A retaining ring for a polishing process is disclosed. The retaining ring includes a body comprising an upper portion and a lower portion, and a sacrificial surface disposed on the lower portion, the sacrificial surface comprising a negative tapered surface having a taper height that is about 0.0003 inches to about 0.00015 inches.

The present disclosure provides a semiconductor fabrication apparatus in accordance with one embodiment. The apparatus includes a wafer stage that is operable to secure and rotate a wafer; a polish head configured to polish a backside surface of the wafer; an air bearing module configured to apply an air pressure to a front surface of the wafer; and an edge sealing unit configured to seal edges of the wafer.

Disclosed herein are an etching apparatus and method that are capable of performing an etching process in the state where a flexible film is wound around a drum-type jig, and a flexible film etched by the etching method. The etching apparatus includes a process tank containing an etchant therein, a drum-type jig rotatably provided in the process tank to be immersed into the etchant in a state where a flexible film on which a thin film is formed is wound around the drum-type jig, and a drum-type jig driver configured to rotate the drum-type jig. The etching apparatus has a compact structure to efficiently perform the etching process on the large area flexible film on which the thin film is formed.

An article that includes a substrate and an amorphous, covalently-bonded layer on the surface of the substrate. The substrate may be a crystalline ceramic and/or may have a surface with a first surface roughness (Ra) of at least 100 angstroms, and the amorphous, covalently-bonded layer has a second surface roughness (Ra) of up to 15 angstroms. The substrate may have a dimension of at least 50 mm, and the amorphous, covalently-bonded layer may have a thickness of at least five micrometers. A method of making an article is also disclosed. The method includes forming an amorphous, covalently-bonded layer on the surface of the substrate by plasma deposition and, in some embodiments, polishing the amorphous, covalently-bonded layer to a second surface roughness (Ra) of up to 15 angstroms. The amorphous, covalently-bonded layer in the article and method includes silicon, oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen atoms.

A polishing apparatus includes a chuck table, a rotation mechanism that rotates the chuck table around a predetermined rotation axis, a polishing unit that has a spindle and in which a polishing pad for polishing the wafer sucked and held by the holding surface is mounted on a lower end part of the spindle, a slurry supply unit, and a cleaning unit that cleans the holding surface. The cleaning unit has a cleaning abrasive stone for removing the slurry that adheres to the holding surface through getting contact with the holding surface and a positioning unit that positions the cleaning abrasive stone to a cleaning position at which the cleaning abrasive stone gets contact with the holding surface and an evacuation position at which the cleaning abrasive stone is separate from the holding surface. Hardness of the cleaning abrasive stone is lower than the hardness of the holding surface.

A water discharge system for a substrate processing apparatus comprising a substrate processor that processes a substrate using liquid, includes: at least two water discharge lines capable of discharging the liquid used in the substrate processor; a switching device configured to switch a water discharge line to which the liquid used in the substrate processor is to be discharged among the at least two water discharge lines; a measurement device configured to generate water discharge information by measuring the liquid used in the substrate processor; and a control mechanism configured to control the switching device in accordance with the water discharge information.

A polishing apparatus has a polishing pad, a top ring for holding a semiconductor wafer, and a vertical movement mechanism operable to move the top ring in a vertical direction. The polishing apparatus also has a distance measuring sensor operable to detect a position of the top ring when a lower surface of the top ring is brought into contact with the polishing pad, and a controller operable to calculate an optimal position of the top ring to polish the semiconductor wafer based on the position detected by the distance measuring sensor. The vertical movement mechanism includes a ball screw mechanism operable to move the top ring to the optimal position.

A polishing apparatus has a polishing pad, a top ring for holding a semiconductor wafer, and a vertical movement mechanism operable to move the top ring in a vertical direction. The polishing apparatus also has a distance measuring sensor operable to detect a position of the top ring when a lower surface of the top ring is brought into contact with the polishing pad, and a controller operable to calculate an optimal position of the top ring to polish the semiconductor wafer based on the position detected by the distance measuring sensor. The vertical movement mechanism includes a ball screw mechanism operable to move the top ring to the optimal position.

The invention simulates polishing amount taking into account pressure concentration that occurs in the vicinity of the edge of a substrate when a small-diameter buffing pad overhangs the substrate to be buffed.

One embodiment of the invention provides a method for simulating polishing amount in a case where a polishing pad of a smaller size than a substrate is used to buff the substrate. The method includes measuring distributions of pressure that is applied from the polishing pad to the substrate according to each overhang amount of the polishing pad relative to the substrate by using a pressure sensor, and correcting the pressure that is used in the polishing amount simulation in accordance with the overhang amounts and the measured pressure distributions.

The invention simulates polishing amount taking into account pressure concentration that occurs in the vicinity of the edge of a substrate when a small-diameter buffing pad overhangs the substrate to be buffed.

One embodiment of the invention provides a method for simulating polishing amount in a case where a polishing pad of a smaller size than a substrate is used to buff the substrate. The method includes measuring distributions of pressure that is applied from the polishing pad to the substrate according to each overhang amount of the polishing pad relative to the substrate by using a pressure sensor, and correcting the pressure that is used in the polishing amount simulation in accordance with the overhang amounts and the measured pressure distributions.