Slurry flow rate monitoring in chemical-mechanical polisher using pressure transducer
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsBoris Fuksshimov, Jeff P Rudd, Charles C Garretson, Brian J Brown
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a first aspect of the invention, a polishing device is provided. The polishing device includes a platen adapted to support a polishing pad and also includes a source of polishing slurry. Also included in the polishing device is a slurry supply line adapted to supply the polishing slurry from the source of polishing slurry to the polishing pad. The polishing device includes a pressure transducer installed along the slurry supply line and adapted to detect a pressure inside the slurry supply line. Numerous other aspects are provided.
Claims14
A polishing device comprising:
- a platen adapted to support a polishing pad;
- a source of polishing slurry;
- a slurry supply line adapted to supply the polishing slurry from the source of polishing slurry to a polishing pad supported by the platen;
- a flow metering device provided on the slurry supply line located downstream of the source of polishing slurry, wherein the flow metering device controls the rate of flow of the polishing slurry within the slurry supply line;
- and
- a pressure transducer installed along the slurry supply line located downstream of the flow metering device and downstream of the source of polishing slurry, wherein the pressure transducer is adapted to detect a pressure inside the slurry supply line, at a location in the slurry supply line downstream from the flow metering device.
A method of measuring a flow rate of a polishing slurry, comprising:
- providing a polishing slurry supply line;
- installing a flow metering device on the polishing slurry supply line located downstream of a source of polishing slurry, wherein the flow metering device controls the rate of flow of the polishing slurry within the polishing slurry supply line;
- installing a pressure transducer within the polishing slurry supply line downstream of the flow metering device and downstream of the source of polishing slurry;
- flowing polishing slurry through the polishing slurry supply line;
- measuring a pressure exerted on the pressure transducer by the polishing slurry at a location in the slurry supply line downstream from the flow metering device;
- and
- determining a flow rate of the polishing slurry based on the pressure exerted on the pressure transducer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.