining a shim in said concave area;
- and
- polishing said substrate to produce a more uniformly polished substrate surface.
A substrate holder assembly for retaining a substrate during chemical-mechanical polishing, comprising:
- means for supporting including a contact surface which is adapted to support components of said substrate holder assembly and said substrate;
- means for applying pressure positioned adjacent said contact surface of said means for supporting and applies pressure on said substrate during chemical-mechanical polishing;
- and
- a carrier film disposed adjacent said means for applying pressure and covering a substantial portion of said contact surface such that a portion of said carrier film adjacent said means for applying pressure protrudes outwardly,
- wherein the means for supporting includes a contact surface that has a concave area that recesses inwardly into the contact surface and adapted to retain means for applying pressure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.