Patents by Inventor Yi-yang Zhou

Yi-yang Zhou 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: 6120350
    Abstract: A pad shaping tool for shaping a polishing pad. The tool includes a disk having a first side and a second side and at least two discontinuous pad shaping surfaces located in spaced apart positions relative to each other on the first side of the disk. The pad shaping surfaces are simultaneously engageable with a polishing surface of the polishing pad for shaping the polishing surface as the pad rotates relative to the tool to change a cross sectional profile of the polishing surface from a curved shape to a flatter shape. A process for reconditioning the polishing pad on a rotatable platform of a wafer polishing machine includes the steps of engaging the pad shaping tool with the polishing surface of the pad such that at least two discontinuous pad shaping surfaces of the tool simultaneously engage the polishing surface, and rotating the polishing pad while preventing translational movement of the tool relative to the pad so that the tool shapes the polishing surface of the pad to be more nearly flat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 1999
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2000
    Assignee: MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Yi-yang Zhou, Eugene C. Davis