Claims
- 1. A method for planarizing a wafer surface during a chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process, comprising the operations of:
positioning a pad support below a polishing membrane attached to at least one frame; rotating the at least one frame; and applying downward force to a wafer disposed above the polishing membrane and the pad support, wherein the pad support differentially flexes the polishing membrane while providing reactive force to the polishing pad during a CMP process.
- 2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one frame has an essentially round shape.
- 3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one frame has an essentially cylindrical shape.
- 4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the pad support is an air bearing that provides air pressure to the polishing membrane.
- 5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the pad support is in contact with the polishing membrane.
- 6. A method as recited in claim 5, wherein the pad support includes mechanical elements capable of differentially flexing the polishing membrane during a CMP process.
- 7. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the operation of eroding the polishing membrane during the CMP process using a conditioner element.
- 8. A method for planarizing a wafer surface during a chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process, comprising the operations of:
positioning a wafer above a flexible polishing membrane, the flexible polishing membrane being attached to at least one frame; rotating the at least one frame; applying a downward force to the wafer disposed above the flexible polishing membrane; and providing a reactive force to the flexible polishing membrane to counteract the downward force, the reactive force being capable of shaping the flexible polishing membrane.
- 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the reactive force is capable of differentially flexing the flexible polishing membrane.
- 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one frame has an essentially round shape.
- 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one frame has an essentially cylindrical shape.
- 12. The method of claim 8, wherein the operation of providing the reactive force to the flexible polishing membrane to counteract the downward force includes,
providing an air pressure to the flexible polishing membrane to counteract the downward force.
- 13. The method of claim 8, wherein the operation of providing the reactive force to the flexible polishing membrane to counteract the downward force includes,
providing a fluid pressure to the flexible polishing membrane to counteract the downward force.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/029,192, filed Dec. 20, 2001, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10029192 |
Dec 2001 |
US |
Child |
10882935 |
Jun 2004 |
US |