Claims
- 1. A method of providing controlled regional polishing of a semiconductor wafer comprising;
loading a semiconductor wafer on a wafer receiving surface of a rotatable wafer carrier and rotating the semiconductor wafer; and moving a polishing pad mounted on a rotating polishing pad carrier against the rotating semiconductor wafer to a partially overlapping position, wherein the polishing pad comprises a polishing pad material positioned along a circumference of the polishing pad and extending radially inwardly a portion of a radius of the polishing pad, and wherein the polishing pad material defines a central region lacking polishing pad material and symmetric about a diameter of the polishing pad; and maintaining a first pressure between the partially overlapping semiconductor wafer and polishing pad.
- 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising moving the polishing pad to a second partially overlapping position with respect to the semiconductor wafer, wherein the polishing pad is in continuous contact with the semiconductor wafer while the pad is moved.
- 3. The method of claim 1 further comprising moving the polishing pad along a radius of the semiconductor wafer to a second partially overlapping position with respect to the surface of the semiconductor wafer, wherein the polishing pad is in continuous contact with the semiconductor wafer while the pad is moved.
- 4. The method of claim 2, further comprising rotating a pad dressing surface against a portion of the polishing pad while a portion of the polishing pad is in contact with a portion of the surface of the semiconductor wafer, whereby the polishing pad is continuously reactivated by conditioning and cleaning during each rotation.
- 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the polishing pad is oscillated over a predetermined path at each of the plurality of partially overlapping positions.
- 6. A method of planarizing and polishing semiconductor wafers comprising:
rotating a first polishing pad about a central axis, wherein the polishing pad has a polishing pad material positioned along a circumference of the first polishing pad and extending radially inwardly a portion of a radius of the first polishing pad, and wherein the polishing pad material defines a central region lacking polishing pad material and symmetric about a diameter of the first polishing pad; pressing a portion of the polishing pad material on the first polishing pad against a portion of a rotating semiconductor wafer, wherein the first polishing pad partially overlaps the semiconductor wafer; and maintaining a first pressure between the first polishing pad and the semiconductor wafer.
- 7. The method of claim 6 wherein the polishing pad material comprises a fixed-abrasive material.
- 8. The method of claim 7 wherein maintaining a first pressure comprises maintaining a pressure of at least 15 pounds per square inch between the polishing pad and the semiconductor wafer.
- 9. The method of claim 7 wherein maintaining a first pressure comprises maintaining a pressure of at least 2 pounds per square inch between the polishing pad and the semiconductor wafer.
- 10. The method of claim 7 further comprising:
planarizing the semiconductor wafer with the first polishing pad until a first wafer film thickness is achieved; disengaging the first polishing pad from the semiconductor wafer; applying a dispersed-abrasive polishing process to the semiconductor wafer until a final wafer film thickness is reached.
- 11. The method of claim 10 wherein applying a dispersed-abrasive process comprises:
pressing the semiconductor wafer against a second polishing pad; applying a chemical slurry to the second polishing pad while the semiconductor wafer and the second polishing pad move against each other; and maintaining a second pressure between the second polishing pad and the semiconductor wafer.
- 12. The method of claim 11 wherein the second polishing pad has a non-abrasive polishing pad material positioned along a circumference of the second polishing pad and extending radially inwardly a portion of a radius of the second polishing pad, wherein the polishing pad material defines a central region lacking polishing pad material and symmetric about a diameter of the second polishing pad.
- 13. The method of claim 11 wherein the second polishing pad comprises a non-abrasive polishing pad material.
- 14. The method of claim 11 wherein the second polishing pad comprises a linear belt constructed of non-abrasive polishing pad material.
- 15. The method of claim 11 wherein the second pressure is less than the first pressure.
- 16. The method of claim 7 wherein the polishing pad material comprises an annular surface.
- 17. The method of claim 13 wherein the polishing pad material comprises an annular surface.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/754,480 filed Jan. 4, 2001, pending, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/493,978 filed Jan. 28, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,340,326 B1. The entirety of each of the disclosures of the aforementioned U.S. patent applications is incorporated by reference herein.
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09754480 |
Jan 2001 |
US |
Child |
10770599 |
Feb 2004 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09493978 |
Jan 2000 |
US |
Child |
09754480 |
Jan 2001 |
US |