Polishing pad conditioning device with cutting elements
AssigneeSpeedFam-IPEC Corporation
InventorPaul Holzapfel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for polishing and planarizing workpieces such as semiconductor wafers is presented. Conditioning rings, which are used to condition polishing pads used in the planarization or polishing of semiconductor wafers, are shown which utilize brazed diamond technology in association with a coating of a titanium nitride containing composition or a thin film diamond deposition in order to reduce the fracturing and loss of cutting elements bonded to the conditioning ring.
Claims28
An apparatus for conditioning a polishing pad used in chemical-mechanical planarization of semiconductor wafers, comprising:
- a conditioning ring that rotates about a vertical axis;
- a flange attached to said conditioning ring;
- cutting elements secured to said flange using a brazed metal alloy;
- and
- a composition coating said cutting elements.
An apparatus for conditioning a polishing pad of a chemical mechanical polishing machine for semiconductor wafers, comprising:
- a conditioning ring having a top surface and a bottom surface;
- a plurality of cutting elements braze-bonded to the bottom surface of said conditioning ring;
- and
- a composition comprising at least one of a titanium nitride containing composition and a thin film diamond deposited over said plurality of braze-bonded cutting elements.
An apparatus for conditioning a polishing pad which covers a platen mounted on a chemical mechanical polishing machine and is used to polish a surface of a semiconductor wafer, the apparatus comprising:
- a conditioning device for conditioning the polishing pad by contact with the pad;
- a plurality of diamond particles braze bonded to said conditioning device;
- and
- means for engaging said conditioning device with the polishing pad.
A conditioning device for conditioning a polishing pad which covers a platen mounted on a chemical mechanical polishing machine and is used to polish a surface of a semiconductor wafer, the conditioning device comprising:
- a conditioning surface for conditioning the polishing pad by contact with the pad;
- and
- a plurality of abrasive particles braze bonded to said conditioning surface.
An apparatus for conditioning a polishing pad of a chemical mechanical polishing machine used to polish precision surfaces on semiconductor wafers, the apparatus comprising:
- means for conditioning the polishing pad by contact with the pad, wherein said conditioning means is configured with cutting elements secured to a surface of said conditioning means wherein said secured cutting elements are coated with a composition that reduces fracturing of the cutting elements;
- and
- means for engaging said conditioning means with the polishing pad to permit conditioning of the pad by removal of material from a polishing surface of the pad in order to reduce scour and gouge marks on the polishing surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.