Cold liquid polishing control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025114909-A1
Application number	US-202318481761-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 5, 2023
Priority date	Oct 5, 2023
Publication date	Apr 10, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus includes a platen to hold a polishing pad, a carrier to hold a substrate against a polishing surface of the polishing pad during a polishing process, a polishing liquid dispenser having a polishing liquid port positioned over the platen to deliver polishing liquid onto the polishing pad, a temperature control system including coolant liquid fluid reservoirs for containing coolant fluids, a thermal controller configured to control the temperature of the coolant fluid within the coolant fluid reservoirs, and a first dispenser having openings in fluid connection with the coolant fluid reservoirs, the openings positioned configured to spray an aerosolized coolant liquid directly onto the polishing pad, and a second dispenser having a coolant port in fluid connection with the coolant fluid reservoirs, the coolant port positioned over the platen and configured to flow a stream of coolant liquid directly onto the polishing pad.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus comprising:
a platen to hold a polishing pad; a carrier to hold a substrate against a polishing surface of the polishing pad during a polishing process; a polishing liquid dispenser having a polishing liquid port positioned over the platen to deliver polishing liquid onto the polishing pad; a temperature control system including
one or more coolant liquid fluid reservoirs for containing one or more coolant fluids,
a thermal controller configured to control the temperature of the one or more coolant fluid within the one or more coolant fluid reservoirs; and
a first dispenser having a plurality of openings in fluid connection with the one or more coolant fluid reservoirs, the plurality of openings positioned over the platen and configured to spray an aerosolized coolant liquid directly onto the polishing pad,
a second dispenser having a coolant port in fluid connection with the one or more coolant fluid reservoirs, the coolant port positioned over the platen and configured to flow a stream of coolant liquid directly onto the polishing pad.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a temperature control arm extending over the platen, and wherein the one or more openings are formed in nozzles secured to the temperature control arm.

3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the coolant port is secured to the temperature control arm.

4 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the coolant port is secured to a separate temperature control arm.

5 . The apparatus of claim 4 , comprising a polishing liquid arm extending over the platen, wherein the coolant port and the polishing liquid port are on the polishing liquid arm.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the thermal controller comprises a temperature sensor and a temperature control element and is configured to receive temperature value from the temperature sensor indicative of a temperature of the coolant fluid and, based on the received temperature value, control the temperature control element to cool the coolant fluid to below 5° C.

7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein one or more coolant fluid reservoirs include a first coolant fluid reservoir connected to the plurality of openings of the first dispenser and a second coolant fluid reservoir connected to the port of the second dispenser.

8 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the second coolant fluid reservoir is configured to hold less coolant fluid than the first coolant fluid reservoir.

9 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the first coolant fluid reservoir and the second coolant fluid reservoir hold a same composition of coolant liquid.

10 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the coolant liquid is deionized water.

11 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the temperature control system is configured to control both the first coolant fluid reservoir and the second coolant fluid reservoir to different temperature values, the temperature value of the second coolant fluid reservoir being lower than the temperature value of the first coolant fluid reservoir.

12 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein one or more coolant fluid reservoirs include a common coolant fluid reservoir connected to the plurality of openings of the first dispenser and to the port of the second dispenser.

13 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the temperature control system is configured to dispense less than 1 L of fluid through the second dispenser to reduce a temperature of the polishing pad by at least 10° C.

14 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a controller configured to cause the first dispenser to spray the aerosolized coolant liquid onto the polishing pad during a polishing step in which the substrate is polished on the polishing pad, and to cause the second dispenser to flow the stream of coolant fluid onto the polishing pad at a transition from a first polishing step to a second polishing step.

15 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the controller is configured to receive a temperature measurement from a sensor during the polishing step and to control the first dispenser to spray the aerosolized coolant liquid so as to bring the measured temperature to a desired temperature.

16 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the controller is configured to receive a signal indicating that less than a threshold amount of material remains to be polished, and to control the second dispenser to flow the stream of coolant fluid onto the polishing pad in response to the signal.

17 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a pad rinse system including a nozzle to direct a rinsing medium onto the polishing pad.

18 . A chemical mechanical polishing system comprising:
two polishing stations, each station comprising
a platen to hold a polishing pad,
a carrier to hold a substrate against a polishing surface of the polishing pad during a polishing process,
a polishing liquid dispenser having a polishing liquid port positioned over the platen to deliver polishing liquid onto the polishing pad, and
a coolant dispenser having a coolant port positioned over the platen to deliver coolant liquid onto the polishing pad; and
a temperature control system comprising
a coolant fluid reservoir for containing coolant fluid and configured to deliver the coolant fluid to the respective coolant ports of the respective polishing stations, and
a thermal controller configured to control the temperature of the coolant fluid within the coolant fluid reservoir.

19 . A method for controlling a chemical mechanical polishing process, comprising:
polishing a substrate on a surface of a polishing pad in a polishing process comprising at least a bulk removal step and a clearing step; determining a desired temperature for the bulk removal step; during the bulk removal step, spraying the polishing pad with a cooling liquid to bring the polishing pad to the desired temperature; detecting a transition from the bulk removal step to the clearing step; and in response to detecting the transition from the bulk removal step to the clearing step dispensing, flowing the cooling liquid onto the surface to reduce a temperature of the polishing pad.

20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising controlling the temperature of the cooling liquid during the polishing process to be less than 5° C.

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Larosa Priscilla Diep
• Chou Chih Chung
• Wu Haosheng
• Sekine Taketo
• Chang Chen-Wei
• Zhong Elton
• Tang Jianshe
• Shin Songling

Classifications

• B24B55/02

  Equipment for cooling the grinding surfaces, e.g. devices for feeding coolant (cooling or lubricating during dressing operation B24B53/095; incorporated in grinding wheels B24D) · CPC title

• B24B49/14

  taking regard of the temperature during grinding · CPC title

• B24B37/015

  Temperature control · CPC title

• B24B37/20

  Lapping pads for working plane surfaces · CPC title

• B24B55/03 Primary

  designed as a complete equipment for feeding or clarifying coolant · CPC title