Apparatus and method of forming a polishing pads by use of an additive manufacturing process

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10953515-B2
Application number	US-201615352647-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 16, 2016
Priority date	Oct 17, 2014
Publication date	Mar 23, 2021
Grant date	Mar 23, 2021

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to advanced polishing pads with tunable chemical, material and structural properties, and new methods of manufacturing the same. According to one or more embodiments of the disclosure, it has been discovered that a polishing pad with improved properties may be produced by an additive manufacturing process, such as a three-dimensional (3D) printing process. Embodiments of the present disclosure thus may provide an advanced polishing pad that has discrete features and geometries, formed from at least two different materials that include functional polymers, functional oligomers, reactive diluents, addition polymer precursor compounds, catalysts, and curing agents. For example, the advanced polishing pad may be formed from a plurality of polymeric layers, by the automated sequential deposition of at least one polymer precursor composition followed by at least one curing step, wherein each layer may represent at least one polymer composition, and/or regions of different compositions. Embodiments of the disclosure further provide a polishing pad with polymeric layers that may be interpenetrating polymer networks.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of forming a polishing article by sequentially forming a plurality of polymer layers, comprising:
forming a first layer on a surface, wherein forming the first layer comprises:
dispensing a plurality of first droplets on the surface in a first pattern which is aligned in a first direction, wherein the first droplets each have a first volume and comprise a first resin precursor composition; and
curing the dispensed first droplets, wherein the cured first droplets each have a first size when measured in the first direction, wherein a spacing, in the first direction, of the first pattern of cured first droplets is equal to or greater than the first size of the cured first droplets, wherein curing the dispensed first droplets comprises exposing the first droplets to electromagnetic radiation for a first period of time to only partially cure the first droplets, and wherein the partially cured first droplets each have a contact angle relative to the surface on which the first layer is formed that is greater than or equal to 50 degrees; and

forming a second layer on a surface of the first layer, wherein forming the second layer comprises:
dispensing a first droplet, which comprises the first resin precursor composition, on each of the first droplets in the first layer; and
curing the dispensed first droplets in the second layer.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first size of the cured first droplets is smaller than an uncured equilibrium size of a first droplet that is disposed on the surface, wherein the uncured equilibrium size of the first droplet is measured in the first direction.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
dispensing a plurality of second droplets on the surface in a second pattern which is aligned in the first direction, wherein the second droplets each have a second volume and comprise a second resin precursor composition; and
curing the dispensed second droplets, wherein the cured second droplets each have a second size when measured the first direction,
wherein a spacing of the second pattern of cured second droplets is equal to or greater than the second size of the cured second droplets.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein a first ratio of the first droplets to second droplets in the first layer varies in a second direction that is at an angle to the first direction.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein
the first resin precursor composition comprises a first amount of an aliphatic multifunctional urethane acrylate, a first amount of a second resin precursor component, and a first amount of a first curing agent; and
the second resin precursor composition comprises a second amount of the aliphatic multifunctional urethane acrylate and a first amount of a third resin precursor component.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first volume and the second volume are equal.

7. A method of forming a polishing article by sequentially forming a plurality of polymer layers, comprising:
forming a first layer on a surface, wherein forming the first layer comprises:
dispensing a plurality of first droplets on a surface in a first pattern which is aligned in a first direction;
exposing the plurality of first droplets and plurality of second droplets to electromagnetic radiation for a first period of time to only partially cure the plurality of first droplets and the plurality of second droplets before forming a second layer, wherein
the first droplets comprise a first resin precursor composition,
a spacing of the first droplets in the first direction is equal to or smaller than an equilibrium size of a first droplet that is disposed on the surface, and
the partially cured first droplets and the partially cured second droplets each have a contact angle relative to the surface on which the first layer is formed that is greater than or equal to 50 degrees; and
dispensing a plurality of second droplets on the surface in a second pattern which is aligned in the first direction, wherein the second droplets comprises a second resin precursor composition; and

forming the second layer on a surface of the first layer, wherein forming the second layer comprises dispensing a first droplet, which comprises the first resin precursor composition, on each of the first droplets in the first layer.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein a first ratio of the first droplets to second droplets in the first layer varies in a second direction that is at an angle to the first direction.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein
the first droplet composition comprises a resin precursor composition that has a glass transition temperature of less than or equal to about 40° C., and
the second droplet composition comprises a resin precursor composition that has a glass transition temperature of greater than about 40° C.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein a spacing of one or more second droplets in the first direction is equal to or greater than a size of a dispensed second droplet.

11. A method of forming a polishing pad, comprising:
forming a plurality of repeating first and second layers using a layer-by-layer additive manufacturing process, wherein forming each the first layers comprises:
dispensing droplets of a first precursor composition onto a surface of a second layer, wherein at least some of the droplets of the first precursor are spaced apart from one another;
dispensing droplets of a second precursor composition in the spaces disposed between at least some of the droplets of the first precursor composition; and
at least partially curing the dispensed droplets of the first and second precursor compositions by exposing the dispensed droplets of the first and second precursor compositions to electromagnetic radiation for a first period of time, wherein the at least partially cured dispensed droplets each have a contact angle relative to the surface of the second layer that is greater than or equal to 50 degrees.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein forming each of the second layers comprises:
dispensing droplets of the first precursor composition onto a surface of a first layer, wherein at least some of the individual droplets of the first precursor are spaced apart from one another;
dispensing droplets of the second precursor composition in the spaces disposed between at least some of the droplets of the first precursor composition; and
at least partially curing the dispensed droplets of the first and second precursor compositions.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein forming a portion of one or more of the first and second layers comprises dispensing at least some droplets of the first precursor composition onto a portion of a surface of a previously formed layer that comprises at least partially cured droplets of the second precursor composition.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein droplets of one or both of the first and second precursor compositions are at least partially cured before the droplets reach an equilibrium size.

15. A method of forming a polishing article by sequentially forming a plurality of first and second polymer layer stacks, comprising:
forming a first polymer layer on a previously formed second polymer layer, wherein forming the first polymer layer comprises:
dispensing first droplets of a first precursor composition on a surface of the previously formed second polymer layer in a first pattern which is aligned in a first direction, wherein
at least some of the first droplets are spaced apart from one another;
dispensing second droplets of a second precursor composition on the surface of the second layer in a second pattern which i

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Ganapathiappan Sivapackia
• Fu Boyi
• Chockalingam Ashwin
• Redfield Daniel
• Bajaj Rajeev
• Orilall Mahendra C
• Ng Hou T
• Fung Jason G
• Yamamura Mayu

Classifications

• B33Y70/10

  Composites of different types of material, e.g. mixtures of ceramics and polymers or mixtures of metals and biomaterials · CPC title

• B33Y70/00

  Materials specially adapted for additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B33Y80/00

  Products made by additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B24D11/04

  Zonally-graded surfaces · CPC title

• B29K2995/0077

  Yield strength; Tensile strength · CPC title