TEMPERATURE CONTROLLED SUBSTRATE CARRIER AND POLISHING COMPONENTS
Temperature controlled polishing pads are disclosed. In one aspect, a CMP system includes the use of any type of atomizing system to cool or remove energy and/or heat from the polishing pad of a CMP system. The atomizing system can use of any liquid medium in combination of any compressed gas through an orifice to cool or remove the energy and/or heat from the pad, thereby allowing for higher removal rates during CMP.
1 . A chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) system, comprising:
a polishing pad;
a substrate carrier head configured to retain a wafer against the polishing pad; and
an atomizer configured to atomize a liquid and spread a layer of the atomized liquid over a surface area of the polishing pad to allow the liquid to evaporate and pull heat directly from the surface of the polishing pad.
2 . The CMP system of claim 1 , wherein the atomizer is further configured to force a compressed gas in combination with the liquid through an orifice to atomize the liquid.
3 . The CMP system of claim 1 , wherein the polishing pad is formed of polyurethane.
4 . The CMP system of claim 1 , wherein the amount of liquid provided to the polishing pad is low enough to prevent substantial drops in a removal rate due to changes in chemistry of a slurry applied to the polishing pad.
5 . The CMP system of claim 1 , further comprising a retaining ring having a stepped shape.
6 . The CMP system of claim 5 , wherein the retaining ring is formed of polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) or polyetheretherketone (PEEK).
7 . The CMP system of claim 5 , wherein the retaining ring has a two-piece construction.
8 . The CMP system of claim 5 , wherein the retaining ring has a surface area of less than 15 square inches.
9 . The CMP system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a heat exchanger configured to cool the liquid before providing the liquid to the atomizer.
10 . The CMP system of claim 2 , wherein the orifice comprises a vortex-cooling nozzle configured to cool the compressed gas.
11 . A method for cooling a polishing pad during chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) of a wafer, the method comprising:
retaining the wafer against the polishing pad as the polishing pad rotates to polish the wafer; and
atomizing a liquid to spread a layer of the atomized liquid over a surface area of the polishing pad and allow the liquid to evaporate and pull heat directly from the surface of the polishing pad.
12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
forcing a compressed gas in combination with the liquid through an orifice to atomize the liquid.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the orifice comprises a vortex-cooling nozzle configured to cool the compressed gas.
14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the polishing pad is formed of polyurethane.
15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the amount of liquid provided to the polishing pad is low enough to prevent substantial drops in a removal rate due to changes in chemistry of a slurry applied to the polishing pad.
16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the retaining of the wafer is performed using a retaining ring having a stepped shape.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the retaining ring is formed of polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) or polyetheretherketone (PEEK).
18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the retaining ring has a two-piece construction.
19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the retaining ring has a surface area of less than 15 square inches.
20 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
cooling the liquid before providing the liquid to the atomizer.