Apparatus for polishing wafers
AssigneeTokyo Seimitsu Co., Ltd.
InventorMinoru Numoto
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for polishing wafers wherein a retainer ring 40 is held by a carrier 32 of a wafer-holding head 20 by using an O-ring 31. Further, a protection sheet 80 for a wafer 2 is held by the retainer ring so as to cover the surface of an air-blow member 34 of the carrier. While the wafer is being held and polished, therefore, the back surface of the wafer does not come into direct contact with the carrier, and the protection sheet is interposed between the back surface of the wafer and the carrier.
Claims17
An apparatus for polishing the surface of a wafer by holding the wafer by a holder head and pushing the wafer onto a polishing pad on a rotary polishing table, wherein:
- said holder head includes a head body that rotates and is arranged opposed to said polishing table, a carrier loosely supported by said body so as to be able to move up and down, and a retainer ring that surrounds the periphery of said wafer and comes in contact with said polishing pad together with said wafer;
- and
- said retainer ring is held by said carrier using an O-ring;
- wherein an air-blow member is provided on the lower surface of said carrier, a protection sheet is provided on the outer surface of said air-blow member, and said wafer is pushed onto said polishing pad by a layer of the air blown from said air-blow member via said protection sheet.
An apparatus for polishing the surface of a wafer by holding the wafer by a holder head and pushing the wafer onto a polishing pad on a rotary polishing table, wherein:
- said holder head includes a head body that rotates and is arranged opposed to said polishing table, a carrier loosely supported by said body so as to be able to move up and down, and a retainer ring that surrounds the periphery of said wafer and comes in contact with said polishing pad together with said wafer;
- said retainer ring is held by said carrier using an O-ring;
- and
- said retainer ring is constituted by three members including a retainer body, an exchange unit and a fall-stop fitting, in a manner that it can be assembled and disassembled.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.