Electrochemical mechanical processing apparatus
AssigneeNovellus Systems, Inc.
InventorsBulent M. Basol, Homayoun Talieh
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for electrochemical mechanical polishing of a conductive surface of a wafer is provided. The system includes a wafer holder to hold the wafer and a belt pad disposed proximate to the wafer to polish the conductive surface. Application of a potential difference between conductive surface and an electrode and establishing relative motion between the belt pad and the conductive surface result in material removal from the conductive surface. Electrical contact to the surface is provided through either contacts embedded in the belt pad or contacts placed adjacent the belt pad.
Claims33
An apparatus for electroprocessing a wafer using a solution, the apparatus comprising:
- a wafer carrier configured to hold the wafer;
- a belt pad comprising an embedded electrical contact, the belt pad being positioned relative to the wafer carrier such that the embedded electrical contact is configured to contact the wafer held by the wafer carrier only at an edge region of a front surface of the wafer, wherein the pad belt includes a plurality of openings, wherein the openings in a side of the belt pad opposite to the embedded electrical contact are larger than the openings in the central region of the belt pad;
- an electrode proximate to the belt pad and configured to be in contact with the solution;
- and
- a power supply configured to apply an electrical potential difference between the electrode and the embedded electrical contact.
An apparatus for electrochemical mechanical polishing of a conductive surface of a wafer using a solution, the apparatus comprising:
- a wafer holder configured to hold the wafer;
- a polishing belt pad configured to be disposed proximate to the wafer, the polishing belt pad comprising an embedded contact proximate to a lateral side of the polishing belt pad and configured to electrically connect to the conductive surface of the wafer, wherein the polishing belt pad and the wafer holder are positioned relative to one another such that the embedded contact is configured to contact only an edge surface region of the wafer, wherein the polishing pad belt includes a plurality of openings, wherein the openings in a side of the polishing belt pad opposite to the embedded contact are larger than the openings in the central surface region of the polishing belt pad;
- an electrode proximate to the polishing belt pad and configured to be in contact with the solution;
- and
- means for providing relative motion between the wafer and the belt pad, wherein an electrical potential difference applied between the electrode and the embedded contact removes conductive material from the conductive surface of the wafer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.