Methods and apparatuses for making and using planarizing pads for mechanical and chemical mechanical planarization of microelectronic substrates

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for planarizing a microelectronic substrate. In one embodiment, a planarizing pad for mechanical or chemical-mechanical planarization includes a base section and a plurality of embedded sections. The base section has a planarizing surface, and the base section is composed of a first material. The embedded sections are arranged in a desired pattern of voids, and each embedded section has a top surface below the planarizing surface to define a plurality of voids in the base section. The embedded sections are composed of a second material that is selectively removable from the first material. A planarizing pad in accordance with an embodiment of the invention can be made by constructing the embedded sections in the base section and then removing a portion of the embedded sections from the base section. By removing only a portion of the embedded sections, this procedure creates the plurality of voids in the base section and leaves the remaining portions of the embedded sections. After the pad is used to planarize one or more substrate assemblies and the voids are filled with waste matter or otherwise altered, an etchant can be deposited on the pad to subsequently remove an incremental depth of the embedded sections faster than the base section to reform the voids over the embedded sections.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.