JP2002141400A - Wafer carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent breakage of a ceramic member. SOLUTION: A wafer carrier 80 moving a wafer held to an abrasive pad and processing planarization comprises a first base 3, a shaft 5 set up to the first base 3 in flexibly rotatable manner, a second base 4 rotated by the shaft 5 and having an absorbing face for absorbing the wafer, a ceramic member 6 fixed to a face 41 opposite to the absorbing face 42 of the second base 4, a metal ring 7 superposed to a face 61 opposite to the face 62 fixed to the second base 4 of the ceramic member 6, and a plurality of fixing members 8 fixing the metal ring 7 by clipping the ceramic member 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a wafer carrier. More specifically, the present invention relates to a wafer carrier such as a polishing apparatus for performing a flattening process or the like of a semiconductor wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a semiconductor manufacturing process, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, simply referred to as a wafer) is subjected to a flattening process. In the wafer flattening processing equipment, a wafer carrier sucks and holds a wafer, and rotates a turntable on which a polishing pad is attached, thereby moving the wafer relative to the polishing pad to perform polishing. The main part of the chuck of the wafer carrier that holds the wafer by suction is made of a ceramic member, and the rotation stability is improved. The ceramic member is fixed by a plurality of screws. Each screw fastens the ceramic member via a separate pad.

[0003]

However, ceramic is a very brittle material. When each screw fastens the ceramic member through a separate pad, the tightening force is concentrated and transmitted to a specific position of the ceramic member, and the ceramic member may be damaged.

An object of the present invention is to provide a wafer carrier capable of securely fixing a ceramic member without damaging it.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wafer carrier for performing a flattening process by moving a held wafer with respect to a polishing pad. A shaft portion rotatably provided on the first base, a second base rotated by the shaft portion and having a suction surface for sucking a wafer, and a ceramic attached to a surface opposite to the suction surface of the second base. A member, a metal ring superimposed on a surface of the ceramic member opposite to a surface attached to the second base, and a plurality of fixing members for fixing the metal ring to the second base while sandwiching the ceramic member. is there.

Therefore, the ceramic member is attached to the second base while being sandwiched between the metal ring and the second base. Since the fixing member presses the ceramic member via the metal ring, the strong pressing force of the fixing member does not concentrate on a specific portion of the ceramic member. That is, the metal member presses the ceramic member over a wide area and fixes it to the second base.

Further, the wafer carrier according to claim 2 is
The fixing member is a screw. Therefore, the tightening force of the screw is not transmitted intensively to a specific portion of the ceramic member.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The configuration of the present invention will be described below in detail based on the best mode shown in the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 4 show an example of an embodiment of a wafer carrier to which the present invention is applied. Flattening equipment 81
Is provided with a turntable 1, a polishing pad 2, and a wafer carrier 80. The polishing pad 2 is fixed to the upper surface of the turntable 1. Therefore, the turntable 1 is moved to the axis a-a.
Is rotated about the wafer W, the wafer W
Will move relatively. The wafer carrier 80 rotates the wafer W. Thus, the wafer carrier 80 rotates the wafer W while polishing the polishing pad 2.
The wafer W is polished by being relatively moved with respect to the wafer W, and a flattening process is performed.

The wafer carrier 80 includes a first base 3, a second
It comprises a base 4, a shaft 5, a ceramic member 6, a metal ring 7, and a plurality of fixing members 8. The shaft 5 is rotatably supported by the first base 3. Also, the first
A motor and a power transmission device (not shown) are housed in the base 3, and rotation of the motor is transmitted to the shaft 5 by the power transmission device. An intermediate member 30 is provided outside the shaft 5. The intermediate member 30 includes a first hole 300 in which the shaft portion 5 is arranged, and a plurality of second holes 301 distributed around the first hole 300.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views of the wafer carrier according to the present invention before and after coupling with the shaft portion, respectively.
The first base 3 is a fixed base, and the shaft 5 is rotatably disposed on the first base 3. The first base 3 includes a plate-shaped body 31.
Two vent seats 32, 34 connected to the air supply device are provided. The vacuum / air supply device serves as a negative pressure source for adsorbing the wafer W, or serves as an air supply source in a gas blowing process.

The second base 4 is a rotatable base,
It is indirectly attached to the tip of the shaft 5 via the intermediate member 30. Therefore, the rotation of the shaft 5 is controlled by the second base 4
Is transmitted to On the surface 41 of the second base 4 opposite to the suction surface 42, a plurality of connecting portions 401 and positioning holes arranged on the same circumference are formed. The connecting portions 401 are respectively arranged in the second holes 301 of the intermediate member 30, and are fixed by a plurality of screws 9 to connect the second base 4 to the intermediate member 30. The ceramic member 6 is overlaid on this surface 41. A porous thin film (not shown) is attached to the suction surface 42 of the second base 4. A large number of holes formed in the porous thin film correspond to the vent hole seat 3.
The wafer W is connected to an air passage in each of the wafers 2 and 34 and can be sucked.

The ceramic member 6 is a plate having a hole formed in the center thereof through which the shaft portion 5 penetrates. A plurality of guides 63H are formed on the outer peripheral surface 63 of the ceramic member 6 at equal intervals. The guide 63H is formed at a position corresponding to the positioning hole of the second base 4 from the upper side surface 61 to the lower side surface 62.

In the metal ring 7, a plurality of through holes 70H are formed at equal intervals. The through hole 70H is formed at a position corresponding to the guide 63H of the ceramic member 6.

The metal ring 7 and the ceramic member 6 are attached to the second base 4 by a plurality of fixing members 8. In this embodiment, a screw is used as the fixing member 8. The through hole 70H of the metal ring 7 and the ceramic member 6
With the guide 63H and the positioning hole of the second base 4 aligned in a straight line, the fixing member 8 is passed through the through hole 70H and the guide 63H and screwed into the positioning hole of the second base 4. As a result, the metal ring 7 is attached to the second base 4 with the ceramic member 6 sandwiched therebetween. The fixing member 8, which is a screw, partially tightens the metal ring 7, but the metal ring 7 is harder to break than the ceramic member 6,
Moreover, the ceramic member 6 is pressed over a large area. For this reason, the tightening force of the fixing member 8 does not concentrate on a specific position of the ceramic member 6 and does not damage the ceramic member 6.

The above-described embodiment is an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but is not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0017]

As described above, in the wafer carrier according to the first aspect, the first base, the shaft rotatably provided on the first base, and the suction that is rotated by the shaft and suctions the wafer. A second base having a surface, a ceramic member attached to a surface of the second base opposite to the suction surface, a metal ring overlapped on a surface of the ceramic member opposite to the surface attached to the second base, Since a plurality of fixing members for fixing the metal ring to the second base with the member interposed therebetween are provided, it is possible to prevent a strong pressing force of the fixing member from being concentrated on a specific portion of the ceramic member. . For this reason, breakage of the ceramic member can be prevented.

Further, the fixing member may be a screw as in the wafer carrier according to the second aspect. In this case,
The strong tightening force of the screw can be prevented from being concentrated on a specific portion of the ceramic member.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a flattening processing equipment provided with a wafer carrier to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of an embodiment of a wafer carrier (before coupling with a shaft portion) to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the wafer carrier.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the wafer carrier, with a metal ring removed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 2 polishing pad 3 first base 4 second base 41 surface opposite suction surface 42 suction surface 5 shaft 6 ceramic member 61 surface opposite to surface attached to second base 7 metal ring 8 fixing member 80 wafer carrier W wafer

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 3C058 AA07 AB04 CB06 DA06 DA17 5F031 CA02 HA13 HA60 MA22

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A wafer carrier for performing a planarization process by moving a held wafer with respect to a polishing pad, comprising: a first base; a shaft rotatably provided on the first base; A second base rotated by the unit and having a suction surface for suctioning the wafer, a ceramic member mounted on a surface of the second base opposite to the suction surface, and a surface of the ceramic member mounted on the second base; And a plurality of fixing members for fixing the metal ring to the second base with the ceramic member interposed therebetween. 2. The wafer carrier according to claim 1, wherein said fixing member is a screw.