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US 7,066,785 B2Granted
Polishing apparatus and related polishing methods
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsMoo-Yong Park, Sang-Rok Hah, Jong-Gyoon Kim, Hong-Seong Son, Ja-Hyung Han
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Polishing apparatus and related methods employ aligned first and second magnetic field sources to adjust the compressive force and/or pressure applied by a carrier head against a target workpiece (such as a wafer) by selectively and controllably generating a repellant or attractive force between the two magnetic field sources.
Claims17
A polishing apparatus comprising:
- a rotatable turntable having a polishing pad;
- a carrier head configured to cooperate with the polishing pad to hold a target workpiece to be polished in alignment with the polishing pad on the turntable;
- and
- a magnetic field control unit comprising a plurality of spaced apart first magnetic field sources disposed inside the carrier head, for generating respective first magnetic forces, and a plurality of second magnetic field sources disposed inside the carrier head configured to generate respective second magnetic forces with each second magnetic field source comprising an electromagnet, a respective one of the plurality of second magnetic field sources being substantially spatially aligned with a respective one of the first magnetic field sources to define a magnetic field source pair, each magnetic field source pair being spaced apart from the others, wherein, in operation, the second magnetic field source in each magnetic field source pair is configured to selectively repel or attract the first magnetic field source such that, in operation, polarity of at least one of said electromagnets can reverse, and wherein, during operation, electromagnets in adjacent magnetic field source pairs have opposing polarity.
1 more element
A polishing apparatus comprising:
- a rotatable turntable having a polishing pad;
- a carrier head configured to cooperate with the polishing pad to hold a target workpiece to be polished in alignment with the polishing pad on the turntable;
- and
- a magnetic field control unit comprising a plurality of spaced apart first magnetic field sources disposed inside the carrier head, for generating respective first magnetic forces, and a plurality of second magnetic field sources disposed inside the carrier head configured to generate respective second magnetic forces with each second magnetic field source comprising electromagnet, a respective one of the plurality of second magnetic field sources being substantially spatially aligned with a respective one of the first magnetic field sources to define a magnetic field source pair, each magnetic field source pair being spaced apart from the others,
- wherein the second magnetic field sources reside lower in the carrier head than the first magnetic field sources, with the first magnetic field source for each magnetic field source pair being positioned axially aligned with and above the corresponding second magnetic field source, such that, in operation, polarity of at least one of said electromagnets can reverse, and wherein, during operation, electromagnets in adjacent magnetic field source pairs have opposing polarity.
2 more elements
A polishing apparatus comprising:
- a rotatable turntable having a polishing pad;
- a carrier head configured to cooperate with the polishing pad to hold a target workpiece to be polished in alignment with the polishing pad on the turntable;
- and
- a magnetic field control unit comprising three spaced apart magnet regions disposed inside the carrier head, each region holding a magnet field source pair, each magnet field source pair comprising at least one permanent magnet for generating a first magnetic force, and an aligned corresponding electromagnet configured to generate a second magnetic force, wherein, in operation, the electromagnet in at least one magnetic source pair is configured to selectively reverse polarity to controllably repel or attract the corresponding at least one permanent magnet.
1 more element
A polishing apparatus comprising:
- a rotatable turntable having a polishing pad;
- a carrier head configured to cooperate with the polishing pad to hold a target workpiece to be polished in alignment with the polishing pad on the turntable;
- and
- a magnetic field control unit comprising a plurality of spaced apart first magnetic field sources disposed inside the carrier head, for generating respective first magnetic forces, and a plurality of second magnetic field sources disposed inside the carrier head configured to generate respective second magnetic forces with each second magnetic field source comprising an electromagnet, a respective one of the plurality of second magnetic field sources being substantially spatially aligned with a respective one of the first magnetic field sources to define a magnetic field source pair, each magnetic field source pair being spaced apart from the others, wherein, in operation, the second magnetic field source in each magnetic field source pair is configured to selectively reverse polarity of an electromagnet to controllably repel or attract the first magnetic field. source such that, in operation, polarity of an electromagnet can reverse.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.