Method and apparatus for conditioning a polishing pad
US6896583B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 6, 2001 |
| Grant date | May 24, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 8, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB24B49/16
- WIPO fieldMachine tools
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A method (60) for conditioning a polishing pad (20) used for polishing semiconductor wafers (14). The degradation in conditioning performance of a conditioning device (28) is accounted for by controlling at least one of the conditioning velocity (64), conditioning down force (66) and conditioning time (68). The amount of the degradation of conditioning performance during consecutive uses of a conditioning device (28) may be determined by measuring the friction force (72) between the conditioning device (28) and the polishing pad (20), or it may be predicted on the basis of an algorithm (82) developed from data obtained from a plurality of representative conditioning devices (80).
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.