Non-uniform subaperture polishing
AssigneeWestern Digital (Fremont), LLC
InventorClayton R. Newman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for subaperture polishing includes determining a first portion of a sample to be polished disproportionately compared to a second portion of the sample. Based on the determination of the first portion, a sweep frequency that is a first rate of lateral motion for a polishing pad is selected to be substantially equal to an integer multiple of a rotation frequency that is a rate of rotation for the sample. The method further includes rotating the polishing pad at the polishing frequency, rotating the sample at the rotation frequency, and polishing the sample using the polishing pad while rotating the polishing pad and the sample.
Claims16
A method for subaperture polishing, comprising:
- determining a first portion of a sample to be polished disproportionately compared to a second portion of the sample;
- based on the determination of the first portion, selecting a sweep frequency comprising a first rate of lateral motion for a polishing pad to be substantially equal to an integer multiple of a rotation frequency comprising a rate of rotation for the sample;
- laterally sweeping the polishing pad at the polishing frequency;
- rotating the sample at the rotation frequency;
- and
- while rotating the polishing pad and the sample, polishing the sample using the polishing pad.
An apparatus for subaperture polishing, comprising:
- a stage for holding a sample, the stage operable to rotate at a rotation frequency;
- a polishing head operable to move laterally at a selected sweep frequency in response to a selector being set at the selected sweep frequency, the polishing head comprising a polishing pad having a characteristic dimension smaller than the sample;
- and,
- the selector set at the selected sweep frequency the selected sweep frequency being substantially equal to an integer multiple of the rotation frequency and the selected sweep frequency set such that a first portion of the sample is disproportionately polished by the polishing pad relative to a second portion of the sample when the polishing pad is swept at the selected sweep frequency and the stage is rotated at the sample frequency.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.