Patent Application
20140335761
This application claims the benefits of the Taiwan Patent Application Serial Number 102116516, filed on May 9, 2013, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a detection apparatus and a method of a chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, and more particularly to a chemical mechanical polishing conditioner which may provide a detection of risk diamond on the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner.
2. Description of Related Art
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 due to its ability to achieve global planarization.
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. Though, 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, or when the conditioner conditions a polishing pad, the diamond particles on the conditioner may be broken to form risk diamonds, such that the conditioner may become a defective one. Therefore, it is necessary to implement a detection process to ensure an expected polishing effect in the subsequent steps. It is a known method to use an optical microscope (OM) to perform a visual observation to determine a pad conditioner has any risk diamonds. When risk diamonds are observed, the positions would be marked by a marked method (such as oil pen) and taken a photograph. Finally, the photos before and after the grinding process would be compared by a person.
In the known technology, it discloses an equipment for detecting a defect of a polishing pad conditioner, comprising a working platform, a placement base and an image capture device disposed on the working platform, a display module, and an image processing unit. The image processing unit includes an image recognition module, a data storage device and a comparison module, wherein the data storage device is electrically connected with the image recognition module and the comparison module, and stores a plurality of reference image data. The image recognition module transfers the sample image to a sample image data having the same format as the reference image data. The comparison module executes a comparison of the sample image data and the corresponded reference image data to determine whether any one of the sample image data has any defect. The sample images having defects and without defects would be separately marked and shown in the display module.
Besides, in the other known technology, it discloses a conditioner of a chemical mechanical polishing machine, which comprises: a conditioner substrate; a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer installed on the conditioner substrate, in which the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer are isolated through insulation; a plural of diamonds infixed into the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer; and an adhesion layer installed on the conditioner substrate to fix the diamonds, in which the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer can be used to detect diamond fall-off, when the diamonds fall off, conductive material enters the location previously occupied by the diamonds, and short circuit will occur between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer.
However, in the above-mentioned chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, the lacking or fall-off abrasive particles on the conditioner are only detected by an image analysis or a short circuit current. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a detection apparatus and a method of a chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, which cannot only detect and determine whether the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner has risk diamonds or not, but also remove risk diamonds on the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, thereby avoiding scratches and breakages produced on the polishing pad due to the risk diamonds during a chemical mechanical polishing process.
An object of the present invention is to provide a detection apparatus and a method of a chemical mechanical polishing conditioner to detect whether the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner has risk diamonds or not, and to remove risk diamond on the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, thereby avoiding scratches and breakages produced on the polishing pad due to the risk diamonds during a chemical mechanical polishing process.
The present invention is different from the well-known methods for detecting risk diamonds in which a polishing pad is directly performed a polishing test by the conditioner, or the total areas of the conditioner are performed a check by a person. A person wastes his energy and time on the well-known methods, and the detection results of the well-known method are still doubtful. During a manufacturing process of the general chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, the brazing powder comprising a metal alloy and the diamond particles are disposed on a surface of a substrate made of stainless steel and performed a heat brazing process, so that the diamond particles are fixed on the surface of the substrate by the brazing ally to complete a manufacture of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner. In the general chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, the yellow diamonds including nitrogen-containing dopants are often used as the abrasive particles. After the heat brazing process, the diamonds shown yellow color in origin become black color and the surfaces of the completed chemical mechanical polishing conditioner are shown totally block color by a person's eyes, because the side of the brazing surface can absorbs incident light after hard brazing process. However, during an actual process for manufacturing the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, a part of diamond particles include risk diamonds with twin crystal structures or internal crack structures; wherein the risk diamonds may come from the source of materials of the diamonds themselves, or the risk diamonds may come from the diamond particles in the brazing process or the conditioner in the post-processing procedure. The risk diamonds are different from general diamond particles with perfect crystal forms which can absorb the incident light to show block color through brazing alloy. Because these risk particles have twin crystal structures or internal crack structures present on the inside or the reflecting surface, the incident light will be reflected and the risk diamonds are shown yellow color, namely, themselves color of the general yellow diamonds including nitrogen-containing dopants. Therefore, the present invention will determine whether the conditioner has risk diamonds or not and position thereof by means of detecting every diamond particle on the conditioner, and then the risk diamonds are further removed from the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, thereby avoiding scratches and breakages produced on the polishing pad due to the risk diamonds during a chemical mechanical polishing process. In the detection apparatus of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner of the present invention, the present invent cannot only detect and determine the risk diamonds shown yellow color, but also can detect different dopants or diamonds with different colors based on polishing requirements, but the present invention is not limited thereto.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a detection apparatus of a chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, comprising: a working platform with a working plane; a placement base disposed on the working plane of the working platform, which is used to carry a chemical mechanical polishing conditioner; an image capture device set over the placement base of the working platform, and the image capture device and the placement base parallel to the working plane, wherein the image capture device is used to form one or a plurality of captured images on different regions of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner; a display device; an image recognition module electrically connected to the image capture device and the display device, wherein the captured images are performed a color matching by the image recognition module to determine one or a plurality of risk diamonds on the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, and the coordinate locations of the risk diamonds are outputted into the display device; and a mobile platform made the risk diamonds remove to a specified location which is a coordinate location outputted by the image recognition module. Therefore, when the detection apparatus of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner is operated, the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner to be detected is disposed on the placement base, and one or a plurality of captured images are formed on the different regions of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner by the image capture device. Then the captured images are transmitted into the image recognition module to transform optical signal into electronic signals through the image recognition module, and then the electronic signals are transformed into optical spectrums and a color matching is performed to determine one or a plurality of risk diamonds on the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, further, the coordinate locations of risk diamonds are determined by a general position location system. Then the coordinate locations are transformed into the display device by the image recognition module to show the coordinate locations of risk diamonds, and the mobile platform can make risk diamonds remove to the specified location according to the coordinate locations provided from the image recognition module.
In the detection apparatus of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner of the present invention, one or a plurality of captured images are formed on different regions of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner by the image capture device, and the numbers of the captured images may be randomly varied based on resolutions of the image capture device or the user's detection standard, such as one, 12, 24, 24, 108 captured images, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In one aspect of the present invention, 24 captured images are formed on different regions of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner by the image capture device, namely, the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner is divided into 24 regions to form 24 captured images. In another aspect of the present invention, 54 captured images are formed on different regions of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner by the image capture device, namely, the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner is divided into 54 regions to form 54 captured images. In another aspect of the present invention, 108 captured images are formed on different regions of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner by the image capture device, namely, the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner is divided into 108 regions to form 108 captured images. In another aspect of the present invention, if the image capture device has resolutions with high magnification, one captured image is only formed on different regions of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, namely, the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner is regarded as one region to form one captured image.
In the detection apparatus of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner of the present invention, the image capture device may be a charge coupled device (CCD) or an industrial camera, in which one or a plurality of captured images on different regions of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner are formed. In one aspect of the present invention, the image capture device is a charge coupled device. Besides, the above-mentioned captured image may be a color formatting data in which the captured images are perform the color matching by the image recognition module to determine one or a plurality of risk diamonds on the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, and risk diamonds are marked by the display device.
In the detection apparatus of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner of the present invention, the placement base and the image capture device may be located on the working plane and removed freely, so that one or a plurality of captured images may be formed on different regions of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner by the image capture device. In one aspect of the present invention, the placement base is located on the working plane and moved in plane, such as moved to left and right or moved to front and back, or moved to up and down. In another aspect of the present invention, the image capture device is located on the working plane and moved in plane or moved to up and down. In one aspect of the present invention, the placement base and the image capture device may be located on the working plane and moved in plane or moved to up and down at the same time, but the present invention is not limited thereto.
In the detection apparatus of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner of the present invention, the detection apparatus further comprises a light source device set over the placement base and irradiated light toward the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, so that one or a plurality of captured images are formed on different regions of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner by the image capture device under more enough light.
In the detection apparatus of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner of the present invention, the risk diamonds are diamond particles capable of reflecting incident lights, in which the diamond particles may have twin crystal structures or internal crack structures, and the diamond particles are yellow diamonds including nitrogen-containing dopants. The risk diamonds are different from the general diamond particles with perfect crystal forms which can absorb the incident lights to show block color through a brazing alloy. These risk particles have twin crystal structures or internal crack structures present on the inside or the reflecting surface; therefore, the incident lights will be reflected, so that the risk diamonds are shown yellow color in origin. Therefore, the present invention will determine whether the conditioner has risk diamonds or not and position thereof by means of detecting every diamond particle on the conditioner.
In the detection apparatus of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner of the present invention, the coordinate locations of the risk diamonds may be outputted into the mobile platform (such as XY-stage) by the above-mentioned image recognition module, so that risk diamonds are removed to specified locations by the mobile platform, wherein the risk diamonds are removed automatically to specified locations of detection rang of an optical microscope by the mobile platform according to coordinate locations provided from the image recognition module, so as to remove the risk diamonds from the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner in subsequent steps. Besides, in the detection apparatus of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner of the present invention, the present invention cannot only remove the risk diamonds to specified locations through the mobile platform, but also can directly remove the risk diamond to the specified locations by the placement base on the detection device itself.
In the detection apparatus of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner of the present invention, the detection apparatus further include a removing device for removing the risk diamonds from the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner to avoid scratches and breakages produced on the polishing pad due to the risk diamonds during a chemical mechanical polishing process. The above-mentioned removing device of the present invention may be a high-power laser, a water jet device, an endpoint oscillator or an artificial shave tool, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In one aspect of the present invention, the removing device is the high-power laser. In another aspect of the present invention, the removing device is the artificial shave tool. Besides, in the detection apparatus of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner of the present invention, the risk diamonds may reflect the incident light, so that the risk diamonds are shown yellow color in the captured images, and the image recognition module may determine the risk diamonds shown yellow color through the color matching.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for detecting the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner. The method is used to detect whether the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner has the risk diamonds or not, and the risk diamonds are removed from the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, thereby avoiding scratches and breakages produced on the polishing pad due to the risk diamonds during a chemical mechanical polishing process.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a detection method of a chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, comprising: detecting the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner through the above-mentioned detection apparatus of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, and determining one or a plurality of risk diamonds on the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner. Therefore, when the detection apparatus of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner is operated, the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner to be detected is set on the placement base, and one or a plurality of captured images are formed on different regions of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner by the image capture device. Then the captured images are transmitted into the image recognition module to transform optical signal into electronic signals through the image recognition module, and then the electronic signals are transformed into optical spectrums and one or a plurality of risk diamonds on the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner are determined by performing a color matching, further, the coordinate locations of risk diamonds are determined by a general position location system. Then the coordinate locations are transformed into the display device by the image recognition module to show the coordinate locations of risk diamonds, and the mobile platform can make risk diamonds remove to the specified locations.
In summary, according to the detection apparatus and a method of a chemical mechanical polishing conditioner of the present invention, the present invention may be used to detect and determined whether the risk diamonds are present on the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner or not, and the risk diamonds are removed from the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, thereby avoiding scratches and breakages produced on the polishing pad due to the risk diamonds during a chemical mechanical polishing process.
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:
Hereinafter, the actions and the effects of the present invention will be 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.
A detection apparatus and a method of a chemical mechanical polishing conditioner may be used to detect whether the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner has the risk diamonds or not, and the risk diamonds are removed from the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, thereby avoiding scratches and breakages produced on the polishing pad due to the risk diamonds during a chemical mechanical polishing process. Please refer to
Besides, in the above mentioned detection apparatus of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner, the detection apparatus further comprises a light source device 16 set on the placement base 11, and the light source device 16 irradiates light toward the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner 12, so that the image capture device 13 may form one or a plurality of captured images on different regions of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner under more enough light. The numbers of the captured images may be randomly varied based on resolutions of the image capture device or the user's detection standard, such as one, 12, 24, 24, 108 captured images, in example 1, 54 captured images may be formed in different regions of the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner by the image capture device, namely, the chemical mechanical polishing conditioner is divided in 54 regions to form 54 captured images.
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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.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102116516 | May 2013 | TW | national |
