U.S. patent application number 14/539842 was filed with the patent office on 2015-07-23 for chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal abrasive exposing rate.
The applicant listed for this patent is Kinik Company. Invention is credited to I-Tsao LIAO.
Application Number | 20150202735 14/539842 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 53543982 |
Filed Date | 2015-07-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150202735 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
LIAO; I-Tsao |
July 23, 2015 |
CHEMICAL MECHANICAL POLISHING CONDITIONER WITH OPTIMAL ABRASIVE
EXPOSING RATE
Abstract
The present invention relates to a chemical mechanical polishing
conditioner with optimal abrasive exposing rate, comprising a
substrate; a bonding layer disposed on the substrate; and a
plurality of abrasive particles placed on the bonding layer, and
the abrasive particles are placed on the substrate by the bonding
layer; wherein each abrasive particle has an abrasive exposing rate
which is 1/4 to 3/4 of particle sizes of the abrasive particles and
is measured by a height measuring device. Therefore, the chemical
mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal abrasive exposing
rate of the present invention can control the exposing rate of the
abrasive particles to improve the cut rate of the conditioner.
Inventors: |
LIAO; I-Tsao; (New Taipei
City, TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Kinik Company |
Taipei City |
|
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
53543982 |
Appl. No.: |
14/539842 |
Filed: |
November 12, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
451/443 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B24B 53/12 20130101;
B24B 53/017 20130101 |
International
Class: |
B24B 53/017 20060101
B24B053/017; B24B 53/12 20060101 B24B053/12 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 21, 2014 |
TW |
103102128 |
Claims
1. A chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal
abrasive exposing rate, comprising: a substrate; a binding layer
disposed on a surface of the substrate; and a plurality of abrasive
particles embedded in the binding layer and fixed to the substrate
by the binding layer; wherein each abrasive particle has an
abrasive exposing rate which is 1/4 to 3/4 of particle sizes of the
abrasive particles and is measured by a height measuring
device.
2. The chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal
abrasive exposing rate of claim 1, wherein the abrasive exposing
rate means a distance between tips of these abrasive particles and
a surface of the binding layer.
3. The chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal
abrasive exposing rate of claim 1, wherein the height measuring
device has a height gauge and an optical microscope.
4. The chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal
abrasive exposing rate of claim 3, wherein the height gauge is used
to measure a height of a specific position, and the specific
position is the tips of these abrasive particles or the surface of
the binding layer.
5. The chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal
abrasive exposing rate of claim 3, wherein the optical microscope
is used to decide a relative position measured by the height
gauge.
6. The chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal
abrasive exposing rate of claim 1, wherein 5 to 500 abrasive
particles are measured by the height measurement device to obtain
the abrasive exposing rate of the measured abrasive particles,
7. The chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal
abrasive exposing rate of claim 6, wherein a difference of the
abrasive exposing rate of the measured abrasive particles is less
than 1/10 of particle sizes of these abrasive particles.
8. The chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal
abrasive exposing rate of claim 6, wherein the difference of the
abrasive exposing rate of the measured abrasive particles is less
than 1/20 of particle sizes of these abrasive particles
9. The chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal
abrasive exposing rate of claim 1, wherein the abrasive particles
are artificial diamond, nature diamond, polycrystalline diamond or
cubic boron nitride.
10. The chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal
abrasive exposing rate of claim 1, wherein the abrasive particles
have a particle size of 30 to 600 .mu.m.
11. The chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal
abrasive exposing rate of claim 1, wherein a composition of the
bonding layer or the woven preform is made of a ceramic material, a
brazing material, an electroplating material, a metallic material,
or a polymer material.
12. The chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal
abrasive exposing rate of claim 1, wherein the brazing material is
at least one selected from the group consisting of iron, cobalt,
nickel, chromium, manganese, silicon, aluminum, and combinations
thereof.
13. The chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal
abrasive exposing rate of claim 11, wherein the polymer material is
epoxy resin, polyester resin, polyacrylic resin, phenolic
resin.
14. The chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal
abrasive exposing rate of claim 1, wherein the substrate is made of
stainless steel substrate, mold steel substrate, metal alloy
substrate, ceramic material substrate or polymer material substrate
or combinations thereof.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefits of the Taiwan Patent
Application Serial Number 103102128, filed on Jan. 21, 2014, the
subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a chemical mechanical
polishing conditioner with optimal abrasive exposing rate, and more
particularly to a chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with
optimal cut rate.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is a common polishing
process in various industries, which can be used to grind the
surfaces of various articles, including ceramics, silicon, glass,
quartz, or a metal chip. In addition, with the rapid development of
integrated circuits, chemical mechanical polishing becomes one of
the common techniques for wafer planarization because it can
achieve an object of whole planarization.
[0006] During the chemical mechanical polishing process of
semiconductor, impurities or uneven structure on the surface of a
wafer are removed by contacting the wafer (or the other
semiconductor elements) with a polishing pad and using a polishing
liquid if necessary, through the chemical reaction and mechanical
force. When the polishing pad has been used for a certain period of
time, the polishing performance and efficiency are reduced because
the debris produced in the polishing process may accumulate on the
surface of the polishing pad. Therefore, a conditioner can be used
to condition the surface of the polishing pad, such that the
surface of the polishing pad is re-roughened and maintained at an
optimum condition for polishing. In the process for manufacturing a
conditioner, it is necessary to dispose an abrasive layer by mixing
abrasive particles and a binding layer on the substrate surface,
and to fix the abrasive layer to the surface of the substrate by
brazing or sintering methods. However, during the manufacturing
process of the above conditioner, the exposing rate and cut rate of
the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner have an important
relationship. Therefore, when the exposing rates of the abrasive
particles are large, an effect of the binding layer shielding the
abrasive particles is worse, and a binding property between
abrasive particles and the binding layer becomes bad, and thus the
abrasive particles are easily fallen in the polishing process.
Contrarily, when the exposing rate of the abrasive particles is
small, the effect of the binding layer shielding the abrasive
particles is overlarge, and then the cut rate of the abrasive
particles to a polishing pad becomes bad, thereby reducing the
polishing effects.
[0007] In the known technology, such as China Patent Application
No. 101320708, it discloses a polishing pad used in a CMP step in
the manufacture of a semiconductor integrated circuit device is
relatively expensive; thus, it is necessary to avoid a wasteful
exchange of the pad. Accordingly, it is important to measure the
abrasion amount of this pad precisely. However, in ordinary
measurement thereof through light, the presence of a slurry hinders
the measurement. In measurement thereof with a contact type sensor,
a problem that pollutants elute out is caused. In a CMP step in the
invention, the height position of a dresser is measured while the
dresser operates, thereby detecting the abrasion amount or the
thickness of a polishing pad indirectly. In this way, the time for
exchanging the polishing pad is made appropriate.
[0008] Besides, in the other known technology, such as Taiwan
Patent Publication No. 200936316, it discloses a dressing method of
dressing a polishing pad used in a polishing apparatus for
polishing a substrate. This method includes repetitively moving the
dresser on an upper surface of the polishing pad in a radial
direction of the polishing pad so as to perform a dressing process
on the polishing pad, during the dressing process, measuring a
height of an upper surface of the polishing pad at a predetermined
point in one of plural zones on the polishing surface, and
repeating the repetitive moving of the dresser and the measuring of
the height of the upper surface of the polishing pad so as to
measure the height of the upper surface of the polishing pad in all
of the plural zones.
[0009] However, a measurement of height positions of the
conditioner is used in the above-mentioned measure devices to
detect indirectly an abrasion value or a thickness of the polishing
pad. Alternatively, the conditioner is moved repeatedly over a top
surface of the polishing pad to measure the height of the top
surface of the polishing pad; however, the exposing rate of the
abrasive particles on the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner
still cannot steady effectively, so that a flat surface and a
stable polishing quality of the chemical mechanical polishing
conditioner cannot be provided. Therefore, there is an urgent need
for a chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal
abrasive exposing rate. Further, the exposing rate of the abrasive
particles and the cut rate of the chemical mechanical polishing
conditioner have an important relationship; therefore, the exposing
rate of the abrasive particles of the present invention can be
controlled to form a plate surface of the chemical mechanical
polishing conditioner, thereby improving an ability of abrasive
particles cutting the polishing pad.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] An object of the present invention is to provide a chemical
mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal abrasive exposing
rate, which has a flat surface with the exposing rate of the
abrasive particles to he uniform, thereby improving the cut rate of
the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner to provide a stable
polishing quality.
[0011] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides
a chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal abrasive
exposing rate, comprising; a substrate; a binding layer disposed on
a surface of the substrate; and a plurality of abrasive particles
embedded in a. surface of the binding layer and fixed to the
surface of the substrate by the binding layer; wherein every
abrasive particle can has an abrasive exposing rate which can be
1/4 to 3/4 of particle sizes of these abrasive particles, and the
abrasive exposing rate can be measured by a height measurement
device, for example, when the particle sizes of the abrasive
particles are 300 .mu.m, the optimal abrasive exposing rate is 75
to 225 .mu.m. Besides, when the abrasive exposing rate is more than
3/4 of the particle sizes of these abrasive particles, the effect
of the binding layer shielding these abrasive particles is worse,
so that the diamonds on the conditioner are easily fallen during
polishing process. On the other hands, when the abrasive exposing
rate is less than 1/4 of the particle sizes of these abrasive
particles, the binding layer shields excessively these abrasive
particles, so that the ability of these abrasive particles cutting
a workpiece(such as the polishing pad) becomes bad, which results
to the polishing performance becomes bad.
[0012] In above-mentioned the chemical mechanical polishing
conditioner with optimal abrasive exposing rate, the abrasive
exposing rate may mean a distance between tips of these abrasive
particles and the binding layer.
[0013] The spaces between every abrasive particle on the chemical
mechanical polishing conditioner are too small; therefore, in the
chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal abrasive
exposing rate of the present invention, the height measurement
device may has a height gauge and an optical microscope; wherein
the height gauge may further a height gauge probe (such as a
tungsten carbide probe) and the height gauge may be used to measure
the height of a specific position which the tips of these abrasive
particles or the surface of the binding layer. Further, in
above-mentioned the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with
optimal abrasive exposing rate of the present invention, the
optical microscope may be used to determine a relative position
measured by the height gauge, namely, the optical microscope may be
used to determine the positions which are the tips of theses
abrasive particles or the surface of the binding layer and are
measured by the height gauge, and the distance between tips of
these abrasive particles and the surface of the binding layer are
calculated by the heights of the tips of every abrasive particle
and the height of the surface of an abrasive layer, thereby
calculating the abrasive exposing rate.
[0014] In above-mentioned the chemical mechanical polishing
conditioner with optimal abrasive exposing rate of the present
invention, the numbers of samples sampling from the height
measurement device may be randomly varied based on the user's
requirements or quality of the required conditioner; wherein the
height measurement device may measure 5 to 500 abrasive particles
to obtain the abrasive exposing rate of these measured abrasive
particles. In an aspect of the present invention, the height
measurement device may measure 20 abrasive particles. Besides, in
above-mentioned the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with
optimal abrasive exposing rate of the present invention, the
abrasive exposing rate of the measured abrasive particles may be
less than 1/10 of the particle sizes of these abrasive particles,
so that these abrasive particles have a uniform tip height and a
flatness surface, thereby improving the polishing performance of
the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner and avoiding
scratches produced on the polishing pad. In an aspect of the
present invention, the abrasive exposing rate of the measured
abrasive particles may be less than 1/20 of the particle sizes of
these abrasive particles. In above-mentioned the chemical
mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal abrasive exposing
rate of the present invention, every abrasive particle has
preferably the same exposing rate to provide a stable polishing
quality. For example, in an aspect of the present invention, 20
abrasive particles having the particle sizes of 300 .mu.mare are
measured by the high measurement device to obtain the abrasive
exposing rate of 20 abrasive particles. The differences of the
abrasive exposing rate of these abrasive particles are within 30
.mu.m, namely, the abrasive exposing rate (the particle size to be
200 .mu.m) is 2/3 of the particle size of these abrasive particles
(the particle size to be 300 .mu.m), and the differences of the
abrasive exposing rate of these abrasive particles are less than
1/10 of the particle sizes of these abrasive particles (the
particle size to be 300 .mu.m), in other words, the abrasive
exposing rate of these abrasive particles is in a range of 185
.mu.m to 215 .mu.m. In another aspect of the present invention,
when the same numbers and the same particles sizes of these
abrasive particles mentioned above are used, the differences of the
abrasive exposing rate of these abrasive particles are within 15
.mu.m, namely, the abrasive exposing rate (the particle size to be
200 .mu.m) is 2/3 of the particle size of these abrasive particles
(the particle size to be 300 .mu.m), and the differences of the
abrasive exposing rate of theses abrasive particles (the particle
size to be 300 .mu.m) are less than 1/20 of particle size of theses
abrasive particles, in other words, the abrasive exposing rate of
theses abrasive particles is in a range of 192.5 .mu.m to 207.5
.mu.m.
[0015] In above-mentioned the chemical mechanical polishing
conditioner with optimal abrasive exposing rate of the present
invention, the abrasive particles may be artificial diamond, nature
diamond, polycrystalline diamond or cubic boron nitride. In a
preferred aspect of the present invention, the abrasive particles
may be artificial diamond. Furthermore, in above-mentioned the
chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal abrasive
exposing rate of the present invention, the abrasive particles may
have a particle size of 30 to 600 .mu.m. In a preferred aspect of
the present invention, the abrasive particles may have a particle
size of 300 .mu.m.
[0016] In above-mentioned the chemical mechanical polishing
conditioner with optimal abrasive exposing rate of the present
invention, the compositions of the binding layer or the abrasive
particles may be varied based on the polishing conditions or the
user's requirements, which includes: a ceramic material, a brazing
material, an electroplating material, a metallic material, or a
polymer material, but the present invention is not limited thereto.
In an aspect of the present invention, the binding layer can be
made of a brazing material, wherein the brazing material can be at
least one selected from the group consisting of iron, cobalt,
nickel, chromium, manganese, silicon, aluminum, and combinations
thereof. In another aspect of the present invention, the polymer
material can be epoxy resin, polyester resin, polyacrylic resin, or
phenolic resin. Besides, in above-mentioned the chemical mechanical
polishing conditioner with optimal abrasive exposing rate of the
present invention, the materials and sizes of the substrate may be
varied based on the polishing conditions or the user's
requirements; wherein the materials of the substrate can be
stainless steel, mold steel, metal alloy, ceramic material or
polymer material etc., but the present invention is not be limited
thereto. In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the
material of the substrate may be a stainless steel substrate.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] The above and other objects, features and other advantages
of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the
following detailed description taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings, in which:
[0018] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the chemical mechanical
polishing conditioner with optimal abrasive exposing rate according
to Example 1 of the present invention.
[0019] FIG. 2 shows a spatial diagram of the high measurement
device of the present invention.
[0020] FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the chemical mechanical
polishing conditioner with optimal abrasive exposing rate according
to Example 2 of the present invention,
[0021] FIGS. 4 shows a schematic diagram of the chemical mechanical
polishing conditioner with optimal abrasive exposing rate according
to Example 3 of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0022] Hereinafter, the actions and the effects of the present
invention will he explained in more detail via specific examples of
the invention. However, these examples are merely illustrative of
the present invention and the scope of the invention should not be
construed to be defined thereby.
Example 1
[0023] Please refer to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of
a device of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with
optimal abrasive exposing rate of the present invention. As shown
in FIG. 1, first, provided is a substrate 10 made of stainless
steel material; a binding layer 11 made of a nickel-based metallic
brazing material; and a plurality of abrasive particles 12 embedded
in the binding layer by a heat-brazing method, and these abrasive
particles 12 fixed to the surface of the substrate 10 by the
binding layer 11 to obtain a chemical mechanical polishing
conditioner 1; wherein these abrasive particles 12 are formed of
artificial diamonds having particle sizes of 300 .mu.m, and the
abrasive particles 12 are disposed by using a known diamond
distribution technique (for example, template distribution), and
the spacing and arrangement of the abrasive particles 12 are
controlled by the template (not shown). Further, tips of these
abrasive particles 12 are all directed up to form the directivity
of the polishing surface of tips. Alternatively, tips of these
abrasive particles 12 may be varied based on the polishing
conditions or the user's requirements, and these abrasive particle
12 have the same or different directivity of tips; wherein every
abrasive particle 12 has an abrasive exposing rate which means a
distance between tips of these abrasive particles 12 and the
surface of the binding layer 11. The abrasive exposing rate applied
in the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal
abrasive exposing rate of the present invention is 1/4 to 3/4 of
the particle sizes of these abrasive particles 12, so that abrasive
particles have the optimal shielding and the optimal polishing
property simultaneously. In Example 1, these abrasive particles 12
are artificial diamond having particle size of 300 .mu.m;
therefore, the abrasive exposing is in a range of 75 .mu.m to 225
.mu.m. Then, please refer to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 shows a spatial diagram
of the high measurement device of the present invention; wherein
tips of 20 abrasive particles 22 and the surface of the binding
layer 21 are measured by a height gauge 23 and an optical
microscope 24. The tips of these abrasive particles 22 are measured
and then measured the surface of the binding layer 21; wherein a
relative position measured by the height gauge 23 are decided by
the optical microscope 24. The differences of both heights are the
abrasive exposing rates to obtain the abrasive exposing rates of
the measured abrasive particles 22. Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2,
the abrasive exposing rates of these abrasive particles 22 are D1,
D2, D3, D4, D5, D6 to D20 (not shown in figures); wherein D1 is
obtained by the optical microscope 24 and the height gauge 23.
First, the height of surface of the chemical mechanical polishing
conditioner 2 is measured by the height gauge 23 and the optical
microscope 24 is used to decide the measured positions to be tips
of these abrasive particles 22 or the surface of the binding layer
21. Alternatively, the tip of the abrasive particle 12
corresponding to D1 is located by the optical microscope 24, and
then a tip height of these abrasive particles 12 is measured by the
height gauge 23. Furthermore, the surface of the binding layer 21
is located by the optical microscope 24, and the height of the
surface of the binding layer 21 is measured by the height gauge 23.
Subsequently, the obtained heights are both subtracted to obtain a
value of D1, and the values of D2, D3, D4, D5, D6 to D20 can be
obtained by analogy. Finally, the results of the abrasive exposing
rates measured from the abrasive particles 22 are shown in a
display device 25 to decide these abrasive particles 22 capable of
providing to as the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner 2
with optimal abrasive exposing rate.
[0024] Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2, in Example 1 of the present
invention, these abrasive particles 12 have particle sizes of 300
.mu.m, and the abrasive exposing rates are 1/4 to 3/4 of particle
sizes of these abrasive particles; therefore, the optimal abrasive
exposing rate is 75 to 225 .mu.m. Please refer to FIG. 1, when the
abrasive exposing rate of these abrasive particles 121 is more than
225 .mu.m, the effect of the binding layer shielding these abrasive
particles 121 is worse, so that the binding effect of these
abrasive particles 121 becomes bad and results in these abrasive
particles 121 easily fallen during polishing process. When the
abrasive exposing rate of these abrasive particles 122 is less than
75 .mu.m, the effect of the binding layer shielding these abrasive
particles 122 is excessive, so that the ability of these abrasive
particles 122 cutting the polishing becomes bad and results in the
polishing effect become bad.
Example 2
[0025] The chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal
abrasive exposing rate of Example 2 is substantially the same as
the above Example 1, but the differences are that the abrasive
exposing rate of Example 1 is 1/4 to 3/4 of particle sizes of these
abrasive particles, and the abrasive exposing rate of Example 2 is
2/3 of particle sizes of these abrasive particles. Further, the
differences between the abrasive exposing rate of these abrasive
particles are less than 1/10 of particle sizes of these abrasive
particles. As shown in FIG. 3, these abrasive particles of Example
2 of the present invention are artificial diamonds having particle
sizes of 300 .mu.m. The differences of the abrasive exposing rate
is less than 30 .mu.m, and the optimal abrasive exposing rate of
these abrasive particles is in a range of 185 .mu.m to 215 .mu.m,
for example, please refer to FIG. 3, the values of D2, D3, D4, D5,
D6 to D20 (no shown in figure) are preferably 185 .mu.m to 215
.mu.m. Besides, the differences among values of D1 to D20 of
abrasive exposing rate are 30 .mu.m. When the difference of the
abrasive exposing rate is less than 30 .mu.m, a surface of the
chemical mechanical polishing conditioner 3 is more similar to a
flat surface to provide an ability of the abrasive particles 32
cutting the polishing pad (no shown in figure).
[0026] Contrarily, when the differences of the abrasive exposing
rate are more than 30 .mu.m, the polishing is focused on few
abrasive particles having large abrasive exposing rate during
polishing process, so that the polishing performance of the
conditioner becomes bad and service life of the conditioner are
shortened.
Example 3
[0027] The chemical mechanical polishing conditioner with optimal
abrasive exposing rate of Example 3 is substantially the same as
the above Example 2, but the differences are that the differences
of the abrasive exposing rate of these abrasive particles of
Example 2 are less than 1/10 of particle sizes of these abrasive
particles, and the differences of the abrasive exposing rate of
these abrasive particles of Example 3 are less than 1/20 of
particle sizes of these abrasive particles. As shown in FIG. 4, the
measured exposing rate of these abrasive particles 42 is less than
1/20 of the particle sizes of these abrasive particles 42;
therefore, the differences of the abrasive exposing rate is less
than 15 .mu.m, and the optimal abrasive exposing rate of these
abrasive particles 42 is in a range of 192.5 .mu.m to 207.5 .mu.m.
Thus the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner 4 having a
surface more similar to a flat surface can be obtained, and the
ability of these abrasive particles 42 cutting the polishing pad
can be improved to stabilize the polishing performance and quality
of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner 4.
[0028] The above-mentioned results show that when the abrasive
exposing rate is 1/4 to 3/4 of the particles of these abrasive
particles, the effect of the binding layer shielding these abrasive
particles is preferably to avoid problems that these abrasive
particles are fallen and the ability of cutting becomes bad.
Besides, when the differences of the abrasive exposing rate is
small, a flat surface with uniform abrasive exposing rate can be
obtained; therefore, the ability of these abrasive particles
cutting the polishing pad is excellent to stabilize the polishing
performance and quality of the chemical mechanical polishing
conditioner during polishing process.
[0029] It should be understood that these examples are merely
illustrative of the present invention and the scope of the
invention should not be construed to be defined thereby, and the
scope of the present invention will be limited only by the appended
claims.
* * * * *