Claims
- 1. An apparatus for polishing wafers, comprising:a polishing table for placing a wafer thereon, said polishing table having a heating device; a tank for holding a liquid polishing agent; a distributor connected to said polishing table; a conduit connecting said tank to said distributor for feeding the liquid polishing agent to said polishing table; and a heat exchanger for heating the liquid polishing agent, said heat exchanger including at least a portion of said conduit that is disposed between said heat exchanger being independent of said heating device.
- 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said polishing table is configured as a chemical-mechanical polishing table.
- 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, including:a heating controller connected to said heat exchanger; and said heat exchanger operating with a heating agent having a temperature, said heating controller setting the temperature to a value between 30 and 90° C.
- 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said heating controller sets the temperature of the heating agent to a value between 45 and 70° C.
- 5. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said heating controller sets the temperature of the heating agent to a value between 55 and 60° C.
- 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said conduit has a first conduit region between said heat exchanger and said tank, and a second conduit region between said heat exchanger and said distributor, said first conduit region is short compared to said second conduit region.
- 7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said first conduit region and said second conduit region are configured for a flow rate to be adjusted in the range between 100 and 1000 ml/min.
- 8. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said first and second conduit regions have an inside diameter of between 5 and 8 mm.
- 9. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said first and second conduit regions have an inside diameter of 6.4 mm.
- 10. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein at least one of said first and second conduit regions is additionally thermally insulated.
- 11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said conduit has a first conduit region between said heat exchanger and said tank, and a second conduit region between said heat exchanger and said distributor, said heat exchanger has a conduit section connected to said first conduit region and to said second conduit region, said heat exchanger operates with a heating agent in contact with said conduit section.
- 12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said conduit section is configured for a flow rate to be adjusted in the range between 100 and 1000 ml/min.
- 13. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said conduit section has an inside diameter of between 5 and 8 mm.
- 14. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said conduit section has an inside diameter of 6.4 mm.
- 15. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said heat exchanger has an incoming side and an outgoing side, a first cover formed with inlet openings at said incoming side, a second cover formed with outlet openings at said outgoing side, a medium pipe disposed between said first cover and said second cover, and at least one limiting rod.
- 16. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said conduit has a first conduit region between said heat exchanger and said tank, and a second conduit region between said heat exchanger and said distributor, said heat exchanger has a conduit section connected to said first conduit region and to said second region, said heat exchanger has an incoming side and an outgoing side, a first cover formed with inlet openings at said incoming side, a second cover formed with outlet openings at said outgoing side, and a medium pipe disposed between said first cover and said second cover, and wherein said first cover, said second cover, said medium pipe and said conduit section are formed of a plastic material.
- 17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said plastic material is one of a polyurethane-based plastic material and a polyvinyl-alcohol-based plastic material.
- 18. A method for heating a polishing agent for a chemical mechanical polishing, the method which comprises:heating a heating agent using a heating controller, resulting in a heated heating agent; introducing the heated heating agent into a heat exchanger; storing a polishing medium in a storage tank; guiding the polishing medium from the storage tank to the heat exchanger and guiding the polishing medium through the heated heating agent in the heat exchanger, resulting in a heated polishing medium; and outputting the heated polishing medium from the heat exchanger to a distributor.
- 19. The method according to claim 18, which comprises setting a temperature of the heated heating agent to a value between 30 and 90° C.
- 20. The method according to claim 18, which comprises setting a temperature of the heated heating agent to a value between 45 and 70° C.
- 21. The method according to claim 18, which comprises setting a temperature of the heated heating agent to a value between 55 and 60° C.
- 22. The method according to claim 18, which comprises guiding the polishing medium through the heat exchanger at a flow rate of 100 to 1000 ml/min.
- 23. The method according to claim 18, which comprises outputting the heated polishing medium, from the heat exchanger to the distributor, with a temperature of between 20 and 80° C.
- 24. The method according to claims 18, which comprises using a water-glycol mixture as the heating agent.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
197 37 849 |
Aug 1997 |
DE |
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of copending International Application PCT/DE98/02492, filed Aug. 24, 1998, which designated the United States.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Foreign Referenced Citations (5)
Number |
Date |
Country |
90 02 296 |
Jun 1990 |
DE |
0 566 258 A1 |
Oct 1993 |
EP |
0 822 033 A1 |
Feb 1998 |
EP |
811665 |
Apr 1959 |
GB |
2-250771 |
Oct 1990 |
JP |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (2)
Entry |
Patent Abstracts of Japan No. 254579 A (Yasutaka et al.), dated Oct. 3, 1995. |
“Heat Exchanger made of technical synthetic materials”, CAV, Dec. 1988, p. 63. |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
PCT/DE98/02492 |
Aug 1998 |
US |
Child |
09/515176 |
|
US |