6252results about "Gear teeth" patented technology

This invention describes improved polishing pads useful in the manufacture of semiconductor devices or the like. The pads of the present invention have an advantageous hydrophilic polishing material and have an innovative surface topography and texture which generally improves predictability and polishing performance.

A polishing system includes a polishing tool having a platen, a polishing pad, and a controller. The platen is adapted to have the polishing pad attached thereto. The polishing pad includes a polishing surface and a back surface that is opposite the polishing surface. At least one sender electrode and at least one response electrode is disposed in the polishing pad. The controller is coupled to the polishing tool. A method includes polishing a conductive process layer of a wafer using a polishing pad of a polishing tool having at least one sender electrode and at least one response electrode disposed therein. A signal is provided to the at least one sender electrode. The signal provided to the at least one sender electrode is monitored with at least one of a group of the at least one response electrode, the at least one response electrode communicating with the at least one sender electrode through the conductive process layer of the wafer. Endpoint of the polishing process is determined based on the signal received by the at least one response electrode.

An abrasive cutter formed of at least one diamond particle, preferably at least one mono-diamond crystal and metallic binder material distinguished by the fact that the diamond particle (D) has a size of about 50 mum to about 500 mum and each diamond particle (D) is enclosed by a coating (H) produced in a fluidized bed with the coating having a wall thickness of about 10 mum to about 200 mum. The volume of the coating (H) constitutes at least 30% of the volume of the diamond particles (D) in the fully consolidated state following individual sintering of the coated diamond particles (D, H). The abrasive cutters can be applied directly onto an abrasive tool. Further they can be processed to form composite cutters or cutting segments. In the method of forming the abrasive cutter, the diamond particle (D) is brought into a fluidized bed reactor and enclosed in a metallic coating (H). Coated diamond particle (D, H) can be processed into larger cutters or segments in each case individually sintered and fixed directly on an abrasive tool.

A doubled-sided PCBN and / or PCD compact can be produced using high pressure high temperature processes allowing for increased effective thickness of abrasive tools, decreased delamination, and increased useful service life. A polycrystalline compact can include a substrate having a first surface and a second surface which are non-contiguous. Additionally, a first polycrystalline layer can be attached to the first surface of the substrate and a second polycrystalline layer attached to the second surface of the substrate. The first and second polycrystalline layers can be attached to the substrate via an intermediate layer containing superabrasive particles. Such double-sided PCBN and PCD compacts allow for increased effective thickness of a tool without suffering from non-homogenous results typical of standard PCD and PCBN compacts, regardless of superabrasive particle size. Each polycrystalline layer can include superabrasive particles of varying particle sizes such that the final tool is tailored for specific abrading characteristics. Such doubled-sided PCBN and PCD compacts can be incorporated into a wide variety of abrasive tools for use in cutting, milling, grinding, polishing, drilling and other similar abrasive applications.

Bonded abrasive tools, e.g., grinding wheels, can be reinforced using, for instance, one or more fibreglass web(s) having a surface of glass per unit of at least 0.2. Alternatively or in addition, the fibreglass web has a thickness of 2 mm or less. The web can be designed to provide improved adhesion between the fibreglass reinforcement and the mixture employed to form the bonded abrasive tool. In some examples, the middle reinforcement at the neutral zone of the wheel can be eliminated or minimized.

Flexible abrasive sheet materials having annular bands of precise height flat-topped raised island structures that are coated with a mono layer of abrasive particles or abrasive agglomerates, processes for manufacture of the abrasive sheet materials, processes for using the abrasive sheeting in high speed lapping / abrading processes, and apparatus for using the abrasive sheeting are described. The process for manufacturing the abrasive sheeting provides an economical method for providing an improved configuration of abrasive sheeting that can provide precisely flat workpiece surfaces that are also highly polished.

In a depressed-center abrasive wheel assembly a reinforcement layer of polygonal shape is located between a front face of the abrasive wheel and a front flange. The reinforcement layer is dimensioned to entirely cover the depressed center portion of the wheel. An example of polygonal reinforcement layer has a hexagonal shape and is made of fiberglass cloth. A polygonal shape reinforcement layer can also be employed between the front flange and the front face in an abrasive flat wheel assembly that employs a wheel without internal reinforcement.

Accessories for an angle grinder include a disposable rotary sanding disk having quite large shaped ventilating / viewing apertures, for use with a resilient backing plate also having shaped ventilating apertures. The apertures of one or both parts are shaped so that snagging of the apertures on projections from the work surface is minimized and to facilitate air flow across the work surface during use. This air flow helps in cooling the work and ejecting detritus, so minimising clogging effects. The ventilating apertures also facilitate viewing the work to be sanded through the spinning disk during the abrasion process, so that operator feedback is immediate. The holes also give the sanding disk more resilience so that a greater area comes in contact with the work and the disk wears more evenly over its abrasive surface.

The invention provides a polishing pad for chemical-mechanical polishing comprising a polymeric material comprising two or more adjacent regions, wherein the regions have the same polymer formulation and the transition between the regions does not include a structurally distinct boundary. In a first embodiment, a first region and a second adjacent region have a first and second non-zero void volume, respectively, wherein the first void volume is less than the second void volume. In a second embodiment, a first non-porous region is adjacent to a second adjacent porous region, wherein the second region has an average pore size of about 50 μm or less. In a third embodiment, at least two of an optically transmissive region, a first porous region, and an optional second porous region, are adjacent. The invention further provides methods of polishing a substrate comprising the use of the polishing pads and a method of producing the polishing pads.

A fixed abrasive polishing pad includes a base and a plurality of polishing layers on the base, wherein each polishing layer includes abrasive particles and apertures in a polishing surface of the polishing layer.

An improved pad and process for polishing metal damascene structures on a semiconductor wafer. The process includes the steps of pressing the wafer against the surface of a polymer sheet in combination with an aqueous-based liquid that optionally contains sub-micron particles and providing a means for relative motion of wafer and polishing pad under pressure so that the moving pressurized contact results in planar removal of the surface of said wafer, wherein the polishing pad has a low elastic recovery when said load is removed, so that the mechanical response of the sheet is largely anelastic. The improved pad is characterized by a high energy dissipation coupled with a high pad stiffness. The pad exhibits a stable morphology that can be reproduced easily and consistently. The pad surface resists glazing, thereby requiring less frequent and less aggressive conditioning. The benefits of such a polishing pad are low dishing of metal features, low oxide erosion, reduced pad conditioning, longer pad life, high metal removal rates, good planarization, and lower defectivity (scratches and Light Point Defects).

A cylindrical, abrasive grinding wheel having a cylindrical abrasive region with an abrasive surface at an outer circular band thereof. The abrasive region includes layers of abrasive particles. The layers of abrasive particles can be tilted with respect to an axis of rotation of the grinding wheel or they can such that grooving in the grinding wheel and a workpiece ground by the grinding wheel can be reduced. Alternatively, the abrasive region can be formed from a plurality of abrasive segments each having layers of abrasive particles. The layers of abrasive particles can be staggered in the direction of the axis of rotation from one segment to another. This can also reduce grooving in the grinding wheel and workpieces.

In the electrodeposited abrasive wheel 20 of the abrasive tool according to the present invention, plural mound parts 21, which are upheaved at the central domain of base metal 19 in almost columnar shape, are arranged mostly in the shape of lattice. An abrasive grain layer 22 is formed on a base metal 19, and plural ultra abrasive grains 14 are adhered only to each mound parts 21 by electrodeposited metal phase 25, and referred as the small abrasive-grain-layer parts 24, respectively. Ultra abrasive grains are laid out at corner R part 21a and top 21b of the mound parts 21 at the small abrasive-grain-layer parts 24. Ultra abrasive grains at each small abrasive-grain-layer parts are set as 11-500 pieces, and the rate which ultra abrasive grains occupy to the whole area of abrasive grain layer accounted by plane projection is set as 20%-80% of the range. At the time of grinding, only ultra abrasive grains contact to grinding work piece, then high abutment pressure is maintained, and sharpness and the discharge performance of ground wastes are good.

A knife-edge conditioning apparatus comprises at least one precision angled knife guide with one face of the knife blade maintained in sustained sliding or rolling contact and which guides the elongated edge of the blade into sustained contact with the hardened surface of an object and positions the plane of the adjacent edge facet at a precise predetermined angle relative to the contact plane of the hardened surface made of a material of equal or greater hardness than the metal of the knife blade without any tendency to abrade as the blade face is moved along the guide with its elongated edge in sustained contact with the hardened surface.

Flexible abrasive sheet materials having annular bands of precise height flat-topped raised island structures that are coated with a mono layer of abrasive particles or abrasive agglomerates, processes for manufacture of the abrasive sheet materials, processes for using the abrasive sheeting in high speed lapping / abrading processes, and apparatus for using the abrasive sheeting are described. The process for manufacturing the abrasive sheeting provides an economical method for providing an improved configuration of abrasive sheeting that can provide precisely flat workpiece surfaces that are also highly polished.

This invention describes improved polishing pads useful in the manufacture of semiconductor devices or the like. The pads of the present invention have an advantageous hydrophilic polishing material and have an innovative surface topography and texture which generally improves predictability and polishing performance.

This invention provides polishing pad tiles which, by virtue of their geometry and surface features, can be arranged to form mosaic pads having channels at the seams which facilitate the flow of polishing fluid during polishing of a workpiece.

An abrasive article may include an abrasive body having a grinding layer, where the grinding layer may include a bond and abrasive particles contained within the bond. The abrasive body also may include a volumetric ratio GLVb / GLVap of at least about 0.4, where GLVb is a volume percent of bond for a total volume of the grinding layer and GLVap is a volume percent of abrasive particles for a total volume of the grinding layer. The abrasive particles may include seeded sol-gel ceramic and may have an average particle size of at least about 600 microns. In addition, the abrasive particles may include a coupling agent that may include an organic material with a silane functional group. Prior to formation of the abrasive article, the abrasive particles may be coated by the coupling agent at a ratio ACOA / AAB of at least about 0.1, where CCOA is the amount of coupling agent in grams in a pre-formation mixture and AAB is the amount of abrasive particles in pounds (lbs) in the pre-formation mixture.

A grinding disk (13) for manually held, motor-driven grinders (1) has a centrally arranged fastening recess (15) open at the grinding disk upper side with an internal thread arrangement (16), with which the grinding disk (13) can be screwed onto a connecting part (8), which is arranged on the side of the grinder and is driven for the grinding motion during operation, and which connecting part has a thread section (11) with an external thread arrangement (12), which is associated with the internal thread arrangement (16) of the grinding disk (13). The internal thread arrangement (16) is formed by a multiple thread with at least two thread courses, which are arranged angularly offset to one another. The diameter ratio between the diameter of the internal thread arrangement (16) and the outside diameter of the grinding disk (13) is at least approximately 0.25.

An apparatus for polishing a semiconductor wafer includes a polishing pad to be in contact with the semiconductor wafer; a turn table which rotates the polishing pad; and an elastic member which is arranged between the turn table and the polishing pad. The polishing pad includes a polishing layer which is made of a material having a good characteristic of slurry holding; and a support layer which is made of a rigid material having an optimum thickness to prevent the polishing layer from loosening. The polishing pad is attached to the turn table by a stretch-holding technique without adhesive bonding.

Segmented cutting tools such core drill bits and diamond saw blades can be made more efficient by hardening a portion of the sides of each of the segments.

A chemical-mechanical polishing system which is particularly well suited for use in the manufacture of semiconductor devices or the like. The invention is directed to a polishing pad composition comprising a high modulus phase component and a low modulus phase component. The multi-phase polishing pads are very efficient and effective in providing high performance polishing along an entire polishing surface interface.

A CMP polish pad used to chemically and mechanically polish a work to be polished. The CMP polish pad has polishing portions of two or more types, that have different conditions of contact with the work, provided on the pad surface. For example, polishing portions of a plurality of types having different coefficients of elasticity with respect to compression in the direction of pressing against the work may be provided on the pad surface. Also polishing portions of a plurality of types having different areas of contact with the work may be provided on the pad surface. Further, polishing portions of a plurality of types having different heights above the pad surface may be provided on the pad surface.

A rotary tool (T) has a rotary segment (10) with an opposed surface opposed to a work surface and a plurality of cutting parts (20) arranged on the opposed surface. Some cutting parts (20) include tips (22a) made of a grinding tool segment obtained by binding abrasive grains by a metal binder and the other cutting parts (20) include tips (24a) made of a sintered material harder than the grinding tool segment, and the respective cutting parts (20) are arranged such that the tips (24a) are located at positions more outward than the tips (22a) with respect to radial directions of the rotary segment.

A hob type cutter blade for use in a hobbing process. The cutter blade is formed with at least one cooling passage that permits the flow of coolant through the cutter blade to the contact surface reducing the heat generation as well as dissipating any heat already produced during the hobbing operation. During manufacturing, the cooling passage is sintered into the carbide cutter blade without the addition of separate operation.

A CMP conditioner is provided in which diamond grit that is adhered to a conditioning surface so as to face and be in contact with a polishing pad of a CMP apparatus is adhered such that 111 surfaces of crystal surfaces of the diamond grit are substantially parallel with the conditioning surface and face in a direction faced by the conditioning surface.

A grinding wheel has a disc having a connection hole formed at a center thereof, to which a rotation axis of a grinder is connected, and a plurality of abrasive segments detachably connected to a surface of the disc. A plurality of fixing recesses are radially formed on the surface of the disc at an interval and fixing protrusions having a shape corresponding to the fixing recess are formed on bottom surfaces of the abrasive segments, so that the abrasive segments are connected to the disc by inserting the fixing protrusions into the fixing recesses. According to the grinding wheel, when the abrasive segment is worn away or inferior as it is used for a long time, it has only to replace the corresponding abrasive segment only. Accordingly, an economical efficiency is high.