Method and apparatus for preventing particle contamination in a polishing machine

A polishing machine equipped with a cleaning apparatus for preventing particle contamination on a substrate comprising:

• a machine base portion having at least one spindle equipped with a polishing head and at least one corresponding polishing disc with a polishing pad mounted therein,
• a spindle equipped with a polishing head and a corresponding head clean/load/unload disc mounted on said machine base portion,
• a plurality of cleaning devices each comprising a bendable, shapable conduit and a spray nozzle adapted for dispensing a cleaning solvent and are mounted on said machine base portion with at least one cleaning device juxtaposed to each of said at least one spindle equipped with a polishing head, and
• a cleaning solvent reservoir for supplying a pressurized flow of cleaning solvent through said plurality of cleaning devices for cleaning vertical and horizontal surfaces on said at least one spindle for preventing particle accumulation.

A method for preventing particle contamination in a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus comprising the steps of:

• providing at least one polishing head mounted in at least one spindle for holding a wafer,
• providing at least one conditioner arm equipped with a conditioner disc,
• mounting said at least one spindle and said at least one conditioner arm on a machine base portion of said polishing apparatus,
• mounting a cleaning device comprising a bendable, shapable conduit and a spray nozzle juxtaposed to each of said at least one spindle and said at least one conditioner arm,
• polishing a wafer held in said at least one polishing head against a corresponding polishing pad while both rotating in apposite directions with a slurry dispensed thereinbetween, and
• dispensing a cleaning solvent from said spray nozzle on said at least one spindle and said at least one conditioner arm and removing any slurry deposited thereon to prevent particle contamination on said wafer.