Patent ID: 7899571
Filing Date: 2011-03-01
Classification: B24B

Abstract:
1. A method of conditioning a polishing pad, comprising the steps of: measuring a radially averaged thickness profile of an integrated circuit (IC) layer on a wafer to be polished using said polishing pad; estimating a radial profile of IC layer material of said IC layer to be removed in a chemical mechanical polish (CMP) operation using said polishing pad by subtracting a desired thickness profile of said IC layer from said radially averaged thickness profile; estimating a desired polishing pad thickness profile by a process further comprising the steps of: measuring a radially averaged polishing pad thickness profile of said polishing pad; computing a conditioning sweep pattern for a conditioning block by a process further comprising the steps of: performing a conditioning process comprising the step of moving said condition block on said polishing pad in said conditioning sweep pattern.