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US 6,186,873 B1Granted
Wafer edge cleaning
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsKent R. Becker, Stuart D. Cheney, Scott R. Cline, Paul A. Manfredi, Eric J. White
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a chemical mechanical polishing process for planarization of semiconductor wafers, a pair of opposed grippers are used to move the wafer from one station to another. During this movement, the wafer is rotated and brushes along the periphery are placed in contact with the edge of the wafer to remove foreign material and residue which builds up along the edge of the wafer. Cleaning fluid may be introduced to flush away and/or breakup the residue buildup.
Claims14
An apparatus for cleaning an outer edge region of a semiconductor wafer comprising:
- a) a pair of wafer gripper assemblies having a leading, and a trailing region which is translatable to contact and grip the edge of the wafer;
- b) a clamper mechanism which brings all the regions into contact with the wafer;
- c) means for imparting relative rotational motion to the wafer by the pair of gripper assemblies;
- and
- d) a first abrasive element positioned near the trailing edge region of one of the assemblies to abrade the edge of the wafer.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.