Abstract: A polishing apparatus includes a polishing station to hold a polishing pad, a carrier head to hold a substrate in contact with a polishing pad at the polishing station, a camera positioned to capture an image of a lower surface of a consumable part when the consumable part moves away from the polishing pad, and a controller configured to perform an image processing algorithm on the image to determine whether the consumable part is damaged. The consumable part can be a retaining ring on a carrier head, or a conditioner disk on a conditioner head.

Abstract: A polishing pad includes a polishing layer, a backing layer, and an acoustic window extending through the backing layer and the polishing layer, wherein an upper surface of the acoustic window is coplanar with a polishing surface of the polishing layer.

Abstract: A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus includes a platen, a polishing pad supported on the platen, a carrier head to hold a surface of a substrate against a polishing surface of the polishing pad, and a motor to generate relative motion between the platen and the carrier head so as to polish an overlying layer of the substrate. The polishing pad includes a polishing layer of a solid matrix material with liquid-filled pores, and a backing layer. An in-situ acoustic monitoring system includes an acoustic sensor coupled to the backing layer to receive acoustic signals from the substrate, and a controller is configured to detect a polishing transition point based on received acoustic signals from the in-situ acoustic monitoring system.

Abstract: A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus includes a platen to support a polishing pad, a carrier head to hold a surface of a substrate against the polishing pad, a motor to generate relative motion between the platen and the carrier head so as to polish an overlying layer on the substrate, an in-situ acoustic monitoring system comprising an acoustic window having a top surface to contact the substrate, and a controller configured to detect a polishing endpoint based on received acoustic signals from the in-situ acoustic monitoring system.

Abstract: A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus includes a platen, a polishing pad supported on the platen, a carrier head to hold a surface of a substrate against the polishing pad, a motor to generate relative motion between the platen and the carrier head so as to polish an overlying layer on the substrate, an in-situ acoustic monitoring system comprising an acoustic sensor that receives acoustic signals from the surface of the substrate, and a controller configured to detect planarization of topology on the substrate based on a signal from the in-situ acoustic monitoring system.

Abstract: A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus includes a platen to support a polishing pad, a carrier head to hold a substrate against a polishing surface of the polishing pad, a motor to generate relative motion between the platen and the carrier head so as to polish an overlying layer on the substrate, an in-situ vibration monitoring system including a light source to emit a light beam and a sensor that receives a reflection of the light beam from a reflective surface of the polishing pad, and a controller configured to detect exposure of an underlying layer due to the polishing of the substrate based on measurements from the sensor of the in-situ pad vibration monitoring system.

Abstract: A polishing pad includes a polishing layer, a backing layer, and an acoustic window of solid material having an acoustic impedance less than that of the backing layer and extending through the backing layer to contact the bottom surface of the polishing layer.

Abstract: A polishing system includes a platen having a top surface to support an annular polishing pad, a carrier head to hold a substrate in contact with the annular polishing pad, a support structure extending above the platen and to which one or more polishing system components are secured, and a support post. The platen is rotatable about an axis of rotation that passes through approximately a center of the platen. The first support post has an upper end coupled to and supporting the support structure and a lower portion that is supported on the platen or that extends through an aperture in the platen.

Abstract: A polishing system includes a platen having a top surface to support an annular polishing pad, a carrier head to hold a substrate in contact with the annular polishing pad, a support structure extending above the platen and to which one or more polishing system components are secured, and a support post. The platen is rotatable about an axis of rotation that passes through approximately a center of the platen. The first support post has an upper end coupled to and supporting the support structure and a lower portion that is supported on the platen or that extends through an aperture in the platen.

Abstract: A method of generating training spectra for training of a neural network includes generating a plurality of theoretically generated initial spectra from an optical model, sending the plurality of theoretically generated initial spectra to a feedforward neural network to generate a plurality of modified theoretically generated spectra, sending an output of the feedforward neural network and empirically collected spectra to a discriminatory convolutional neural network, determining that the discriminatory convolutional neural network does not discriminate between the modified theoretically generated spectra and empirically collected spectra, and thereafter, generating a plurality of training spectra from the feedforward neural network.

Abstract: A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus includes a platen having a top surface to hold a polishing pad, a carrier head to hold a substrate against a polishing surface of the polishing pad during a polishing process, a temperature monitoring system including a non-contact thermal imaging camera positioned above the platen to have a field of view of a portion of the polishing pad on the platen, and a controller. The controller is configured to receive the thermal image from the temperature monitoring system, input the thermal image into a machine learning model trained by training examples to determine an indication for one or more of 1) a presence of a process excursion, 2) a substrate state, or 3) a diagnosis for the process excursion, and receive from the machine learning model the indication.

Abstract: A substrate polishing apparatus is disclosed that includes a polishing platform having two or more zones, each zone adapted to receive a different slurry component. A substrate polishing system is provided having a holder to hold a substrate, a polishing platform having a polishing pad, and a distribution system adapted to dispense, in a timed sequence, at least two different slurry components selected from a group consisting of an oxidation slurry component, a material removal slurry component, and a corrosion inhibiting slurry component. Polishing methods and systems adapted to polish substrates are provided, as are numerous other aspects.

Abstract: Generating a recipe for controlling a polishing system includes receiving a target removal profile that includes a target thickness to remove for a plurality of locations on a substrate that are angularly distributed around the substrate, and storing a first function defining a polishing rate for a zone from a plurality of pressurizable zones of a carrier head that are angularly distributed around a the carrier head. The first function defines polishing rates as a function of pressures. For each particular zone of the plurality of zones a recipe defining a pressure for the particular zone over time is calculated by calculating an expected thickness profile after polishing using the first function, and minimizing a cost function that incorporates a first term representing a difference between the expected thickness profile and a target thickness profile.

Abstract: A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus includes a platen to support a polishing pad, a carrier head to a surface of a substrate against the polishing pad, a motor to generate relative motion between the platen and the carrier head so as to polish an overlying layer on the substrate, an in-situ acoustic monitoring system, and a controller. The in-situ acoustic monitoring system includes an acoustic signal generator to emit acoustic signals and an acoustic signal sensor that receives acoustic signals reflected from the surface of the substrate. The controller is configured to detect exposure of an underlying layer due to the polishing of the substrate based on measurements from the in-situ acoustic monitoring system.

Abstract: A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus includes a platen to support a polishing pad, a carrier head to a surface of a substrate against the polishing pad, a motor to generate relative motion between the platen and the carrier head so as to polish an overlying layer on the substrate, an in-situ acoustic monitoring system, and a controller. The controller is configured to detect exposure of an underlying layer due to the polishing of the substrate based on measurements from the in-situ acoustic monitoring system. The in-situ acoustic monitoring system may detect exposure of an underlying layer based on comparison of the signal to prior measurements of acoustic signals generated by stress energy of test substrates.

Abstract: Generating a recipe for a polishing process includes receiving a target removal profile that includes a target thickness to remove for locations spaced angularly around a center of a substrate, storing a first function providing substrate orientation relative to a carrier head over time, storing a second function defining a polishing rate below a zone of the zone as a function of one or more pressures of one or more zones of the carrier head, and for each particular zone of the plurality of zones, calculate a recipe defining a pressure for the particular zone over time. Calculating the recipe includes calculating an expected thickness profile after polishing from the second function defining the polishing rate and the first function providing substrate orientation relative to the zone over time, and applying a minimizing algorithm to reduce a difference between the expected thickness profile and the target thickness profile.

Abstract: A substrate cleaning system includes a cleaner module to clean a substrate after polishing of the substrate, a drier module to dry the substrate after cleaning by the cleaner module, a substrate support movable along a first axis from a first position in the drier module to a second position outside the drier module, and an in-line metrology station including a line-scan camera positioned to scan the substrate as the substrate is held by the substrate support and the substrate support is between the first position to the second position. The first axis is substantially parallel to a face of the substrate as held in by the substrate support.

Abstract: An apparatus for chemical mechanical polishing includes a platen having a surface to support a polishing pad, a carrier head to hold a substrate against a polishing surface of the polishing pad, a pad conditioner to press an abrasive body against the polishing surface, an in-situ polishing pad monitoring system including an imager disposed above the platen to capture an image of the polishing pad, and a controller configured to receive the image from the monitoring system and generate a measure of polishing pad surface roughness based on the image. The controller can use machine-learning based image processing to generate the measure of surface roughness.

Abstract: A polishing system includes a platen having a top surface to support an annular polishing pad, a carrier head to hold a substrate in contact with the annular polishing pad, a support structure extending above the platen and to which one or more polishing system components are secured, and a support post. The platen is rotatable about an axis of rotation that passes through approximately a center of the platen. The first support post has an upper end coupled to and supporting the support structure and a lower portion that is supported on the platen or that extends through an aperture in the platen.

Abstract: During chemical mechanical polishing of a substrate, a signal value that depends on a thickness of a layer in a measurement spot on a substrate undergoing polishing is determined by a first in-situ monitoring system. An image of at least the measurement spot of the substrate is generated by a second in-situ imaging system. Machine vision processing, e.g., a convolutional neural network, is used to determine a characterizing value for the measurement spot based on the image. Then a measurement value is calculated based on both the characterizing value and the signal value.