Claims
- 1. A method of polishing a substrate, comprising:
bringing a polishing surface having a transparent portion into contact with a substrate; causing relative motion between the polishing surface and the substrate; directing a light beam having a wavelength between about 300 and 500 nm through the transparent portion of the polishing surface; and detecting reflections of the light beam from the substrate to determine a polishing endpoint.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the light beam consists essentially of blue light.
- 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the light beam consists essentially of blue(indigo) light.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the light beam has a wavelength of about 400 nm.
- 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the wavelength is between 400 and 415 nm.
- 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the wavelength is approximately 405 nm.
- 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the light beam has a wavelength of about 470 nm.
- 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate includes an active area in which an outermost oxide layer has an incoming thickness of about 1000 to 2000 Angstroms.
- 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the polishing process is a step in a shallow trench isolation (STI) fabrication process.
- 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the polishing process is a step in a spin-on glass fabrication process.
- 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the polishing process is a step in a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) fabrication process.
- 12. A method of polishing a substrate in a shallow trench isolation (STI) process, comprising:
bringing a polishing surface having a transparent portion into contact with an active area of a substrate, wherein the active area includes an oxide layer disposed on a nitride layer; causing relative motion between the polishing surface and the substrate; directing a light beam having a wavelength consisting essentially of 400 to 415 nm through the transparent portion of the polishing surface; and detecting reflections of the light beam from the substrate to determine a polishing endpoint.
- 13. A method of polishing a substrate, comprising:
bringing a polishing surface having a transparent portion into contact with a substrate, the substrate needing polishing in one of a shallow trench isolation (STI) fabrication process, a spin-on glass fabrication process and a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) fabrication process; causing relative motion between the polishing surface and the substrate; directing a light beam having a wavelength between about 300 and 500 nm through the transparent portion of the polishing surface; and detecting reflections of the light beam from the substrate to determine a polishing endpoint.
- 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the polishing process is a step in a shallow trench isolation (STI) fabrication process.
- 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the polishing process is a step in a spin-on glass fabrication process.
- 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the polishing process is a step in a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) fabrication process.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/669,776, filed on Sep. 25, 2000, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/300,183, filed Apr. 27, 1999, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/237,472, filed Jan. 25, 1999. This application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/035,391, filed Dec. 28, 2001. This application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/282,730, filed Oct. 28, 2002. This application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/464,423, filed Jun. 18, 2003, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 60/390,679, filed Jun. 21, 2002. This application also claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/402,416, filed Aug. 9, 2002. The entire contents of each of these applications is incorporated by reference herein.
Provisional Applications (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60390679 |
Jun 2002 |
US |
|
60402416 |
Aug 2002 |
US |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09300183 |
Apr 1999 |
US |
Child |
09669776 |
Sep 2000 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (5)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09669776 |
Sep 2000 |
US |
Child |
10638259 |
Aug 2003 |
US |
Parent |
09237472 |
Jan 1999 |
US |
Child |
09300183 |
Apr 1999 |
US |
Parent |
10035391 |
Dec 2001 |
US |
Child |
10638259 |
Aug 2003 |
US |
Parent |
10282730 |
Oct 2002 |
US |
Child |
10638259 |
Aug 2003 |
US |
Parent |
10464423 |
Jun 2003 |
US |
Child |
10638259 |
Aug 2003 |
US |