Conductive polishing article for electrochemical mechanical polishing Number:6,991,528 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) owispatent

Title: Conductive polishing article for electrochemical mechanical polishing

Abstract: Embodiments of a polishing article for processing a substrate are provided. In one embodiment, a polishing article for processing a substrate comprises a fabric layer having a conductive layer disposed thereover. The conductive layer has an exposed surface adapted to polish a substrate. The fabric layer may be woven or non-woven. The conductive layer may be comprised of a soft metal and, in one embodiment, the exposed surface may be planar.

Patent Number: 6,991,528 Issued on 01/31/2006 to Hu,   et al.

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Inventors:	Hu; Yongqi (Campbell, CA); Wang; Yan (Sunnyvale, CA); Duboust; Alain (Sunnyvale, CA); Liu; Feng Q. (San Jose, CA); Manens; Antoine P. (Palo Alto, CA); Neo; Siew S. (Santa Clara, CA); Tsai; Stan D. (Fremont, CA); Chen; Liang-Yuh (Foster City, CA); Butterfield; Paul D. (San Jose, CA); Tian; Yuan A. (San Jose, CA); Ko; Sen-Hou (Sunnyvale, CA)
Assignee:	Applied Materials, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA)
Appl. No.:	455941
Filed:	June 6, 2003

Current U.S. Class:	451/526; 205/663; 204/224.M
Current Intern'l Class:	B23H 3/00     (20060101); B23B 5/02     (20060101)
Field of Search:	451/526-539 204/224.M 205/663

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Primary Examiner: Thomas; David B.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Moser, Patterson & Sheridan

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Parent Case Text

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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/140,010, filed May 7, 2002. This application is also a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/211,626, filed Aug. 2, 2002, which is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/033,732, filed Dec. 27, 2001, which is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/505,899, filed Feb. 17, 2000. This application is additionally a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/210,972, filed Aug. 2, 2002, which is also a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/505,899. This application is further continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/151,538, filed May 16, 2002. All of the above referenced applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/033,732, filed on Dec. 27, 2001; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/455,895, filed Jun. 6, 2003 entitled "Conductive Polishing Article for Electrochemical Mechanical Polishing" by Hu, et al., all of which are also incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

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Claims

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What is claimed is:

1. A polishing article for processing a substrate, comprising:

a fabric layer;

a conductive layer disposed on the fabric layer and having an exposed surface adapted to polish the substrate, wherein the fabric layer further comprises a woven material and the woven material further comprises a conductive material, and wherein the conductive layer comprises a polymer matrix having conductive material disposed therein; and

a window disposed through the conductive layer and the fabric layer.

2. The polishing article of claim 1, wherein the conductive layer is a soft conductive material.

3. The polishing artide of claim 1, wherein the woven material is at least one of coated or fabricated from a soft conductive material.

4. The polishing article of claim 3, wherein the soft conductive material is selected from the group consisting of gold, tin, palladium, palladium-tin alloys, platinum, lead, and metal alloys and ceramic composites softer than copper.

5. The polishing article of claim 1, wherein the conductive layer further comprises:

a soft material.

6. The polishing article of claim 1, wherein the conductive layer further comprises a modulus and hardness less than that of copper.

7. The polishing article of claim 1, wherein the exposed surface of the conductive layer is flat.

8. The polishing article of claim 1, wherein the exposed surface of the conductive layer has a flatness less than or equal to about plus or minus 1 millimeter and a surface roughness less than about 500 microns.

9. The polishing article of claim 1, wherein the conductive layer further comprises:

a plurality of abrasive particles disposed therein.

10. The polishing article of claim 9, wherein the abrasive particles have a hardness greater than copper.

11. The polishing article of claim 1, wherein the conductive layer further comprises:

an embossed upper surface.

12. The polishing article of claim 1, wherein the conductive layer has a plurality of perforations formed therethrough.

13. The polishing article of claim 1, wherein the window further comprises:

a transparent material disposed in at least one of the conductive layer or the fabric layer.

14. The polishing article of claim 1, wherein the conductive material is selected from the group consisting of gold, tin, palladium, palladium-tin alloys, platinum, lead, and metal alloys and ceramic composites softer than copper.

15. The polishing article of claim 1, wherein the conductive material is tin particles.

16. The polishing article of claim 15, wherein the fabric layer further comprises:

copper-coated fabric.

17. The polishing article of claim 1, wherein the conductive material further comprises:

conductive fillers disposed in the polymer matrix.

18. The polishing artide of claim 17, wherein the conductive material further comprises:

soft conductive materials.

19. The polishing article of claim 18, wherein the conductive material has a hardness and modulus less then or equal to about that of copper.

20. The polishing article of claim 17, wherein the conductive material further comprises:

a plurality of conductive particles including at least one of gold, tin, palladium, palladium-tin alloys, platinum and lead.

21. The polishing article of claim 17, wherein the conductive material further comprises:

carbon-based matenal.

22. The polishing article of claim 21, wherein the carbon-based material is at least one of carbon powder, carbon fibers, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofoam, carbon aerogels, graphite, and combinations thereof.

23. The polishing article of claim 17, wherein the conductive material is at least one of conductive particles, conductive fibers, intrinsically conductive polymers, dielectric or conductive particles coated with a conductive material, dielectric filler materials coated in conductive materials, conductive inorganic particles, metal particles, conductive ceramic particles and combinations thereof.

24. A polishing article for processing a substrate, comprising:

a fabric layer;

a conductive layer disposed on the fabric layer and having an exposed surface adapted to polish the substrate, wherein the fabric layer further comprises a non-woven material and the non-woven material further comprises a conductive material, and wherein the conductive layer comprises a polymer matrix having conductive material disposed therein; and

a window disposed through the conductive layer and the fabric layer.

25. The polishing article of claim 24, wherein the conductive layer is a soft conductive material.

26. The polishing article of claim 24, wherein the non-woven material is at least one of coated or fabricated from a soft conductive material.

27. The polishing artide of claim 26, wherein the soft conductive material is selected from the group consisting of gold, tin, palladium, palladium-tin alloys, platinum, lead, and metal alloys and ceramic composites softer than copper.

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Description

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an article of manufacture and apparatus for planarizing a substrate surface.

2. Background of the Related Art

Sub-quarter micron multi-level metallization is one of the key technologies for the next generation of ultra large-scale integration (ULSI). The multilevel interconnects that lie at the heart of this technology require planarization of interconnect features formed in high aspect ratio apertures, including contacts, vias, lines and other features. Reliable formation of these interconnect features is very important to the success of ULSI and to the contin