Method and apparatus for selectively conditioning a polished pad used in planarizng substrates

A method of removing waste matter from a planarizing surface of a polishing pad, comprising:

• pressing a conditioning element against the planarizing surface of the polishing pad at a down-force;
• moving the conditioning element across the planarizing surface of the polishing pad;
• and
• adjusting the down-force applied to the conditioning element as a function of a distribution of waste matter on the planarizing surface.

A method of conditioning a planarizing surface of a polishing pad for planarizing a substrate, comprising:

• determining a representation of a distribution of waste matter across the planarizing surface of the polishing pad;
• pressing a conditioning element against the planarizing surface of the polishing pad at a down-force;
• translating the conditioning element across the planarizing surface;
• and
• controlling the down-force as a function of the distribution of waste matter, the down-force being a first magnitude over a first area with a first amount of waste matter and the down-force being a second magnitude over a second area with a second amount of waste matter, the first magnitude being greater than the second magnitude and the first amount of waste matter being greater than the second amount of waste matter.

A method of planarizing a substrate, comprising:

• pressing the substrate against a polishing medium at a planarizing surface of a polishing pad;
• moving the substrate relative to the polishing medium in a planarizing zone to remove material from the surface of the substrate, the moving step producing a distribution of waste matter accumulations across the planarizing surface of the polishing pad;
• determining the distribution of waste matter accumulations across the planarizing surface of the polishing pad;
• and
• selectively removing material from the planarizing surface of the polishing pad according to the determined distribution of waste matter accumulations.

A conditioning system for conditioning polishing pads used to planarize substrates, comprising:

• a carrier assembly having an arm positionable over a planarizing surface of a polishing pad and an actuator;
• a conditioning element attached to the carrier assembly to be carried over a planarizing surface of a polishing pad, wherein the actuator controls an operating parameter of the conditioning element;
• and
• a controller operatively coupled to the actuator, the controller operating the actuator to adjust the operating parameter of the conditioning element as a function of a surface characteristic of the planarizing surface so that the condition element removes different amounts of material from different areas on the planarizing surface according to a distribution of the surface characteristic across the polishing pad.

A planarizing machine, comprising:

• a platen supporting a polishing pad;
• a substrate carrier having a substrate holder positionable over a planarizing surface of the polishing pad, wherein at least one of the platen and the substrate holder is moveable to impart relative motion between the polishing pad and the substrate;
• a carrier assembly having an arm positionable over a polishing pad and an actuator;
• a conditioning element attached to the carrier assembly to be carried over a planarizing surface of a polishing pad, wherein the actuator is operated to control an operating parameter of the conditioning element;
• and
• a controller operatively coupled to the actuator, the controller operating the actuator to adjust the operating parameter of the conditioning element as a function of a surface characteristic of the planarizing surface so that the condition element removes different amounts of material from different areas on the planarizing surface according to a distribution of the surface characteristic across the polishing pad.