Patent ID: 6699791
Filing Date: 2004-03-02
Classification: B24B,H01L

Abstract:
A method for diagnosing mechanical or chemical-mechanical planarization processing of microelectronic-device substrate assemblies, comprising:moving at least one of a substrate assembly and a polishing pad relative to one another in a planarizing plane to generate lateral drag forces on the substrate assembly and on the pad; coupling the lateral drag forces to at least one of a force detection and a force measuring assembly configured to sense the lateral forces in a plane parallel to the planarizing plane; sensing peak drag forces between a microelectronic substrate assembly and a polishing pad along a first lateral axis; processing the sensed peak drag forces to generate a force-time relationship between the peak drag forces and time; and estimating the status of a parameter of the planarizing process by analyzing changes in the force-time relationship.