Patents by Inventor Lakshmanan Karuppiah

Lakshmanan Karuppiah 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).

  • Patent number: 8172643
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein relate to a track system in a polishing system. One embodiment described herein provides a track system configured to transfer polishing heads in a polishing system. The track system comprises a supporting frame, a track coupled to the supporting frame and defining a path along which the polishing heads are configured to move, and one or more carriages configured to carry at least one polishing head along the path defined by the track, wherein the one or more carriages are coupled to the track and independently movable along the track.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2012
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Alpay Yilmaz, Allen L. D'Ambra, Jagan Rangarajan, Lakshmanan Karuppiah
  • Publication number: 20120064801
    Abstract: A method of controlling polishing includes polishing a first substrate having an overlying layer on an underlying layer or layer structure. During polishing, the substrate is monitored with an in-situ monitoring system to generate a sequence of measurements. The measurements are sorted into groups, each group associated with a different zone of a plurality of zones on the substrate. For each zone, a time at which the overlying layer is cleared is determined based on the measurements from the associated group. At least one second adjusted polishing pressure for at least zone is calculated based on a pressure applied in the at least one zone during polishing the substrate, the time for the at least one zone, and the time for another zone. A second substrate is polished using the at least one adjusted polishing pressure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 31, 2011
    Publication date: March 15, 2012
    Inventors: Kun Xu, Ingemar Carlsson, Feng Q. Liu, David Maxwell Gage, You Wang, Dominic J. Benvegnu, Boguslaw A. Swedek, Yuchun Wang, Pierre Fontarensky, Wen-Chiang Tu, Lakshmanan Karuppiah
  • Publication number: 20110294400
    Abstract: A method of determining a physical property of a substrate includes recording a first spectrum obtained from a substrate, the first spectrum being obtained during a polishing process that alters a physical property of the substrate. The method includes identifying, in a database, at least one of several previously recorded spectra that is similar to the recorded first spectrum. Each of the spectra in the database has a physical property value associated therewith. The method includes generating a signal indicating that a first value of the physical property is associated with the first spectrum, the first value being determined using the physical property value associated with the identified previously recorded spectrum in the database. A system for determining a physical property of a substrate includes a polishing machine, an endpoint determining module, and a database.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2011
    Publication date: December 1, 2011
    Inventors: Abraham Ravid, Boguslaw A. Swedek, Jeffrey Drue David, Jun Qian, Ingemar Carlsson, Dominic J. Benvegnu, Harry Q. Lee, Lakshmanan Karuppiah
  • Publication number: 20110294293
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein relate to removing material from a substrate. More particularly, the embodiments described herein relate to polishing or planarzing a substrate by a chemical mechanical polishing process. In one embodiment, a method of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) of a substrate is provided. The method comprises exposing a substrate having a conductive material layer formed thereon to a polishing solution comprising phosphoric acid, one or more chelating agents, one or more corrosion inhibitors, and one or more oxidizers, forming a passivation layer on the conductive material layer, providing relative motion between the substrate and a polishing pad and removing at least a portion of the passivation layer to expose a portion of the underlying conductive material layer, and removing a portion of the exposed conductive material layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 11, 2011
    Publication date: December 1, 2011
    Applicant: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: You Wang, Wen-Chiang Tu, Feng Q. Liu, Yuchun Wang, Lakshmanan Karuppiah, William H. Mc Clintock, Barry L. Chin
  • Publication number: 20110265816
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for cleaning a substrate using a disk brush. One embodiment provides a substrate cleaner comprising a substrate chuck disposed in the processing volume, and a brush assembly disposed in the processing volume, wherein the brush assembly comprises a disk brush movably disposed opposing the substrate chuck, and a processing surface of the disk brush contacts a surface of the substrate on the substrate chuck.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2010
    Publication date: November 3, 2011
    Applicant: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Hui Chen, Allen L. D'Ambra, Sen-Hou Ko, Yufei Chen, Adrian Blank, Mario D. Silvetti, Gerald J. Alonzo, Lakshmanan Karuppiah
  • Patent number: 8014004
    Abstract: A method of determining a physical property of a substrate includes recording a first spectrum obtained from a substrate, the first spectrum being obtained during a polishing process that alters a physical property of the substrate. The method includes identifying, in a database, at least one of several previously recorded spectra that is similar to the recorded first spectrum. Each of the spectra in the database has a physical property value associated therewith. The method includes generating a signal indicating that a first value of the physical property is associated with the first spectrum, the first value being determined using the physical property value associated with the identified previously recorded spectrum in the database. A system for determining a physical property of a substrate includes a polishing machine, an endpoint determining module, and a database.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2011
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Abraham Ravid, Boguslaw A. Swedek, Jeffrey Drue David, Jun Qian, Ingemar Carlsson, Dominic J. Benvegnu, Harry Q. Lee, Lakshmanan Karuppiah
  • Patent number: 7952708
    Abstract: A substrate processing system includes a processing module to process a substrate, a factory interface module configured to accommodate at least one cassette for holding the substrate, a spectrographic monitoring system positioned in or adjoining the factory interface module, and a substrate handler to transfer the substrate between the at least one cassette, the spectrographic monitoring system and the processing module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2011
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Abraham Ravid, Boguslaw A. Swedek, Dominic J. Benvegnu, Jeffrey Drue David, Jun Qian, Sidney P. Huey, Ingemar Carlsson, Lakshmanan Karuppiah, Harry Q. Lee
  • Publication number: 20110094537
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for conditioning a processing surface of a cylindrical roller disposed in a brush box is described. In one embodiment, a brush box is described. The brush box includes a tank having an interior volume and a pair of cylindrical rollers at least partially disposed in the interior volume, each of the cylindrical rollers being rotatable about a respective axis, an actuator assembly coupled to each of the cylindrical rollers to move the respective cylindrical roller between a first position where the cylindrical rollers are in proximity and a second position where the cylindrical rollers are spaced away from each other, and a conditioning device for each of the cylindrical rollers, each conditioning device including a conditioner disposed in the interior volume, the conditioner contacting an outer surface of each of the cylindrical rollers when the rollers are in the second position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 22, 2009
    Publication date: April 28, 2011
    Applicant: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Sen-Hou Ko, Lakshmanan Karuppiah
  • Publication number: 20110079245
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein relate to an apparatus and method for a roller assembly that may be utilized in a brush cleaning module. In one embodiment, a roller assembly is described. The roller assembly includes an annular groove having at least two substantially parallel opposing sidewalls adapted to contact the major surfaces of a substrate along a periphery of the substrate, each of the opposing sidewalls comprising a compressible material having a pre-compressed dimension that is less than a thickness of the periphery of the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 5, 2009
    Publication date: April 7, 2011
    Applicant: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Lakshmanan Karuppiah, Dan Zhang, Simon Yavelberg, Jim K. Atkinson, Hung Chih Chen, Noel Manto, Jonathan Domin
  • Patent number: 7914363
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for monitoring polishing pad conditioning mechanisms is provided. In one embodiment, a semiconductor substrate polishing system includes a rinse station, a polishing surface, a conditioning element, and a conditioning mechanism. The conditioning mechanism selectively positions the conditioning element over the polishing surface and over the rinse station. At least one sensor is provided and is configured to detect a first position and a second position of the conditioning element when disposed over the rinse station.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2011
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Alpay Yilmaz, Lakshmanan Karuppiah
  • Publication number: 20110046918
    Abstract: A method of generating a library from a reference substrate for use in processing product wafers is described. The method includes measuring substrate characteristics at a plurality of well-defined points of a reference substrate, measuring spectra at plurality of measurement points of the reference substrate, there being more measurement points than well-defined points, and associating measured spectra with measured substrate characteristics.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2010
    Publication date: February 24, 2011
    Inventors: Abraham Ravid, Boguslaw A. Swedek, Dominic J. Benvegnu, Jeffrey Drue David, Jun Qian, Sidney P. Huey, Ingemar Carlsson, Lakshmanan Karuppiah, Harry Q. Lee
  • Patent number: 7840375
    Abstract: A method of generating a library from a reference substrate for use in processing product wafers is described. The method includes measuring substrate characteristics at a plurality of well-defined points of a reference substrate, measuring spectra at plurality of measurement points of the reference substrate, there being more measurement points than well-defined points, and associating measured spectra with measured substrate characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2010
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Abraham Ravid, Boguslaw A. Swedek, Dominic J. Benvegnu, Jeffrey Drue David, Jun Qian, Sidney P. Huey, Ingemar Carlsson, Lakshmanan Karuppiah, Harry Q. Lee
  • Publication number: 20100285666
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for polishing or planarizing a pre-metal dielectric layer by a chemical mechanical polishing process are provided. The method comprises providing a semiconductor substrate having feature definitions formed thereon, forming a pre-metal dielectric layer over the substrate, wherein the as-deposited pre-metal dielectric layer has an uneven surface topography, and planarizing the uneven surface topography of the pre-metal dielectric layer using chemical mechanical polishing techniques, wherein planarizing the uneven surface topography comprises polishing the pre-metal dielectric layer with a fixed abrasive polishing pad and a first polishing composition to remove a bulk portion of the pre-metal dielectric layer and achieve a first predetermined planarity, and polishing the pre-metal dielectric layer with a non-abrasive polishing pad and high selectivity slurry to remove a residual portion of the pre-metal dielectric and achieve a second predetermined planarity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 9, 2010
    Publication date: November 11, 2010
    Applicant: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: JIE DIAO, Garlen C. Leung, Christopher Heung-Gyun Lee, Lakshmanan Karuppiah
  • Publication number: 20100261413
    Abstract: A method of determining a physical property of a substrate includes recording a first spectrum obtained from a substrate, the first spectrum being obtained during a polishing process that alters a physical property of the substrate. The method includes identifying, in a database, at least one of several previously recorded spectra that is similar to the recorded first spectrum. Each of the spectra in the database has a physical property value associated therewith. The method includes generating a signal indicating that a first value of the physical property is associated with the first spectrum, the first value being determined using the physical property value associated with the identified previously recorded spectrum in the database. A system for determining a physical property of a substrate includes a polishing machine, an endpoint determining module, and a database.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 23, 2010
    Publication date: October 14, 2010
    Applicant: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Abraham Ravid, Boguslaw A. Swedek, Jeffrey Drue David, Jun Qian, Ingemar Carlsson, Dominic J. Benvegnu, Harry Q. Lee, Lakshmanan Karuppiah
  • Publication number: 20100217430
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus for spectrographic monitoring of a substrate during chemical mechanical polishing are described. In one aspect, a computer-implemented method includes storing a library having a plurality of reference spectra, each reference spectrum of the plurality of reference spectra having a stored associated index value, measuring a sequence of spectra in-situ during polishing to obtain measured spectra, for each measured spectrum of the sequence of spectra, finding a best matching reference spectrum to generate a sequence of best matching reference spectra, determining the associated index value for each best matching spectrum from the sequence of best matching reference spectra to generate a sequence of index values, fitting a linear function to the sequence of index values, and halting the polishing either when the linear function matches or exceeds a target index or when the associated index value from the determining step matches or exceeds the target index.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 2, 2010
    Publication date: August 26, 2010
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Jeffrey Drue David, Dominic J. Benvegnu, Harry Q. Lee, Boguslaw A. Swedek, Lakshmanan Karuppiah
  • Patent number: 7774086
    Abstract: A computer program product that determines a polishing endpoint includes obtaining spectra from different zones on a substrate during different times in a polishing sequence, matches the spectra with indexes in a library and uses the indexes to determining a polishing rate for each of the different zones from the indexes. An adjusted polishing rate can be determined for one of the zones, which causes the substrate to have a desired profile when the polishing end time is reached.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2010
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Jeffrey Drue David, Dominic J. Benvegnu, Harry Q. Lee, Boguslaw A. Swedek, Lakshmanan Karuppiah
  • Patent number: 7746485
    Abstract: A method of determining a physical property of a substrate includes recording a first spectrum obtained from a substrate, the first spectrum being obtained during a polishing process that alters a physical property of the substrate. The method includes identifying, in a database, at least one of several previously recorded spectra that is similar to the recorded first spectrum. Each of the spectra in the database has a physical property value associated therewith. The method includes generating a signal indicating that a first value of the physical property is associated with the first spectrum, the first value being determined using the physical property value associated with the identified previously recorded spectrum in the database. A system for determining a physical property of a substrate includes a polishing machine, an endpoint determining module, and a database.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2010
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Abraham Ravid, Boguslaw A. Swedek, Jeffrey Drue David, Jun Qian, Ingemar Carlsson, Dominic J. Benvegnu, Harry Q. Lee, Lakshmanan Karuppiah
  • Publication number: 20100120333
    Abstract: A method of forming bare silicon substrates is described. A bare silicon substrate is measured, wherein measuring is performed by a non-contact capacitance measurement device to obtain a signal at a point on the substrate. The signal or a thickness indicated by the signal is communicated to a controller. An adjusted polishing parameter according to the signal or thickness indicated by the signal is determined. After determining an adjusted polishing parameter, the bare silicon substrate is polished on a polisher using the adjusted polishing parameter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2009
    Publication date: May 13, 2010
    Applicant: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Garrett H. Sin, Sanjeev Jain, Boguslaw A. Swedek, Lakshmanan Karuppiah
  • Publication number: 20100112903
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for polishing or planarzing a substrate by a chemical mechanical polishing process. In one embodiment a method of processing a semiconductor substrate is provided. The method comprises positioning a substrate on a polishing apparatus comprising a polishing pad assembly, delivering a polishing slurry to a surface of the polishing pad assembly, polishing the substrate with the surface of the polishing pad assembly, monitoring the removal rate of material from a plurality of regions on the surface of the substrate, determining whether the plurality of regions on the surface of the substrate are polishing uniformly, and selectively delivering a polishing slurry additive to at least one region of the plurality of regions to obtain a uniform removal rate of material from the plurality of regions on the surface of the substrate, wherein the removal rate of material from the at least one region is different than at least one other region of the plurality of regions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2008
    Publication date: May 6, 2010
    Inventors: WEN-CHIANG TU, You Wang, Yuchun Wang, Lakshmanan Karuppiah
  • Publication number: 20100029178
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for monitoring polishing pad conditioning mechanisms is provided. In one embodiment, a semiconductor substrate polishing system includes a rinse station, a polishing surface, a conditioning element, and a conditioning mechanism. The conditioning mechanism selectively positions the conditioning element over the polishing surface and over the rinse station. At least one sensor is provided and is configured to detect a first position and a second position of the conditioning element when disposed over the rinse station.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 9, 2009
    Publication date: February 4, 2010
    Inventors: Alpay Yilmaz, Lakshmanan Karuppiah