Granted Patent B2

US 12,615,988 · App. 18/204,238 · Granted Apr 28, 2026

Inventors: Aravind Vasanthakumar (Singapore, SG); Thines Kumar Perumal (Singapore, SG); Subhash Guddati (Singapore, SG); Montray Leavy (Singapore, SG)

Assignee: ENTEGRIS, INC.

H01L21/67046H01L21/02065H01L21/02074

Abstract

Claims (25)

1 . A cleaning brush, comprising: a core comprising:

a circumferential portion surrounding a rotation axis of the cleaning brush and defining an inlet opening for receiving a fluid and a closed end portion connected to an end of the circumferential portion that is opposite to the inlet opening along the rotation axis, wherein at least one elongated conduit is defined within the core and fluidly communicated with the inlet opening, and the circumferential portion includes a plurality of outlet channels passing therethrough to fluidly communicate with the elongated conduit, the outlet channels being tilted outwardly toward the closed end portion; and

a brush member connected to an outer surface of the circumferential portion and covering all of the plurality of outlet channels,

wherein each of the outlet channels includes an upstream section connected to the inner surface of the circumferential portion and at least one downstream section connected the upstream section to the outer surface of the circumferential portion, wherein the upstream section is tilted relative to the inner surface of the circumferential portion and the downstream section is perpendicular to the outer surface of the circumferential portion, and

wherein a width (D) of the elongated conduit, a width (W 11 ) of the upstream section of one of the outlet channels, and a width (W 13 ) of the downstream section satisfy the following equations (1) and (2):

D 3 =Σ( from k= 0 to n ) k ( W 11) 3   (1)

( W 11) 3 =Σ( from i= 0 to n ) i ( W 13) 3   (2)

where k is the total number of the upstream sections, and i is the total number of the downstream sections.

2 . The cleaning brush of claim 1 , wherein the outlet channels are tilted toward the closed end portion by a tilt angle ranged from about 20 degrees to about 90 degrees.

3 . The cleaning brush of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of outlet channels include a first outlet channel and a second outlet channel located closer to the closed end portion than the first outlet channel, wherein the tilt angle of the second outlet channel is greater than the tilt angle of the first outlet channel.

4 . The cleaning brush of claim 1 , wherein each of the outlet channels includes two downstream sections diverging from the upstream section and extending to the outer surface of the circumferential portion, and a width of the two downstream sections is less than a width of the upstream section.

5 . The cleaning brush of claim 1 , wherein each of the outlet channels includes: an upstream section connected to the inner surface of the circumferential portion; and at least one downstream section connected the upstream section to the outer surface of the circumferential portion, wherein a cross-sectional shape of the upstream section is different from a cross-sectional shape of the downstream section.

6 . The cleaning brush of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of outlet channels comprise a first outlet channel and a second outlet channel located farther away from the inlet opening than the first outlet channel, and a cross-sectional shape or a dimension of the first outlet channel is different from a cross-sectional shape or a dimension of the second outlet channel.

7 . The cleaning brush of claim 1 , wherein the circumferential portion includes a round corner or a chamfer at an intersection of at least one of the outlet channels and the elongated conduit.

8 . A CMP (chemical mechanical planarization) apparatus, comprising:

a CMP module configured to perform a CMP process over a semiconductor wafer;

a post-CMP cleaning module positioned at a downstream of the CMP module and comprising a core and a brush material surrounding the core and configured to perform a cleaning process over the semiconductor wafer, wherein an inlet opening, an elongated conduit and a plurality of outlet channels are arranged in the core to guide a liquid flowing into the core via the inlet opening to the brush material by passing through the elongated conduit and the outlet channels,

wherein at least one of the following parameters of a first and a second of the outlet channels spaced from the inlet opening by different distances are different such that a preferential flow distribution or a targeted flow distribution of the liquid in the core is exhibited: a width of the outlet channels; a cross-sectional shape of the outlet channels; and a tilt angle of the outlet channels relative to a length direction of the core, and

wherein a width (D) of the elongated conduit, a width (W) of one of the outlet channels satisfy the following equation, where n is the total number of the outlet channels:

D 3 =Σ( from k= 0 to n ) k ( W ) 3

where k is the total number of the outlet channels.

9 . The CMP apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the second outlet channel is located farther away from the inlet opening than the first outlet channel, and the width of the second outlet channel is less than the width of the first outlet channel.

10 . The CMP apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the second outlet channel is located farther away from the inlet opening than the first outlet channel, and the tilt angle of the second outlet channel is greater than the tilt angle of the first outlet channel.

11 . The CMP apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the first and the second outlet channels are the first two outlet channels that are closest to the inlet opening, a distance between the first and the second outlet channels is the smallest, and a distance between two of the outlet channels that are farthest away from the inlet opening is greatest.

12 . The CMP apparatus of claim 8 , wherein either one of the first or the second outlet channel has a varied cross-sectional area along its length.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (18)