Abstract: A polishing apparatus for polishing a surface of a workpiece includes a housing unit, a partition wall partitioning an interior of the housing unit into a first chamber and a second chamber, a polishing section disposed in the first chamber and having a turntable with an abrasive cloth mounted on an upper surface thereof and a top ring positioned above the turntable for supporting the workpiece to be polished and pressing the workpiece against the abrasive cloth, and a cleaning section disposed in the second chamber and cleaning the workpiece which has been polished. The polishing apparatus further includes a transferring device for transferring the workpiece which has been polished from the polishing section to the cleaning section through an opening and an exhaust system for exhausting ambient air from each of the polishing section and cleaning section separately and independently.

Abstract: A polishing apparatus for polishing a surface of a workpiece includes a housing unit, a partition wall partitioning an interior of the housing unit into a first chamber and a second chamber, a polishing section disposed in the first chamber and having a turntable with an abrasive cloth mounted on an upper surface thereof and a top ring positioned above the turntable for supporting the workpiece to be polished and pressing the workpiece against the abrasive cloth, and a cleaning section disposed in the second chamber and cleaning the workpiece which has been polished. The polishing apparatus further includes a transferring device for transferring the workpiece which has been polished from the polishing section to the cleaning section through an opening and an exhaust system for exhausting ambient air from each of the polishing section and cleaning section separately and independently.

Abstract: A polishing apparatus includes an arrangement of a plurality of units to deal with various operations and a robot having at least one arm. The plurality of units are disposed around the robot and include a loading unit for receiving thereon a, e.g. dry, workpiece to be polished, a polishing system including at least one polishing unit for polishing the workpiece, a washing system and a drying system at least including one washing unit for washing and drying the polished workpiece, and an unloading unit for receiving thereon a resultant clean and dry polished workpiece.

Abstract: A polishing method can automatically reset the polishing conditions according to the state of a polishing member based on data on the polishing profile changing with time, thereby extending the life of the polishing member and obtaining flatness of the polished surface with higher accuracy. The polishing method, including the steps of: independently applying a desired pressure by each of the pressing portions of the top ring on the polishing object; estimating a polishing profile of the polishing object based on set pressure values, and calculating a recommended polishing pressure value so that the difference between the polishing profile of the polishing object after it is polished under certain polishing conditions and a desired polishing profile becomes smaller; and polishing the polishing object with the recommended polishing pressure value.

Abstract: A damaged layer which is necessarily produced on the exposed surface of an interconnect by flattening of a surface of a substrate for forming interconnect according to a damascene process is restored, making it possible to manufacture semiconductor devices with a high yield. A semiconductor device is manufactured by preparing a substrate having an interconnect recess formed in ah interlevel dielectric, depositing an interconnect material on the surface of the substrate to embed the interconnect material in the interconnect recess, removing the interconnect material excessively formed on the surface of the substrate to flatten the surface of the substrate, thereby forming an interconnect of the interconnect material, and restoring a damaged layer formed on the exposed surface of the interconnect.

Abstract: An interconnects forming method and an interconnects forming apparatus are useful for embedding a conductive material (interconnect material), such as copper or silver, into interconnect recesses provided in a surface of a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, to thereby form embedded interconnects, and selectively covering the surfaces of embedded interconnects with a metal film (protective film) to provide a multi-level structure.

Abstract: A polishing apparatus includes an arrangement of a plurality of units to deal with various operations and a robot having at least one arm. The plurality of units are disposed around the robot and include a loading unit for receiving thereon a, e.g. dry, workpiece to be polished, a polishing system including at least one polishing unit for polishing the workpiece, a washing system and a drying system at least including one washing unit for washing and drying the polished workpiece, and an unloading unit for receiving thereon a resultant clean and dry polished workpiece.

Abstract: In a pattern inspection apparatus (1), an electron beam emission part (31) emits an electron beam onto a substrate (9) and an image acquisition part (33) detects electrons from the substrate (9) to acquire a grayscale inspection image of the substrate (9). A binary reference image generated from design data (81) is multivalued by a grayscale image generator (52) on the basis of a histogram of pixel values in the inspection image to generate a grayscale reference image. A comparator (53) compares the inspection image with the reference image. The pattern inspection apparatus (1) can thereby perform an inspection of a very small pattern on the substrate (9) on the basis of the design data (81).

Abstract: This invention pertains to a polishing apparatus for polishing a semiconductor wafer. The apparatus comprises a storage section that is capable of receiving a workpiece to be polished and a polished workpiece. The polishing unit that polishes the workpiece includes a primary polishing table and a secondary polishing table, wherein the polishing surface of the secondary polishing table is constructed to be arranged such that at least a portion of a surface of the workpiece being polished by the polishing surface of the secondary polishing table extends beyond an edge of the polishing surface of the secondary polishing table. Also provided is a film thickness measuring device, which measures the thickness of a film formed on a polished workpiece while the polished workpiece is held by a top ring above a pusher.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a polishing apparatus for polishing a workpiece, such as a semiconductor wafer, to a flat mirror finish. The polishing apparatus comprises a polishing table having a polishing surface, and a top ring, and the workpiece is interposed between the polishing table and the top ring, and pressed at a predetermined pressure to polish the workpiece. The polishing apparatus comprises at least two dressing units for dressing the polishing surface by being brought into contact with the ppolishing surface, which is a surface of a polishing cloth.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a polishing apparatus for polishing a workpiece, such as a semiconductor wafer, to a flat mirror finish. The polishing apparatus comprises a polishing table having a polishing surface, and a top ring, and the workpiece is interposed between the polishing table and the top ring and pressed at a predetermined pressure to polish the workpiece. The polishing apparatus comprises at least two dressing units for dressing the polishing surface by being brought into contact with the ppolishing surface, which is a surface of a polishing cloth.

Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus can process a substrate having a metal film formed thereon. The substrate processing apparatus has a process unit configured to remove a native oxide of a metal film formed on a surface of a substrate. The substrate processing apparatus also has a planarization unit configured to planarize the metal film of the substrate. The process unit may comprise a wet process unit configured to dissolve the native oxide of the metal film in a chemical liquid or a dry process unit configured to reduce or etch the native oxide of the metal film with a gas.

Abstract: There is provided an electroless Ni—B plating liquid for forming, a Ni—B alloy film on at least part of the interconnects of an electronic device having an embedded interconnect structure, the electroless Ni—B plating liquid comprising nickel ions, a complexing agent for nickel ions, a reducing agent for nickel ions, and ammonums (NH4+). The electroless Ni—B plating liquid can lower the boron content of the resulting plated film without increasing the plating rate and form a Ni—B alloy film having an FCC crystalline structure.

Abstract: A substrate plating apparatus forms an interconnection layer on an interconnection region composed of a fine groove and/or a fine hole defined in a substrate. The substrate plating apparatus includes a plating unit for forming a plated layer on a surface of the substrate including the interconnection region, a chemical mechanical polishing unit for chemically mechanically polishing the substrate to remove the plated layer from the surface of the substrate leaving a portion of the plated layer in the interconnection region, a cleaning unit for cleaning the substrate after the plated layer is formed or the substrate is chemically mechanically polished, a drying unit for drying the substrate after the substrate is cleaned, and a substrate transfer unit for transferring the substrate to and from each of the first plating unit, the first chemical mechanical polishing unit, the cleaning unit, and the drying unit.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a microchip apparatus using liquids. More specifically, the invention provides a liquid mixing apparatus comprising at least two microchannels for introducing liquids and a mixing microchannel that connects to the at least two liquid-introducing microchannels, wherein the liquids are transported from the respective liquid-introducing microchannels toward the mixing microchannel, the apparatus further comprising means for enhancing the mixing of the liquids that converge in the mixing microchannel. The invention also provides an electrophoretic apparatus and a microchip electrophoretic apparatus for denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis.

Abstract: This invention pertains to a polishing apparatus for polishing a semiconductor wafer. The apparatus comprises a storage section that is capable of receiving a workpiece to be polished and a polished workpiece. The polishing unit that polishes the workpiece includes a primary polishing table and a secondary polishing table, wherein the polishing surface of the secondary polishing table is constructed to be arranged such that at least a portion of a surface of the workpiece being polished by the polishing surface of the secondary polishing table extends beyond an edge of the polishing surface of the secondary polishing table. Also provided is a film thickness measuring device, which measures the thickness of a film formed on a polished workpiece while the polished workpiece is held by a top ring above a pusher.

Abstract: A polishing apparatus is used for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat mirror finish, and allows a polishing pad to be automatically replaced without stopping rotary or circulatory motion of a polishing table. The polishing apparatus comprises a polishing table for making rotary or circulatory motion, a top ring vertically movably disposed above the polishing table for removably holding a workpiece to be polished, a pair of rolls rotatable about their own axes and movable in unison with the polishing table, and a polishing pad which is wound on one of the rolls and supplied over an upper surface of the polishing table toward the other of the rolls.

Abstract: A damaged layer which is necessarily produced on the exposed surface of an interconnect by flattening of a surface of a substrate for forming interconnect according to a damascene process is restored, making it possible to manufacture semiconductor devices with a high yield. A semiconductor device is manufactured by preparing a substrate having an interconnect recess formed in an interlevel dielectric, depositing an interconnect material on the surface of the substrate to embed the interconnect material in the interconnect recess, removing the interconnect material excessively formed on the surface of the substrate to flatten the surface of the substrate, thereby forming an interconnect of the interconnect material, and restoring a damaged layer formed on the exposed surface of the interconnect.

Abstract: There is provided an electroless Ni—B plating liquid for forming, a Ni—B alloy film on at least part of the interconnects of an electronic device having an embedded interconnect structure, the electroless Ni—B plating liquid comprising nickel ions, a complexing agent for nickel ions, a reducing agent for nickel ions, and ammonums (NH4+). The electroless Ni—B plating liquid can lower the boron content of the resulting plated film without increasing the plating rate and form a Ni—B alloy film having an FCC crystalline structure.

Abstract: A workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer is supported on a top ring and polished by an abrasive cloth on a turntable while the top ring is being pressed against the turntable and the turntable and the top ring are being rotated. The top ring is coupled to a top ring drive shaft, coupled to a pressure cylinder for pressing the top ring, and to a motor for rotating the top ring. A spherical bearing is interposed between the top ring and the top ring drive shaft for allowing the top ring to align with the upper surface of the moving turntable. A torque transmitting mechanism is operatively coupled between the top ring and the top ring drive shaft for rotating the top ring in synchronization with the top ring drive shaft.