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US 6,309,279 B1Granted
Arrangements for wafer polishing
AssigneeSpeedFam-IPEC Corporation
InventorsMike L. Bowman, Gene Hempel, Chris Karlsrud, Franklin D. Root
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Wafer polishing systems include a series of polish modules alongside a neighboring series of secondary modules. A conveyor travels along the series of polish modules and the series of secondary modules. When a polishing operation is completed, the wafers are transferred to a series of near-by storage modules. The polish modules include a pair of traveling wafer gantries, each of which delivers a wafer to a polishing surface, applying the necessary force to complete polishing of the wafer surface.
Claims31
Wafer polishing apparatus, comprising:
- a linear array of polish modules having respective wafer support arrangements independently operable with respect to one another, the linear array of polish modules having opposed first and second ends;
- a linear array of secondary modules for treating exposed surfaces of said wafers, located alongside said linear array of polish modules, said secondary modules independently operable with respect to one another and the linear array of secondary modules having opposed first and second ends, with the first end adjacent the first end of said linear array of polish modules;
- and
- an automated wafer handling means for transporting wafers between modules of said linear arrays of said polish modules and modules of said linear array of said secondary modules.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.