Inner retaining ring and outer retaining ring for carrier head

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10022837-B2
Application number	US-201514958814-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 3, 2015
Priority date	Aug 6, 2010
Publication date	Jul 17, 2018
Grant date	Jul 17, 2018

Abstract

A carrier head for a chemical mechanical polisher includes a base, a substrate mounting surface, an annular inner ring and an outer ring. The inner ring has a lower surface configured to contact an upper surface of a substrate positioned on the substrate mounting surface, an outer surface, and an inwardly facing surface extending downwardly from the lower surface and is configured to circumferentially surround the edge of the substrate, the inner ring vertically movable relative to the substrate mounting surface. The outer ring has an inner surface circumferentially surrounding the inner ring, an outer surface, and a lower surface to contact the polishing pad, and the outer ring is vertically movable relative to and independently of the substrate mounting surface and the inner ring.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An outer ring of a carrier head of a polishing apparatus for lateral referencing of a retaining ring during polishing, comprising:
an annular body having
an inner surface defining an inner diameter of the outer ring,
an annular lower surface configured to be brought into contact with a polishing pad,
an annular upper surface that includes a plurality of holes to receive fasteners, and
an outer surface defining an outer diameter of the outer ring,

wherein the inner surface includes
a lower region, and
an upper region,
wherein the lower region of the inner surface is adjacent to the annular lower surface, the lower region of the inner surface is a vertical cylindrical surface configured to circumferentially surround and contact the retaining ring, the upper region of the inner surface connects and spans between the lower region and the annular upper surface and is sloped at a first angle of inclination with respect to the vertical cylindrical surface such that a first inner diameter of the upper region of the inner surface is greater at a top of the upper region of the inner surface than a second inner diameter at a bottom of the upper region of the inner surface, and

wherein the outer surface includes
a lower region,
an upper region,
a horizontal lower surface, and
a sloped area,

wherein the lower region of the outer surface is adjacent to the annular lower surface, the lower region of the outer surface is a vertical cylindrical surface, the upper region of the outer surface is a vertical cylindrical surface and has a first outer diameter that is greater than a second outer diameter of the lower region of the outer surface, the horizontal lower surface extends inwardly from the vertical cylindrical surface of the upper region of the outer surface, the sloped area connects and spans the lower region of the outer surface to the horizontal lower surface, and a height of the lower region of the inner surface is about equal to a height of the horizontal lower surface of the outer surface.

2. The outer ring of claim 1 , wherein the annular body comprises an upper portion between the upper region of the inner surface and the upper region of the outer surface and a lower portion between the lower region of the inner surface and the lower region of the outer surface, wherein the upper portion is a different material than the lower portion.

3. The inner ring of claim 2 , wherein the upper portion is formed of a material that is more rigid than the lower portion.

4. The inner ring of claim 2 , wherein the lower portion is a plastic and the upper portion is a metal.

5. The inner ring of claim 2 , wherein a boundary between the upper portion and the lower portion intersects the outer surface in the sloped area.

6. The outer ring of claim 1 , wherein a first height of the lower region of the inner surface between the annular lower surface and the upper region of the inner surface is greater than a second height of the lower region of the outer surface between the annular lower surface and the sloped area of the outer surface.

7. The outer ring of claim 1 , wherein the holes are positioned such that they do not extend over the horizontal lower surface.

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Chen Hung Chih
• Yuan Yin
• Hsu Samuel Chu-Chiang
• Zhang Huanbo
• Dandavate Gautam Shashank

Classifications

• B24B41/06 Primary

  Work supports, e.g. adjustable steadies (B24B37/27 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B24B41/067

  radially supporting workpieces · CPC title

• B24B37/32

  Retaining rings · CPC title

• H10P72/0428 Primary

  Apparatus for mechanical treatment or grinding or cutting · CPC title