Semiconductor wafer carrier and method
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention generally relates to semiconductor processing equipment, and more specifically relates to an improved semiconductor wafer carrier for holding a semiconductor wafer during processing. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Semiconductor wafers must be polished to achieve a smooth, flat finish before performing process steps that create circuitry on the wafer. This is accomplished by securing a wafer to a wafer carrier, rotating the wafer carrier, and placing a counter-rotating polishing platen in contact with the rotating wafer. 
     The prior art wafer carrier is fixedly mounted on a shaft, requiring the wafer carrier and polishing platen to be aligned to be perfectly parallel. The prior art wafer carrier provides vacuum pressure through the shaft, and the shaft is coupled to the wafer carrier through three O-rings to maintain vacuum integrity through the connection. The prior art wafer carrier typically has 16 holes which are coupled to the vacuum source. These holes are in a fixed configuration and serve to secure the wafer to the wafer carrier by vacuum pressure. In addition, the prior art wafer carrier is difficult to install and remove, requiring a significant amount of time to change the configuration of the wafer carrier. 
     An additional problem found in prior art wafer carriers is referred to by those skilled in the art as the edge effect. In general, the undesirable result of the edge effect is that an outer ring of the polished side of the wafer has non-uniform material removal, and therefore, that portion of the wafer is not usable. Of course, this wasted portion may reduce the cost effectiveness of the final product, so it is desirable to alleviate the edge effect in order to maximize the usable area of the wafer. The edge effect is caused by the force of the platen as it meets the outer edge of the wafer and the resultant oscillations of the platen against the wafer. As a result of this force, a first outermost ring portion of the outer ring is characterized by excessive material removal, or a low area on the wafer surface. A second ring portion located adjacent to the first outermost ring portion and toward the center of the wafer is characterized by reduced material removal, or a high area on the wafer surface. A third ring portion located adjacent to the second outermost ring portion and toward the center of the wafer is characterized by excessive material removal, or a low area on the wafer surface. In short, the non-uniform material removal of the outer ring has a pattern which oscillates between excessive material removal and reduced material removal. The outer most ring portion typically experiences the greatest material removal due to the higher force experienced at the physical interface between the wafer edge and the platen. The next ring portion experiencing the reduced material removal is the result of the flexibility of the platen as it springs away from the wafer surface after being compressed by the initial contact with the outer edge surface of the wafer. Subsequently, the platen springs back toward the surface of the wafer to result in the third ring portion experiencing excessive material removal. Of course, this action happens over a short period of time, but since it occurs on a recurring basis as the polishing process continues, the edge effect causes the uneven material removal to occur over an outer ring portion adjacent to the edge and on the polished surface of the wafer. Prior art wafer carriers provided no volume into which the outer portion of the wafer could be bent due to the initial force, and the subsequent oscillations of the platen, thereby resulting in the edge effect. 
     Therefore, there existed a need for an improved semiconductor wafer carrier and method that provides a gimballing feature which causes the wafer carrier to self-adjust during polishing, which simplifies vacuum connections between the shaft and the wafer carrier, which has a large number of vacuum holes which can be custom-configured to accommodate a large number of process variations, which is easy to install and remove, and which removes the detrimental edge effect. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An improved semiconductor wafer carrier in accordance with the present invention has a gimballing feature which allows the plane of rotation of the semiconductor wafer to be dynamically changed. This allows the wafer carrier to dynamically adjust during polishing to assure the wafer is in full contact with the polishing platen. 
     A rotating shaft is provided which has a torque plate coupled thereto. The torque plate is in a hub-and-spoke configuration, with the spokes being spring fingers which are coupled to a drive plate. The spring action of the spring fingers cause a friction fit between a spherical button mounted on the drive plate and a conical receptacle mounted on the rotating shaft. The gimballing motion is achieved by sliding the spherical button within the conical receptacle. This changes the plane of rotation of the drive plate and, hence, the semiconductor wafer coupled to the semiconductor wafer carrier. In this manner the alignment between the semiconductor wafer carrier and the polishing platen need not be precisely parallel, o since the gimballing feature of the semiconductor wafer carrier can adjust for small variations from parallel. Additionally, the carrier plate which carries the wafer is provided with a cavity around the perimeter thereof in order to permit the wafer to be moved toward the cavity, thereby providing means for reducing the edge effect. 
     The foregoing and other features and advantages will be apparent from the following description of the preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, where like designations denote like elements, and: 
     FIG. 1 is a partial exploded view of the semiconductor wafer carrier in accordance with the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the semiconductor wafer carrier of FIG. 1 along the axis of rotation. 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded view showing the connection of the torque plate and conical receptacle to the rotating shaft. 
     FIG. 4 is a top view of the torque plate of FIG. 3. 
     FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the conical receptacle and the spherical button of FIG. 1, showing the gimballing motion of the connection shown as circular area 5 of FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of a second embodiment in accordance with the present invention, wherein the semiconductor wafer carrier may be unscrewed from the rotating shaft. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to the figures, an improved semiconductor wafer carrier 10 in accordance with the present invention is shown in FIG. 1, and comprises a shaft 12, a torque plate 14, a drive plate 16, a carrier plate 18, and a v-band connector 24. FIG. 2 shows the more detailed view of these components. Shaft 12 has a passage 42 through which vacuum pressure is provided. Shaft 12 has internal threads as shown to allow a retaining bolt 26 to hold torque plate 14 in place. Retaining bolt 26 also has internal threads which allow a conical receptacle 28 to be screwed into place. Torque plate 14 has a hub-and-spoke configuration, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, and is attached to drive plate 16 with screws 46 as shown in FIG. 2. Carrier plate 18 is connected to drive plate 16 using v-band connector 24 and an O-ring gasket 72. This method of connection assures a gas-tight connection between drive plate 16 and carrier plate 18, assuring that vacuum pressure is maintained between the two. Gasket 72 is placed in a notch within carrier plate 18 as shown, which typically has a square or rectangular cross section, allowing ample room for gasket 72 to compress when drive plate 16 is coupled to carrier plate 18 using v-band connector 24. 
     Carrier plate 18 has vacuum holes 20 on its face. The number of holes in this specific embodiment is typically 85 rather than the 16 of the prior art. Through these vacuum holes 20 a vacuum is provided to hold a wafer securely in place. Passage 42 within shaft 12 provides a vacuum source, and is coupled to a vacuum conduit 36 via a quick connect connector 37. Vacuum conduit 36 is then coupled to drive plate 16 via a quick connect connector 38. These quick connect connectors 37 and 38 eliminate the need for multiple o-ring connections between shaft 12 and drive plate 16, and provide a convenient way of easily connecting and disconnecting the vacuum source in shaft 12 from drive plate 16. Drive plate 16 has a vacuum passage 70 which couples the vacuum pressure from the vacuum conduit 36 to a gap 80 between drive plate 16 and carrier plate 18. The vacuum pressure in gap 80 causes vacuum pressure through vacuum holes 20 due to the gas-tight connection between drive plate 16 and carrier plate 18 provided by v-band connector 24 and gasket 72. 
     A non-metallic retaining ring 22 is coupled to carrier plate 18 using screws 48 as shown. Retaining ring 22 extends below the carrier plate 16 as shown, nominally about 0.008 inch, and thus provides a non-metallic contact area for a wafer coupled to the semiconductor wafer carrier 10. Also, the carrier plate 18 is provided with a cavity 19 having a substantially triangular cross-section. This cavity 19 runs along the perimeter of the carrier plate 18. Thus, when an outer portion of a wafer is forced up toward the carrier plate 18, such as when the edge effect is occurring, the cavity 19 provides a volume for receiving the outer portion of the moving wafer. By providing a volume into which the outer portion of the wafer can move when the outer edge of the wafer is met by the polishing platen, the detrimental results of the edge effect are avoided. 
     A spherical button 32 is screwed into drive plate 16 as shown, and has a convex spherical surface 34. Torque plate 14 provides a spring force which presses the convex spherical surface 34 of spherical button 32 against a concave conical face 30 of conical receptacle 28. The combination of torque plate 14, conical receptacle 28, and spherical button 32 provide the gimballing motion of the semiconductor wafer carrier 10 of the present invention. 
     A cover plate 40 is shown in FIG. 2, which is not included in FIG. 1 to allow a clear view of how torque plate 14 is coupled to drive plate 16. Cover plate 40 is nominally a plastic piece which is coupled to drive plate 16 with screws 50. Cover plate 40 prevents exposure of torque plate 14, conical receptacle 28, and spherical button 32 to contaminants and interference from outside sources. Note that cover plate 40 typically has a center hole through which shaft 12 passes, and a second hole through which vacuum conduit 36 passes, as shown in FIG. 2. 
     FIGS. 3 and 4 show the details of connecting torque plate 14 to shaft 12. As shown in FIG. 4, torque plate 14 has a keyed hole 52, and multiple spring fingers 54 extending radially from keyed hole 52. Each spring finger 54 has a hole 56 through which screws 46 are passed to attach torque plate 14 to drive plate 16, as shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 3, retaining bolt 26 has a keyed shoulder portion which passes through the keyed hole 52 of torque plate 14, holding torque plate 14 firmly in place once retaining bolt 26 is screwed into and secured to shaft 12. Conical receptacle 28 is then screwed into retaining bolt 26. 
     FIG. 5 shows the gimballing motion provided by conical receptacle 28 and spherical button 32. When no force is acting on the semiconductor wafer carrier 10, the nominal resting position of spherical button 32 within conical receptacle 28 results in an exact circular contact area between the concave conical portion 30 of conical receptacle 28 and the convex spherical portion 34 of spherical button 32. This nominal resting position results in the plane of the semiconductor wafer carrier being precisely normal to the axis of rotation of shaft 12. 
     When a force such as a polishing platen is applied to a semiconductor wafer held by the semiconductor wafer carrier 10, the gimballing motion allows semiconductor wafer carrier 10 to adjust its plane of rotation to exactly match the plane of rotation of the polishing platen. This is shown by the shifting of spherical button 32 by angle z as shown in FIG. 5. 
     Referring again to FIG. 2, v-band connector 24 allows a simple connection between drive plate 16 and carrier plate 18, allowing an operator to easily change carrier plate 18 as required for different applications, reducing machine setup times. The 85 vacuum holes 20 within carrier plate 16 may be left open or may be plugged with screws to provide a custom configuration of vacuum holes 20, as required by the specific application. The combination of the v-band connector 24 and the capability to custom configure the vacuum holes 20 in many different carrier plates 18 allows an operator to have a stock of several differently configured carrier plates 18 on hand, and to quickly and easily remove one carrier plate 18 from the semiconductor wafer carrier 10, and replace it with a different carrier plate 18. 
     A second embodiment in accordance with the present invention is disclosed in FIG. 6. The v-band connector 24 of FIGS. 1 and 2 provides a quick and easy way to disconnect carrier plate 18 from drive plate 16 to allow installing a new carrier plate 18 with a hole pattern in a different configuration. In the alternative, the entire semiconductor wafer carrier 10 could be disconnected from shaft 12 by providing a threaded connection on shaft 12. In this manner the semiconductor wafer carrier 10 is held stationary while shaft 12 is rotated, unscrewing semiconductor wafer carrier 10 from shaft 12. The apparatus of FIG. 6 is used to remove semiconductor wafer carrier 10 from shaft 12 in the manner described above. When the semiconductor wafer carrier 10 needs to be changed, the operator places the carrier 10 into the recess of apparatus 60 as shown. The operator then disconnects the quick connect connections on the vacuum conduit 36, inserts a stop pin 64 into a corresponding stop slot 62 within carrier 10, and spins shaft 12 to unscrew shaft 12 from the carrier 10. In this manner carrier 10 can be replaced in a very short time period, reducing setup times for installing a new configuration of carrier 10. 
     While the invention has been described in its preferred exemplary embodiment, it is to be understood that the words which have been used are words of description rather than limitation, and that changes may be made within the purview of the appended claims without departing from the true scope and spirit of the invention in its broader aspects.