A CMP polishing apparatus for flattening a quadrate substrate is provided. A polishing apparatus for polishing a quadrate substrate is provided. The polishing apparatus includes a substrate holding portion configured to hold the quadrate substrate. The substrate holding portion includes a quadrate substrate supporting surface that supports the substrate, and an attachment mechanism that attaches a retainer member to be disposed at an outside of at least one corner portion of the substrate supporting surface.

A workpiece surface is polished by a polishing pad surface by keeping a point on an outer circumferential edge of the workpiece surface at predetermined coordinates, i.e., first coordinates, in a plane parallel to the workpiece surface but out of contact with the polishing pad surface, and keeping a point on the outer circumferential edge of the polishing pad surface at other coordinates, i.e., third coordinates, in the coordinate plane in contact with an outer circumferential edge of the workpiece surface. In this manner, the workpiece surface is polished in its entirety, and a region of the polishing pad surface in the vicinity of the outer circumferential edge thereof can be worn to the same degree as a region that is located inwardly of the above region. The polishing pad surface is thus prevented from developing a stepped profile due to the polishing of the workpiece surface.

A wafer processing apparatus includes a chuck table that holds a wafer with metal electrodes embedded therein, a processing unit that grinds or polishes the wafer held by the chuck table, a cassette mounting table for a cassette in which such wafers can be accommodated, a transfer unit that holds and transfers each wafer between the cassette and the chuck table, a checking unit configured to check whether or not at least one of the metal electrodes is exposed on the wafer, a notification unit that notifies that the at least one metal electrode is exposed, and a control unit that controls operations of the processing unit and the transfer unit. If the exposure of the at least one metal electrode on the wafer is detected by the checking unit, the control unit stops the processing of the wafer and the transfer of the wafer.

A wafer processing apparatus includes a chuck table that holds a wafer with metal electrodes embedded therein, a processing unit that grinds or polishes the wafer held by the chuck table, a cassette mounting table for a cassette in which such wafers can be accommodated, a transfer unit that holds and transfers each wafer between the cassette and the chuck table, a checking unit configured to check whether or not at least one of the metal electrodes is exposed on the wafer, a notification unit that notifies that the at least one metal electrode is exposed, and a control unit that controls operations of the processing unit and the transfer unit. If the exposure of the at least one metal electrode on the wafer is detected by the checking unit, the control unit stops the processing of the wafer and the transfer of the wafer.

Methods and apparatus for monitoring and controlling relative concentrations of polishing fluid additives and, or, the distribution of a polishing fluid and, or, polishing fluid additives across the surface of a polishing pad during chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) of a substrate are provided herein. In one embodiment, a method for polishing a substrate includes delivering a polishing fluid to one or more locations on a polishing surface of a polishing pad, wherein the polishing fluid comprises an optical marker; detecting optical information at a plurality of locations across a scan region of the polishing surface using an optical sensor facing theretowards; communicating the optical information to a system controller; determining a polishing fluid distribution across the scan region using the optical information; and changing an aspect of the delivery of the polishing fluid based on the polishing fluid distribution.

A method for CMP includes following operations. A metal stack is received. The metal layer stack includes at least a first metal layer and a second metal layer, and a top surface of the first metal layer and a top surface of the second metal layer are exposed. A protecting layer is formed over the second metal layer. A portion of the first metal layer is etched. The protecting layer protects the second metal layer during the etching of the portion of the first metal layer. A top surface of the etched first metal layer is lower than a top surface of the protecting layer. The protecting layer is removed from the second metal layer.

Examples are disclosed that relate to planarizing substrates without use of an abrasive. One example provides a method of chemically planarizing a substrate, the method comprising introducing an abrasive-free planarization solution onto a porous pad, contacting the substrate with the porous pad while moving the porous pad and substrate relative to one another such that higher portions of the substrate contact the porous pad and lower portions of the substrate do not contact the porous pad, and removing material from the higher portions of the substrate via contact with the porous pad to reduce a height of the higher portions of the substrate relative to the lower portions of the substrate. In some examples, linear motion may be used for chemically planarizing.

A laminated wafer grinding method includes applying a laser beam having such a wavelength as to be transmitted through a first wafer to the first wafer along a first annular street set on the inner side of a peripheral edge of the first wafer to form a first annular modified layer, and applying the laser beam to the first wafer along at least one second street set in an annular region extending from the first street to the peripheral edge of the first wafer to form a second modified layer that partitions the annular region into two or more parts, causing a cutting blade to cut into the annular region to a predetermined depth of the first wafer to cut the annular region, and grinding a second surface side of the first wafer to thin the first wafer to a finished thickness and removing the annular region.

Provided are improved slurry compositions useful in the CMP polishing of glass and other dielectric materials. In one aspect, the compositions of the invention are comprised of water; silica abrasive; a cationic surfactant; and ceria abrasive. The compositions effect a high removal rate while limiting the number of scratches typically observed when utilizing ceria alone.

A Chemical Mechanical Polishing, CMP, process applied to a wafer of Silicon Carbide having a thickness of, or lower than, 200 μm, comprising the steps of: arranging the wafer on a supporting head of a CMP processing apparatus, the wafer having a front side and a back side opposite to one another, the front side housing at least one electronic component and being coupled to the supporting head; deliver a polishing slurry on the wafer, wherein the polishing slurry has a pH in the range 2-3; pressing the back side of the wafer against a polishing pad of the CMP apparatus exerting, by the supporting head, a pressure on the polishing pad in the range 5-20 kPa; setting a rotation of the polishing pad in the range 30-180 rpm, and setting a rotation of polishing head in the range 30-180 rpm; setting and maintaining a CMP process temperature equal to, or below, 50° C.