Method and apparatus for supplying chemical-mechanical polishing slurries

Abstract

In method and apparatus for supplying a slurry for a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process, a slurry pre-treatment is provided for minimizing the size of abrasive particles in the slurry. In the slurry supplying method, after applying acoustic energy to the slurry to de-agglomerate agglomerated abrasive particles within the slurry, any remaining oversized abrasive particles having a diameter greater than a reference size are filtered out from the slurry. The acoustic energy application step and the filtering step are repeatedly performed for a predetermined time period while circulating the slurry. The slurry supplying apparatus includes a tank for holding a slurry, acoustic energy sources for applying acoustic energy to the slurry held within the tank, a slurry circulating line for circulating the slurry drawn out of the tank, which is connected to the tank, a filter for filtering out abrasive particle clumps having a diameter greater than a reference size from the slurry, which is disposed in the slurry circulating line, and a slurry supplying line for supplying the slurry from the slurry circulating line to a CMP equipment.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.