Patents by Inventor Cuc Kim Huynh
Cuc Kim Huynh has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 6352596Abstract: A method of detecting the presence of a brush used in a semiconductor wafer cleaner for post-CMP processing is described. Semiconductor wafers are loaded into the wet environment of the wafer cleaner, affixed to a rotatable fixture and rotated at high speed. The rotatable fixture is effectuated by a servo motor linked to a servo controller and a torque monitor. A first torque on the rotating wafer is calculated prior to the start of the brush cleaning cycle. During the brush cleaning cycle, as the brush within the brush cleaner contacts the rotating wafer, the torque on the wafer increases and a second torque is calculated. If, during the brush cleaning cycle, the second torque calculation is substantially equal to the first torque calculation, the brush cleaner is not contacting the wafer and cleaning has not progressed. A tool user can be notified to reaffix the brush within the cleaner.Type: GrantFiled: June 7, 2001Date of Patent: March 5, 2002Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Gary Joseph Beardsley, Timothy Scott Bullard, Cuc Kim Huynh, Theodore Gerard van Kessel, David Louis Walker
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Publication number: 20020005212Abstract: An apparatus for and method of detecting the presence of a brush used in a semiconductor wafer cleaner for post-CMP processing is described. Semiconductor wafers are loaded into the wet environment of the wafer cleaner, affixed to a rotatable fixture and rotated at high speed. The rotatable fixture is effectuated by a servo motor linked to a servo controller and a torque monitor. A first torque on the rotating wafer is calculated prior to the start of the brush cleaning cycle. During the brush cleaning cycle, as the brush within the brush cleaner contacts the rotating wafer, the torque on the wafer increases and a second torque is calculated. If, during the brush cleaning cycle, the second torque calculation is substantially equal to the first torque calculation, the brush cleaner is not contacting the wafer and cleaning has not progressed. A tool user can be notified to reaffix the brush within the cleaner.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 7, 2001Publication date: January 17, 2002Applicant: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Gary J. Beardsley, Timothy S. Bullard, Cuc Kim Huynh, Theodore G. Van Kessel, David L. Walker
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Patent number: 6299515Abstract: A polishing apparatus for polishing a substrate. The polishing apparatus has a slurry delivery system for delivering slurry to the apparatus; a porous polishing pad having an upper surface at which the substrate is polished; and a rotating platen upon which the porous pad lies. The rotating platen has a recess which has a first portion in communication with the delivery means for delivering slurry into the first portion. The recess further has a second portion extending under the polishing pad. Slurry is delivered from the first portion to the second portion and to the upper surface of the pad where it aids in the polishing of the substrate. Preferably, the first portion of the recess is situated such that the slurry delivered to the top surface returns to the first portion for removal or reuse due to the rotational force of the rotating platen.Type: GrantFiled: June 22, 2000Date of Patent: October 9, 2001Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Gary J. Beardsley, Cuc Kim Huynh, Steven J. Messier, David L. Walker
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Publication number: 20010023166Abstract: A carrier rinse unit comprising a plurality of nozzles prepositioned to eject a cleaning fluid against a surface of a wafer while the wafer is rotated within a wafer carrier. The prepositioned nozzles may be angled to spray a leading edge, a trailing edge, an outer edge of the wafer, or any desired point on the surface of the wafer.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 16, 2001Publication date: September 20, 2001Inventors: Cuc Kim Huynh, Paul A. Manfredi, Thomas J. Martin, Douglas P. Nadeau, Joseph M. Weatherwax
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Patent number: 6287178Abstract: A carrier rinse unit comprising a plurality of nozzles prepositioned to eject a cleaning fluid against a surface of a wafer while the wafer is rotated within a wafer carrier. The prepositioned nozzles may be angled to spray a leading edge, a trailing edge, an outer edge of the wafer, or any desired point on the surface of the wafer.Type: GrantFiled: July 20, 1999Date of Patent: September 11, 2001Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Cuc Kim Huynh, Paul A. Manfredi, Thomas J. Martin, Douglas P. Nadeau, Joseph M. Weatherwax, Jr.
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Patent number: 6269510Abstract: An apparatus for and method of detecting the presence of a brush used in a semiconductor wafer cleaner for post-CMP processing is described. Semiconductor wafers are loaded into the wet environment of the wafer cleaner, affixed to a rotatable fixture and rotated at high speed. The rotatable fixture is effectuated by a servo motor linked to a servo controller and a torque monitor. A first torque on the rotating wafer is calculated prior to the start of the brush cleaning cycle. During the brush cleaning cycle, as the brush within the brush cleaner contacts the rotating wafer, the torque on the wafer increases and a second torque is calculated. If, during the brush cleaning cycle, the second torque calculation is substantially equal to the first torque calculation, the brush cleaner is not contacting the wafer and cleaning has not progressed. A tool user can be notified to reaffix the brush within the cleaner.Type: GrantFiled: January 4, 1999Date of Patent: August 7, 2001Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Gary Joseph Beardsley, Timothy Scott Bullard, Cuc Kim Huynh, Theodore Gerard van Kessel, David Louis Walker
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Patent number: 6190237Abstract: A slurry containing abrasive particles and a pH buffering component comprising at least one acid or salt thereof and at least one base is especially useful for polishing surfaces, including those used in microelectronics.Type: GrantFiled: November 6, 1997Date of Patent: February 20, 2001Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Cuc Kim Huynh, Mahadevaiyer Krishnan, Michael Joseph MacDonald, Mark Peter Murray
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Patent number: 6179693Abstract: A non-motorized polishing pad conditioner and cleaner having a free-wheeling conditioner head with a plurality of channels to direct the flow of a cleansing fluid; a hollow shaft connected to a fluid source; and a conditioning pad to facilitate loosening the debris found on a polishing pad wherein the pad conditioner and cleaner is self-propelled upon contact with a rotating polishing pad. A cantilever may be used to attach the conditioner and cleaner adjacent to the polishing apparatus. The cantilever may contain a motorized element for extending and retracting the conditioner and cleaner over the radius of a polishing pad such that the entire surface of the polishing pad may be conditioned and cleaned. A method of conditioning and cleaning a polishing pad while simultaneously polishing a silicon wafer is also described.Type: GrantFiled: October 6, 1998Date of Patent: January 30, 2001Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Gary Joseph Beardsley, Cuc Kim Huynh, David Louis Walker
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Patent number: 6135865Abstract: A polishing apparatus for polishing a substrate. The polishing apparatus has a slurry delivery system for delivering slurry to the apparatus; a porous polishing pad having an upper surface at which the substrate is polished; and a rotating platen upon which the porous pad lies. The rotating platen has a recess which has a first portion in communication with the delivery means for delivering slurry into the first portion. The recess further has a second portion extending under the polishing pad. Slurry is delivered from the first portion to the second portion and to the upper surface of the pad where it aids in the polishing of the substrate. Preferably, the first portion of the recess is situated such that the slurry delivered to the top surface returns to the first portion for removal or reuse due to the rotational force of the rotating platen.Type: GrantFiled: August 31, 1998Date of Patent: October 24, 2000Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Gary J. Beardsley, Cuc Kim Huynh, Steven J. Messier, David L. Walker
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Patent number: 5704987Abstract: A method for cleaning the surface of a semiconductor wafer by removing residual slurry particles adhered to the wafer surface after chemical-mechanical polishing is provided. The semiconductor wafer is subjected to a first polishing step using a basic aqueous solution of a nonionic polymeric surfactant comprising alkylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol, preferably nonylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol, at a concentration between about 30 to about 100 ppm and a quaternary ammonium hydroxide such as TMAH at a concentration between about 2.5% and about 6% by weight. A downforce of between about 0 and 2 psi (1.4.times.10.sup.5 dynes/cm.sup.2) is applied for at least 15 seconds. A second polishing step with an applied downforce of at least 4 psi is then employed while applying purified water. The method provides at least a ten fold reduction in the number of submicronic slurry particles remaining on the wafer surface and can be completed within a commercially acceptable amount of time. In addition, particles as small as 0.007 .mu.Type: GrantFiled: January 19, 1996Date of Patent: January 6, 1998Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Cuc Kim Huynh, Matthew Jeremy Rutten, Susan L. Cohen, Douglas Paul Nadeau, Robert Albin Jurjevic, James Albert Gilhooly