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US 6,855,032 B1Granted
Fine force control of actuators for chemical mechanical polishing apparatuses
AssigneeNikon Corporation
InventorsPai-Hsueh Yang, Bausan Yuan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An actuator assembly (432) for positioning a pad (48) includes a first actuator assembly (440), a second actuator subassembly (442) and a control system (524). In one embodiment, the first actuator subassembly (440) includes a first core (502), and a conductor (504) secured to the first core (502), and the second actuator subassembly (442) includes a second core (506) spaced apart a component gap (444) from the first core (502). Further, the control system (524) directs current to the conductor (504) to attract the second core (506) to the first core (502). In one embodiment, the amount of current directed to the conductor (504) is calculated without measuring the component gap (444).
Claims31
An actuator assembly comprising:
- a first attraction only actuator including a first core, a conductor secured to the first core, and a second core spaced apart a component gap from the first core;
- and
- a control system that directs current to the conductor to attract the second core to the first core, wherein the amount of current directed to the conductor is calculated without measuring the component gap, wherein the control system utilized the formula I=√{square root over (F)} to calculate the amount of current directed to the conductor, wherein I is the current and F is the force to be generated by the first actuator.
An actuator assembly comprising:
- a first attraction only actuator including a first core, a conductor secured to the first core, and a second core spaced apart a component gap from the first core;
- and
- a control system that directs current to the conductor at a plurality of time steps, including t1, t2, t3, and t4 to attract the second core to the first core, wherein the amount of current directed to the conductor is calculated without measuring the component gap.
An actuator assembly comprising:
- a first attraction only actuator including a first core, a conductor secured to the first core, and a second core spaced apart a component gap from the first core;
- and
- a control system that directs current to the conductor to attract the second core to the first core, wherein the amount of current directed to the conductor is calculated without measuring the component gap, wherein the control system calculates a calculated gap between the cores at least one of t1, t2, and t3, and wherein the control system uses the calculated gap to calculate the current that should be directed to the conductor at t4.
An actuator assembly comprising:
- a first attraction only actuator including a first core, a conductor secured to the first core, and a second core spaced apart a component gap from the first core;
- and
- a control system that directs current to the conductor to attract the second core to the first core, wherein the amount of current directed to the conductor is calculated without measuring the component gap, wherein the control system calculates a calculated gap between the cores at least two of t1, t2, and t3, and wherein the control system uses the calculated gaps to calculate the current that should be directed to the conductor at t4.
An actuator assembly comprising:
- a first attraction only actuator including a first core that is substantially “C” shaped, a conductor secured to the first core, and a second core spaced apart a component gap from the first core;
- and
- a control system that directs current to the conductor to attract the second core to the first core, wherein the amount of current directed to the conductor is calculated without measuring the component gap.
An actuator assembly comprising:
- a first attraction only actuator including a first core that is substantially “E” shaped, a conductor secured to the first core, and a second core spaced apart a component gap from the first core;
- and
- a control system that directs current to the conductor to attract the second core to the first core, wherein the amount of current directed to the conductor is calculated without measuring the component gap.
An actuator assembly comprising:
- a first attraction only actuator including a first core, a conductor secured to the first core, and a second core spaced apart a component gap from the first core, wherein the first actuator is an electromagnetic actuator;
- and
- a control system that directs current to the conductor to attract the second core to the first core, wherein the amount of current directed to the conductor is calculated without measuring the component gap.
A polishing apparatus comprising:
- a polishing pad;
- and
- an actuator assembly that is utilized to adjust the position of the pad, the actuator assembly including (i) a first attraction only actuator including a first core, a conductor secured to the first core, and a second core spaced apart a component gap from the first core;
- and (ii) a control system that directs current to the conductor to attract the second core to the first core, wherein the amount of current directed to the conductor is calculated without measuring the component gap.
1 more element
A method for positioning a stage, the method comprising the steps of:
- coupling a first attraction only actuator to the stage, the first actuator including a first core, a conductor secured to the first core, and a second core spaced apart a component gap from the first core;
- and
- directing current with a control system to the conductor to attract the second core to the first core, wherein the amount of current directed to the conductor is calculated without measuring the component gap, wherein the control system uses the formula I=√{square root over (F)} to calculate the amount of current directed to the conductor, wherein I is the current and F is the force to be generated by the actuator combination.
A method for positioning a stage, the method comprising the steps of:
- coupling a first attraction only actuator to the stage, the first actuator including a first core, a conductor secured to the first core, and a second core spaced apart a component gap from the first core;
- and
- directing current with a control system to the conductor at a plurality of time steps, including t1, t2, t3, and t4, to attract the second core to the first core, wherein the amount of current directed to the conductor is calculated without measuring the component gap.
A method for positioning a stage, the method comprising the steps of:
- coupling a first attraction only actuator to the stage, the first actuator including a first core, a conductor secured to the first core, and a second core spaced apart a component gap from the first core;
- and
- directing current with a control system to the conductor to attract the second core to the first core, wherein the amount of current directed to the conductor is calculated without measuring the component gap, wherein the control system calculates a calculated gap between the cores at least one of t1, t2, and t3, and wherein the control system uses the calculated gap to calculate the current that should be directed to the conductor at t4.
A method for positioning a stage, the method comprising the steps of:
- coupling a first attraction only actuator to the stage, the first actuator including a first core, a conductor secured to the first core, and a second core spaced apart a component gap from the first core;
- and
- directing current with a control system to the conductor to attract the second core to the first core, wherein the amount of current directed to the conductor is calculated without measuring the component gap, wherein the control system calculates a calculated gap between the cores at least two of t1, t2, and t3, and wherein the control system uses the calculated gaps to calculate the current that should be directed to the conductor at t4.
A method for positioning a stage, the method comprising the steps of:
- coupling a first attraction only actuator to the stage, the first actuator including a first core that is substantially “C” shaped, a conductor secured to the first core, and a second core spaced apart a component gap from the first core;
- and
- directing current with a control system to the conductor to attract the second core to the first core, wherein the amount of current directed to the conductor is calculated without measuring the component gap.
A method for positioning a stage, the method comprising the steps of:
- coupling a first attraction only actuator to the stage, the first actuator including a first core that is substantially “E” shaped, a conductor secured to the first core, and a second core spaced apart a component gap from the first core;
- and
- directing current with a control system to the conductor to attract the second core to the first core, wherein the amount of current directed to the conductor is calculated without measuring the component gap.
A method for making an apparatus for polishing a wafer, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a pad;
- securing the pad to a stage;
- and
- moving the stage by (i) coupling a first attraction only actuator to the stage, the first actuator including a first core, a conductor secured to the first core, and a second core spaced apart a component gap from the first core;
- and (ii) directing current with a control system to the conductor to attract the second core to the first core, wherein the amount of current directed to the conductor is calculated without measuring the component gap.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.