US20070077874A1

US20070077874A1 - Flexible materials processing rotation tool

Info

Publication number: US20070077874A1
Application number: US11/534,315
Authority: US
Inventors: Yoshitada Ataka; Akira Osada; Ryuichi Matsuki
Original assignee: Mitsubishi Materials Corp
Current assignee: Mitsubishi Materials Corp
Priority date: 2005-10-04
Filing date: 2006-09-22
Publication date: 2007-04-05
Also published as: CN1943991A; KR20070038010A; TW200726582A

Abstract

A flexible material processing rotation tool that executes processing against a target material composed of flexible material, and which is characterized by forming or more cutting blade protrusions on the surface of the substrate so that they project upward, formation of an inclined surface on the surface of cutting blade protrusion and formation of cutting blade ridge at the section that projects most upward from among the ridge areas of inclined surface, and by arrangement so that a portion of the inclined surfaces of cutting blade protrusions facing at least in one direction of the circumferential direction of the rotation of the substrate, and arrangement of at least a portion of the remaining inclined surfaces of cutting blade protrusions in at least the other direction of the circumferential direction of the rotation of the substrate.

Description

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-290793 filed on Oct. 4, 2005. The content of the application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to rotation tools for processing/adjusting the surfaces of flexible materials such as polishing pads, such as semiconductor wafers pads, formed with a porous substance such as resin, rubber, or polyurethane rubber.

BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY

In recent years, with advancements in the semiconductor industry, there has been increasing necessity for processes that provide high-precision finishing of metal, semiconductor and ceramic surfaces, etc., and especially with semiconductor wafers surface, along with improved integration there is sought surface finishing in the nanometer order ( 1/1000 micron). To support this level of highly precise surface finishing, CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) using porous pads (polishing cloth) has been widely adopted. CMP polishing is a combination of a mechanical polishing process utilizing such as abrasive granules and a chemical polishing process through etching with an alkaline liquid, acid, etc.
With elapsing of polishing time, the pads used for polishing semiconductor wafers become filled and generate compression deformities, which surface conditions are changed as a result. That leads to generation of undesirable factors such as decrease in polishing speed and uneven polishing, so procedures are utilized to support favorable polishing conditions by keeping fixed the surface conditions of pads through periodic processing/adjustment of the pad surfaces.
As disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H7-328937 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H10-44023, examples of flexible material processing rotation tools used for processing/adjustment of these pads are offered by forming on a substrate surface multiple cutting blade protrusions protruding upward.
This type of flexible material processing rotation tool processes/adjusts the pad surface by using a fixed load to press the substrate surface against the surface of a pad that is being rotated on an axis, by which the substrate has rotational movement in conjunction with the rotational movement of the pad and there is processing/adjustment of the pad surface by the cutting blade protrusions being pressed against the pad surface.
At this point, there is a problem in that the pad is formed with a flexible material such as urethane foam and at pressing of the rotation tool the pad surface deforms and turns aside, thereby prohibiting sufficient processing by the cutting blade protrusions. In addition, when processed by forcibly pressing the cutting blade protrusions against the pad surface, the process results in crushing of the pad surface, the pores of the pad surface are collapsed, and the pad can no longer be used for polishing semiconductor wafers.
At that point, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-34266 discloses a process in which the cutting blade protrusions are formed with prescribed direction and all cutting blade protrusions are fixed in arrangement to face in one direction (tool rotation direction forward side) for the circumferential direction of the substrate of the rotation tool. With this rotation tool, the cutting blade surfaces facing the tool rotation direction forward side are inclined so they gradually retreat to the tool rotation direction rearward side while following the substrate side, and because the cutting blade protrusions have been formed to penetrate to a deep position in the pad surface contacted by the cutting blade protrusions from the tool rotation direction forward side, greater efficiency in processing the pad is enabled.
At this point, regarding pad conditioners utilizing the flexible material processing rotation tool disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-34266, the pad itself which is the target material is rotationally moved along with rotation of the tool rotation around the axis, and the contact direction between the pad and rotation tool changes according to their rotation direction and rotation speed. An example of the positional relationship between the pad which is the target material and the rotation tool is shown in FIG. 9 through FIG. 11.
As shown in FIG. 9, with former pad conditioners, at rotation of large diameter pad P in pad rotation direction R, processing is executed by pressing cutting blade protrusion 2 of rotation tool 1 while being rotated in tool rotation direction T. In the central region of pad P (cross section area X-X of FIG. 9) tool rotation direction T and pad rotation direction R are established in mutual opposition, so pad P makes contact from the tool rotation direction T forward side, as shown in FIG. 10, and greater efficiency in processing of pad P by cutting blade protrusion 2 is enabled.
On the other hand, at the peripheral side of pad P (cross section Y-Y of FIG. 9), tool rotation direction T and pad rotation direction R are in the identical direction. At this point, when the rotation speed of pad P and the rotation speed of rotation tool 1 is the identical, the relative speed of pad P to rotation tool 1 becomes zero and it is not possible to process pad P with rotation tool 1, so to prevent the relative speed from becoming zero, the rotation speed of pad P and the rotation speed of rotation tool 1 are set to generate a prescribed difference in speed.
However, it is not possible to obtain a relative speed for the inner and outer sides of pad P regardless of how much the rotation speed of rotation tool 1 is set higher than the rotation speed of pad P. and furthermore, at slowing of the rotation speed of pad P to slower than the rotation speed of rotation tool 1, pad P contacts the cutting blade protrusion 1 from the tool rotation direction T rearward side, as shown in FIG. 11, and in either case, regardless of how the shape of cutting blade protrusion 2 is formed for penetrating deeply into pad P, the process cannot efficiently process pad P at the peripheral side of pad P, which is a problem.
In this way, a problem exists in that an area is generated on the pad P surface that is not sufficiently processed due to the positional relationship between rotation tool 1 and pad P.
This invention is one that considers the described situations and has as its purpose to offer a flexible material processing rotation tool with capability for stable processing/adjustment the surface of a target material even when processing by pressing the rotation tool against a target material that is being moved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To obtain the stated purpose, this invention is a flexible material processing rotation tool for processing a target material which is composed of a flexible material and is moving, and it is characterized by formation on the surface of a substrate two or more cutting blade protrusions protruding upwards, and the upper surfaces of these cutting blade protrusions are inclined surfaces made inclined in relation to the parallel flat surface on the bottom surface of the substrate, and formation of a cutting blade ridge on at least the part of the inclined surface area protruding furthest upward, and by said inclined surfaces of a portion of the cutting blade protrusions arranged to face at least one circumferential direction for rotation of said substrate, and at least a portion of said inclined surfaces of the remaining cutting blade protrusions arranged to face at least the other circumferential direction.
With the flexible material processing rotation tool having this structure, the upper surface of the cutting blade protrusion is an inclined surface that is made inclined relative to the parallel flat surface of the bottom surface of the substrate, and a cutting blade ridge is formed at least on the area protruding furthest upward in the area of the ridge of the inclined surface, and these inclined surfaces are arranged at least in circumferential direction for the rotation of the substrate, specifically by facing the direction not a radial of the circle formed by the rotational track of the substrate, so that at contact to the target material from the side on which are established the cutting blade ridges on the cutting blade protrusion surfaces, by pressing of the cutting blade protrusions into the target material surface, an elastic waveform is created by great indentation of the target material formed of a flexible material at the area in which are established the cutting blade ridges, and elastic recovery occurs along the inclined surface at the side extended by these cutting blade ridges. Accordingly, by deeply penetrating the target material with the cutting blade ridges formed on the cutting blade protrusion, greater efficiency in processing of the target material is enabled.
Therefore, by formation of two or more cutting blade protrusions and arranging to face a portion of the inclined surfaces of these cutting blade protrusions in the circumferential direction of substrate rotation, and arranging at least a portion of the remaining cutting plate protrusion the other direction of the circumferential direction, even when the target material and tool rotation direction (opposite the circumferential direction) are from opposite sides, the cutting blade ridges of the portion of inclined surfaces established as inclined surfaces in the rotation direction forward side will penetrate deeply into the target material, which enables greater efficiency in processing of the target material.
Accordingly, even when the rotation tool is made to contact the moving target material in the opposite direction of the rotation tool direction, greater efficiency in processing of the target material is enabled, and areas of insufficient processing can be eliminated.
In addition, it is a desirable to enable further increase in efficiency of processing the target material by formation of the cutting blade ridges on the ridge area of the cutting blade protrusion which extends along the cutting blade ridge.
At this point, when angle θ formed between the inclined surface of the upper surface of the cutting blade protrusion and the flat surface parallel to the substrate is smaller than 5 degrees, even at deformation of the target material along the inclined surface, it is not possible to cause the cutting blade protrusion to penetrate deeply into the target material, which results in the possibility of not being capable of efficiently processing the target material, and when the angle θ is larger than 40 degrees, the rigidity of the cutting blade protrusion body is insufficient, which results in the possibility of chipping or deforming the cutting blade protrusion. Accordingly, with this invention it is desirable to set angle θ formed between the inclined surface of the upper surface of the cutting blade protrusion and the flat surface parallel to the substrate to within a range of 5 degrees≦θ≦40 degrees.
Furthermore, to obtain these results more reliably, it is desirable to set angle θ formed between the inclined surface of the upper surface of the cutting blade protrusion and the flat surface parallel to the substrate to within a range of 5 degrees≦θ≦30 degrees.
In addition, regarding these inclined surfaces, it is desirable that the cutting blade protrusions facing one direction of the circumferential direction and the cutting blade protrusions facing the other direction be arranged so that the direction of incline for the inclined surfaces is within a range of ±45 degrees to the center of the circumferential direction. Specifically, when looking directly opposed to the substrate surface, the angle formed by the tangent at the intersection point of the cutting blade ridge of the circle intersecting the cutting blade ridge of the cutting blade protrusion that implements the rotation center of the substrate as a center and the direction of the incline at maximum angle for the incline surface from that intersection point should be less than 45 degrees.
Furthermore, regarding these inclined surfaces, it is desirable that the cutting blade protrusions facing one direction of the circumferential direction and the cutting blade protrusions facing the other direction of the circumferential direction comprise than 20% or more of all cutting blade protrusions formed on the substrate.
In addition, by arranging the cutting blade protrusions on the upper surface of the pedestals protruding upward from the substrate, at pressing of the rotation tool against the target material, the target material will be pressed by the pedestals, and this enables the areas of the cutting blade protrusions on which the cutting blade ridges are established to penetrate with stability to a deeper position in the target material, and this enables processing by the rotation tool with even more stability and greater efficiency.
In addition, by forming the cutting blade protrusion with an abrasion resistant material, the wear resistance of the cutting blade protrusions can be improved, enabling stable processing of the target material over a long time period and lengthening the work life of the rotation tool. On this point, as a concrete example of the wear resistant abrasion material, such as silicon carbide (SiC) and silicon nitride (SiN) are suggested.
Furthermore, it is possible to further improve the wear resistance of the cutting blade protrusions by coating with a diamond film, which can lengthen the work life of the rotation tool.
Further, by setting the height of the areas of the cutting blade protrusions on which the cutting blade ridges are formed to 0.03 mm or more, the penetration depth of the cutting blade ridges to the target material can be sufficiently assured, and greater efficiency in processing of the pad is enabled. In addition, due to changes in height, efficient pad processing is not obtained when the height of the cutting blade ridges exceeds 0.15 mm, so it is desirable to set the height to 0.15 mm or less.
Furthermore, by setting the total length of the ridges of the cutting blade ridges for all ridges formed on the surface of the substrate to within a range of 7.5 mm to 80 mm, the cutting blade ridges are pressed into the pad with an appropriate amount of pressure, and greater efficiency in processing of the pad is enabled.
Furthermore, at use of the described flexible material processing rotation tool in a conditioner for conditioning a pad by performing processing/adjustment of CMP polishing pads, stable processing of the entire pad surface is enabled, and reliable processing of the pad surface with greater efficiency is enabled.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1: A plane drawing of a substrate of a flexible material processing rotation tool for an embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 2: A cross section drawing for section Z-Z of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3: A perspective drawing of the pedestal and cutting blade protrusion of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4: An explanatory drawing of the condition at processing of a pad with the flexible material processing rotation tool of FIG. 1.
FIG. 5: A plane drawing of a substrate of a flexible material processing rotation tool for another embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 6: A cross section drawing for section V-V of FIG. 5.
FIG. 7: A plane drawing of a substrate of a flexible material processing rotation tool for a further embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 8: A perspective drawing of the chip of FIG. 7.
FIG. 9: A drawing showing a pad conditioner using a former type of flexible material processing rotation tool.
FIG. 10: A cross section drawing for section X-X of FIG. 9.
FIG. 11: A cross section drawing for section Y-Y of FIG. 9.
FIG. 12: A drawing showing the pad removal rate for test results of Working Example 1.
FIG. 13: A drawing showing the pad cross sectional shape for test results of Working Example 1.
FIG. 14: A drawing showing the pad removal rate for test results of Working Example 2.
FIG. 15: A drawing showing the pad removal rate for test results of Working Example 3.
FIG. 16: A drawing showing the pad removal rate for test results of Working Example 4.
FIG. 17: A drawing showing the pad removal rate for test results of Working Example 5.
In this way, use of this invention enables offering of a flexible material processing rotation tool capable of stable processing/adjusting the surface of a target material even when the process presses the rotation tool against a moving process surface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following section describes an embodiment of this invention. The flexible material processing rotation tool of the embodiment is shown in FIG. 1 through FIG. 3.
Substrate 11 of the flexible material processing rotation tool is constructed with SiC (silicon carbide), and with the axis as the center, it is made a circular shape that is rotated in tool rotation direction T, and it possesses reciprocally parallel surface 11A and bottom surface 11B. On surface 11A of substrate 11 is a peripheral region at the radial outer perimeter excluding the interior region, and in this region is formed at least one pedestal 12 protruding upward, and with this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, multiple pedestals 12 are arranged protruding upward at approximately equal intervals in the circumferential direction and form multiple rows in a staggered pattern.
These multiple pedestals 12 each present identical quadrilateral square shapes, and the surfaces forming square surface shapes are pedestal surfaces 13, and the entire surface of each pedestal 13 is a flat surface approximately parallel with the bottom surface 11B of substrate 11. The heights of these pedestal surfaces 13 of multiple pedestals 12 (height from surface 11A of substrate 11) is reciprocally equal.
In addition, regarding each pedestal surface 13 (flat surface) of multiple pedestals 12, within the peripheral region (the peripheral region including the square-shaped intersection ridge 14 at which is enabled intersection of pedestal surface 13 of pedestal 12 with the peripheral surface (side surface)) at least in a region that excludes the region of the tool rotation direction T forward side (forward side from the direct line extended by facing the radial peripheral side from the axis of substrate 11 formed in a circular shape) and the rearward side (rearward side from the direct line extended by facing the radial peripheral side from the axis of substrate 11 formed in a circular shape), there is formed at least one cutting blade protrusion 14 protruding upward.
With this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, regarding each pedestal surface 13 of multiple pedestals 12, one cutting blade protrusion 14 is formed protruding upward not only in the tool rotation direction T forward side within the peripheral region but in the central region that excludes all of the peripheral region including the region of the (substrate 11) radial peripheral side and the peripheral side within the peripheral region.
Furthermore, these multiple cutting blade protrusions 14, in order to offer a square pillar shape each identical in shape to pedestals 12, the pedestal surfaces 13 of pedestals 12 formed in a square shape are actually made a square ring surface shape only from the peripheral region.
In this way, for each single pedestal 12, a single cutting blade protrusion 14 is formed protruding upward in the central region of pedestal surface 13, so pedestal 12 and cutting blade protrusion 14 are formed as a two-stage protrusion with connection at the same axis for the pedestal 12 formed as a large outside diameter square-shaped pillar and the cutting blade protrusion 14 formed as a small outside diameter square-shaped pillar, and the multiple cutting blade protrusions 14 exist only in number equal to the multiple pedestals 12 on surface 11A of substrate 11.
Then, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, upper surface 15 of cutting blade protrusion 14 is formed to an incline surface made inclined relative to flat surface parallel to bottom surface 11B of substrate 11, and the angle θ formed between the inclined surface of this upper surface 15 and the flat surface parallel to the bottom surface 11B of substrate 11 is set to 5 degrees≦θ≦40 degrees, and which is more desirable at 5 degrees≦θ≦30 degrees.
In addition, the four side surfaces of cutting blade protrusion 14 extend perpendicularly from pedestal 13, and of the intersecting ridges between these four side surfaces and the upper surface 15 (inclined surface), the intersecting ridge positioned in the location most separated from pedestal surface 13 is cutting blade ridge 16 of cutting blade protrusion 14. In short, inclined upper surface 15 is arranged so as to extend to cutting blade ridge 16. Furthermore, the height (height from surface 11B of substrate 11) of cutting blade ridge 16 of each cutting blade protrusion 14 is reciprocally equal.
A portion of cutting blade protrusions 14 of the multiple formed cutting blade protrusions 14 are arranged so that upper surfaces 15 formed as inclined surfaces face at least one side of the circumferential direction of substrate 11, specifically a direction not a radial, and at least a portion of cutting blade protrusions 14 of the remaining cutting blade protrusions 14 are arranged to face at least the other side of the circumferential direction of substrate 11, and in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, adjacent cutting blade protrusions 14 are arranged to face in opposite directions, and upper surfaces 15 align with the circumferential direction of substrate 11. In short, along with arranging cutting blade protrusion ridges 16 so as to extend along the radial direction of substrate 11, cutting blade protrusions 14 are arranged with upper surfaces 15 facing one side of the circumferential direction and cutting blade protrusions 14 are arranged facing the other side, and they are arranged with an alternating pattern in equal number for each row.
In addition, for the cutting blade protrusions 14 formed integrated to surface 11A of substrate 11, at least upper surfaces 15 are coated with a gas phase diamond film 17, and with this embodiment, the entire surface of surface 11A of substrate 11 including the multiple cutting blade protrusions 14 is coated with gas phase diamond film 17 at a thickness of 0.5 μm to 50 μm.
In this way, gas phase diamond film 17 is formed spanning the entire surface of surface 11A of substrate 11 including the multiple pedestals 12 and multiple cutting blade protrusions 14 by using, for example, a widely known method such as the method utilizing microwave plasma or the method utilizing heat filament on the substrate 11 having multiple pedestals 12 and multiple cutting blade protrusions 14 as described above.
The flexible materials processing rotation tool constructed in this way is assembled by adhering a base material composed of such as stainless steel or resin to bottom surface 11B of substrate 11 or by installing substrate 11 with heat insertion to a cavity formed in a base material such as stainless steel, and afterwards is utilized in actual processing.
Then, the assembled flexible material processing rotation tool, by pressing surface 11A of substrate 11 with a fixed load in parallel orientation against the surface of pad P composed of such as a porous resin, rubber, or polyurethane rubber (having independent bubbles) which is being rotated in pad rotation direction R, substrate 11 executes rotational movement around the rotation axis perpendicular to surface 11A and bottom surface 11B facing tool rotation direction T in conjunction with rotational movement of pad P, and processes pad P as the target material using the cutting blade ridges 16 formed on the multiple cutting blade protrusions 14 that have been pressed into contact with pad P.
Actually, this is a processing of the surface of pad P by the gas phase diamond film 17 coated onto cutting blade ridges 16. In this way, processing scraps generated at the time pad P is processed by cutting blade ridges 16 (gas phase diamond film 17) are expelled from such as the gaps positioned between companion cutting blade protrusions 14 and the gaps positioned between companion pedestals 12.
Furthermore, when the rotation speed of pad P becomes the same as the rotation speed of the flexible material processing rotation tool so that the relative speed between pad P and the flexible material processing rotation tool is zero, processing of pad P is not possible, so the rotation speed of pad P is set to generate a prescribed difference in relation to the rotation speed of flexible material processing rotation tool.
With the flexible material processing rotation tool of the structure described above, the upper surface 15 of cutting blade protrusion 14 is an inclined surface, from among the intersecting ridges between upper surface 15 and the side surfaces the intersecting ridge positioned at the location furthest separated from pedestal 13 is cutting blade ridge 16 of cutting blade protrusion 14, and upper surface 15 is arranged to face the circumferential direction of substrate 11, and therefore at contact of pad P from the cutting component 14 forward side (the side at which cutting blade ridge 16 is established), as shown in FIGS. 4, cutting blade protrusion 14 is pressed into the surface of pad P. and pad P is elastically deformed as a large indentation at the section being pressed by cutting blade ridge 16 of cutting blade protrusion 14 and it is elastically restored along the inclined surface formed by upper surface 15 at the section when upper surface 15 extends to cutting blade ridge 16. Accordingly, the cutting blade ridge 16 of cutting blade protrusion 14 penetrates deeply into pad P, and processing of pad P with greater efficiency is enabled. Moreover, because cutting blade ridge 16 penetrates deeply into pad P in this way, in actuality, there is providing of processing to pad P by not only the intersecting ridge but by the sections that include the inclined area ridge of upper surface 15 extending cutting blade ridge 16 and the ridge area of the surface extending from pedestal 13 in the direction of cutting blade ridge 16.
Then, because a portion of cutting blade protrusions 14 from among the multiple cutting blade protrusions 14 formed are arranged with upper surface 15 of cutting blade protrusions 14 facing one direction of the circumferential direction of substrate 11, and the remaining cutting blade protrusions 14 are arranged with upper surfaces 15 facing the other direction of the circumferential direction, even when pad P contacts from the rearward side of tool rotation direction T (one circumferential direction of the substrate) with pad P being rotated at high speed, processing of pad P is enabled by penetration into pad P by cutting blade ridge 16 of cutting blade protrusion 14 having upper surface 15 facing the tool rotation direction T forward side (one circumferential direction of the substrate). Specifically, even when pad P being rotated in pad rotation direction R contacts the rotation tool from the tool rotation direction T rearward side, a portion of cutting blade protrusions 14 and their upper surfaces 15 are inclined surfaces with cutting blade ridges 16 at the side opposing pad rotation direction R, and processing of pad P with greater efficiency is enabled by these cutting blade ridges 16, and it is possible to eliminate areas for which processing was insufficient.
Moreover, with this embodiment, cutting blade protrusions 14 having inclined upper surfaces 15 facing one direction of the circumferential direction are established alternately with cutting blade protrusions 14 facing the other direction, specifically, the number of each of these cutting blade protrusions 14 established on substrate 11 is 50%, it follows that at rotation of pad P in either direction of the circumferential direction, it is possible to reliably activate highly efficient processing. Furthermore, even when the upper surfaces 15 of all cutting blade protrusions 14 are not established in one direction of the circumferential direction, it is for example acceptable if cutting blade protrusions 14 have cutting surfaces 15 facing the radial direction of substrate 11 are included, but to obtain the effect described above it is desirable for the number of cutting blade protrusions 14 having upper surfaces 15 facing one direction or the other direction of the circumferential direction to be 20% or more of all the cutting blade protrusions 14 formed on substrate 11.
In addition, by setting angle θ formed between the inclined surface of upper surface 15 of cutting blade protrusion 14 and a flat surface parallel to bottom surface 11B of substrate 11, specifically, the surface perpendicular to the rotational axis of substrate 11, to within the range of 5 degrees≦θ≦40 degrees, and preferably within the range 5 degree≦θ≦30 degrees, it is possible to prevent chipping of cutting blade protrusion 14 by maintaining rigidity of cutting blade protrusion 14, and by enabling deep penetration of cutting blade ridge 16 into pad P by allowing pad P to elastically restore along the inclined surface of upper surface 15, reliable processing of pad P with greater efficiency is enabled.
Furthermore, with this embodiment, cutting blade ridge 16 of the cutting blade protrusion 14 with an inclined surface having upper surface 15 facing one direction or the other direction of the circumferential direction is formed to extend in the radial direction of substrate 11, and seen from the direction opposed to the surface of substrate 11, upper surface 15 is formed to incline at angle θ in the direction that intersects with this cutting blade ridge 16. Accordingly, because cutting blade ridge 16 and upper surface 15 rotate with substrate 11 and penetrate deeply into pad P with uniformity in the radial direction, with this embodiment, it is possible to process pad P evenly. However, regarding the cutting blade protrusions 14 with inclined surfaces having upper surfaces 15 facing one direction or the other direction of the circumferential direction, the direction of incline for upper surface 15 at angle θ, specifically, the direction for the inclined surface made inclined by the maximum angle in relation to a flat surface parallel to bottom surface 11B of substrate 11, need not closely match the tangent at the intersection point with cutting blade ridge 16 of the circle intersecting cutting blade ridge 16 of cutting blade protrusion 14 having the rotational center of substrate 11 as a center as seen from the direction opposing surface 11A of substrate 11, and it is acceptable providing the angle formed between the tangent direction and the direction for incline with the inclined surface at maximum angle from the intersection point is 45 degrees or less.
Further, because cutting blade protrusion 14 is formed on pedestal surface 13 of pedestal 12 protruding upward from substrate 11, at pressing of the rotation tool against the pad P surface, pad P is pressed by this pedestal 12, which enables stable penetration of cutting blade ridge 16 of cutting blade protrusion 14 to a deeper position on pad P, enabling processing by the rotation tool with more stability and greater efficiency.
In addition, because the depth of penetration to pad P by cutting blade protrusion 14 is determined by contact of pedestal surface 13 of pedestal 12 with pad P surface, processing speed can be controlled by adjusting the height of cutting blade ridge 16 from pedestal surface 13, enabling processing of pad P with greater precision.
Furthermore, because cutting blade protrusion 14 is formed with the abrasion resistant material SiC and the entire surface of cutting blade protrusion 14 has been coated with gas phase diamond film 17, the wear resistance of cutting blade protrusion 14 is improved, enabling stable processing of pad P over a long time span, thereby allowing the lengthening of the work life of the rotation tool.
Next, the following section describes another embodiment of this invention. A flexible material processing rotation tool which is the embodiment of this invention is shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. Elements identical to those of the previous are labeled with identical symbols and omitted from the description.
Substrate 11 of this flexible material processing rotation tool is formed with an approximately circular shape with SiC (silicon carbide) as with Embodiment 1, and it has surface 11A and reciprocally parallel bottom surface 11B. In the peripheral region of the radial peripheral side excluding the central region for surface 11A of substrate 11, cutting blade protrusions 14 are directly formed on surface 11A of substrate 11 protruding upward. As shown in FIG. 5, these cutting blade protrusions 14 are arranged in a lattice formation.
As shown in FIG. 6, the upper surfaces 15 of these multiple cutting blade protrusions 14 are inclined surfaces made inclined in relation to a flat surface parallel to bottom surface 11B of substrate 11, and the four side surfaces of cutting blade protrusion 14 extend perpendicularly from pedestal surface 13, and of the intersecting ridges of the four side surfaces and the upper surface 15 (inclined surface), the cutting blade ridge 16 is formed at the intersection ridge positioned at the location furthest separated from surface 11A of substrate 11. Furthermore, the height (height from surface 11A of substrate 11) of cutting blade ridge 16 of all cutting blade protrusions 14 are reciprocally equal.
Then, with this embodiment, all cutting blade protrusions 14 are arranged in a lattice formation, and the upper surfaces 15 are arranged to face in the same direction (direction D shown by FIG. 5) seen from plane view opposed to surface 11A, specifically, the cutting blade ridges 16 are arranged to extend reciprocally in parallel while facing the direction (direction C shown by FIG. 5) opposing the previous identical direction.
By forming cutting blade protrusions 14 in this way, cutting blade protrusions 14 established in region I of FIG. 5 are arranged with inclined upper surfaces 15 within a range of ±45 degrees using tool rotation direction T as the center, and cutting blade protrusions 14 established in region III are arranged with inclined upper surfaces 15 within a range ±45 degrees using the direction opposite to tool rotation direction T as the center. Therefore, cutting blade protrusions 14 in region I and cutting blade protrusions 14 in region III each account for 25% of the total cutting blade protrusions formed on substrate 11.
With the flexible material processing rotation tool of this structure, because upper surfaces 15 of cutting blade protrusions 14 established in region I are arranged within a range ±45 degrees using tool rotation direction T as the center, and because upper surfaces 15 of cutting blade protrusions 14 established in region III are arranged within a range ±45 degrees using the direction opposite to tool rotation direction T as the center, even when pad P contacts from the rearward side of tool rotation direction T with pad P rotating at high speed, it is possible to process pad P by deeply penetrating pad P with cutting blade ridges 16 of cutting blade protrusions 14 having upper surfaces 15 facing in tool rotation direction T (cutting blade protrusions 14 established in region III), and it enables elimination of areas in which processing is insufficient.
Furthermore, because the cutting blade protrusions 14 established in these regions I and III each account for 25% of the total cutting blade protrusions 14 formed on substrate 11, it is possible to reliably process pad P at the time of pad P contact from either the forward side or rearward side of tool rotation direction T.
In addition, because a flexible material processing rotation tool of this structure allows all cutting blade protrusions 14 to be arranged in a lattice formation and allows formation so that all upper surfaces 15 of cutting blade protrusions 14 face direction D as shown in FIG. 5, it is possible to manufacture this flexible material processing rotation tool with comparative ease.
Next, the following section describes a further embodiment of this invention. The flexible material processing rotation tool of this invention is shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8. Furthermore, elements identical to those of the previous are labeled with identical symbols and omitted from the description.
Substrate 11 of this flexible material processing rotation tool is an approximately circular shape and has surface 11A reciprocally parallel to a bottom surface not shown in the drawing. In the peripheral region of the radial peripheral side of surface 11A of substrate 11, multiple chips 20 are arranged at equal intervals in the circumference direction. As shown in FIG. 7, with this embodiment, there are 15 count of chips 20, and they are arranged at intervals of 24 degrees.
Chip 20 is constructed with SiC (silicon carbide), and the surface of chip 20 is a square surface, and it is arranged to be parallel to the bottom surface of substrate 11. A pedestal 12 is established protruding upward in each of the four square-shaped corners on the upper surface of chip 20, and one each cutting blade protrusion 14 is formed on one each pedestal 12. Specifically, there are four cutting blade protrusions 14 formed on a single chip 20, and there applied a total of 60 count cutting blade protrusions for the entire substrate 11.
Upper surfaces 15 of cutting blade protrusions 14 are made inclined relative to a flat surface parallel to the upper surface of chip 20, and upper surfaces 15 of cutting blade protrusions 14 formed on a single chip 20 are formed to face the same direction. Chips 20 are alternately arranged so that for every chip 20 with upper surfaces 15 of cutting blade protrusions 14 facing the tool rotation direction T forward side there is an adjacent chip 20 facing the tool rotation direction T rearward side.
With the flexible material processing rotation tool of this structure, because cutting blade protrusions 14 are formed on chips 20 and because chips 20 are fixed to surface 11A of substrate 11, it is possible to process only chips 20 for formation of cutting blade protrusions 14, and cutting blade protrusions 14 can be formed with greater precision.
Furthermore, regarding the form of this embodiment, it is described as forming substrate 11 and chip 20 with SiC (silicon carbide) for formation of pedestals 12 and cutting blade protrusions 14, but in relation to materials for constructing substrate 11 and chip 20, it is acceptable to form with the following suitable materials, for example, to allow ease of formation of a gas phase synthetic diamond film 17, ease of formation of pedestals 12 and cutting blade protrusions 14, and mechanical properties for endurance in actual use.

(1) A metal of the 4 a group, 5 a group, or 6 a group, or a carbide, nitride, or carbonic nitride with silicon, one type of a silicon, or a silicon composite.
(2) A metal of the 4 a group, 5 a group, or 6 a group, or a carbide, nitride, or carbonic nitride with silicon, or at least one type of carbonic nitride, or a super-hard alloy composed of a composite body with at least one type of iron, nickel, or cobalt.
(3) A nitride of silicon or aluminum, or one type of an oxide, or a composite of these.

In addition, with this embodiment, the shape of pedestal 12 and cutting blade protrusion 14 is a square shape, but it would be acceptable to use another shape such as a round shape or triangular shape.
Furthermore, it is desirable to consider the processing conditions and appropriately select for factors such as the number and arrangement of pedestals 12 and cutting blade protrusions 14 and for the diameter of substrate 11.
Moreover, by forming the cutting blade ridge in the ridge area of the inclined ridge of upper surface 15 and the surface extending to cutting blade ridge 16 from pedestal surface 13, the process is effective because these ridges enable processing of pad P.

WORKING EXAMPLE 1

Hereafter, the results of the tested effectiveness of the invention are shown by executing a comparison test using an example of the invention.
As a test tool, a tool was provided by establishing of 60 count pedestals in a radiating pattern at equal circumferential intervals in the surface periphery area of a substrate of 100 mm diameter formed with silicon carbide (SiC), and forming one cutting blade protrusion on the pedestal surface of each pedestal. At this point, the pedestals were formed with square pillar shape of 1.0 mm on each side and 0.3 mm in height, and the cutting blade protrusions were formed in approximately square shape with 0.15 mm on each side and a maximum height (cutting blade ridge) of 0.05 mm. The total length L of cutting blade ridges formed on the substrate was 9 mm. In addition, on the surface of the pedestals and cutting blade protrusions was formed a coating of gas phase diamond film of thickness approximately 20 μm.
With Comparison Example 1, the upper surface of the cutting blade protrusion was parallel in relation to the bottom surface of the substrate for the test.
With Comparison Example 2, the upper surface of the cutting blade protrusion was inclined at angle θ=10 degrees in relation to the bottom surface of the substrate, and the inclined surface was arranged in the radial direction of the substrate, specifically, the cutting blade protrusions were arranged facing the direction that was not the circumferential direction of the substrate for the test.
With Comparison Example 3, the upper surface of the cutting blade protrusion was inclined at angle θ=10 degrees in relation to the bottom surface of the substrate, and the inclined surfaces of all the cutting blade protrusions were arranged in one direction (tool rotation direction rearward side) of the circumferential direction of the substrate for the test.
With Invention Example 1, the upper surface of the cutting blade protrusion was inclined at angle θ=5 degrees in relation to the bottom surface of the substrate, and the inclined surfaces were alternately arranged with cutting blade protrusions formed to face one direction (tool rotation direction rearward side) for the circumferential direction of the substrate and adjacent cutting blade protrusions formed to face the other direction (tool rotation direction forward side) for the circumferential direction of the substrate for the test.
With Invention Example 2, the upper surface of the cutting blade protrusion was inclined at angle θ=10 degrees in relation to the bottom surface of the substrate, and the inclined surfaces were alternately arranged with cutting blade protrusions formed to face one direction (tool rotation direction rearward side) for the circumferential direction of the substrate and adjacent cutting blade protrusions formed to face the other direction (tool rotation direction forward side) for the circumferential direction of the substrate for the test.
A polishing device (MA-300, Musasino Co.) was used as the test equipment, the target target material was a foam urethane pad (IC1400, Rodel Co.), and the polishing slurry was SiO₂slurry (SS-25, Cabot Co.).
Test conditions conducted pad polishing with platen rotation speed (urethane pad rotation speed) at 45 rpm, rotation tool rotation speed at 43 rpm, load at 39.2N, and slurry flow at 25 ml/min.
Evaluation items were the pad removal rate, by first measuring the height of the foam urethane pad, applying the foam urethane pad to the polishing test, measuring the height of the foam urethane pad after polishing, and calculating the amount removed during processing time by the change in height of the foam urethane pad before and after processing.
In addition, by measuring the height of the foam urethane pad after processing at multiple points across the radial direction, the pad cross sectional shape was confirmed.
FIG. 12 shows the relationship of the pad removal rate and processing time. With Comparison Example 1 and Comparison Example 2, the removal rate from test start was 10 μm/hour or less, and this confirmed that substantially no processing was performed. This result cannot not sufficiently assure contact between the cutting blade ridges and pad surface due to pad deformation generated at time of pressure application of the cutting blade protrusions with a rotation tool having cutting blade protrusions with upper surfaces parallel to the substrate surface, and the result is due to not concentrating the load on the cutting blade ridges because of contact between the entire upper surface of the cutting blade protrusion with the pad surface.
On the other hand, with Comparison Example 3, Invention Example 1, and Invention Example 2, the pad removal rate was 50 μm/hour or more even at 10 hours elapsed time for the processing time, and this confirmed that processing of the pad with stability over a long period was possible.
FIG. 13 shows the cross section shape of the pads after processing for Comparison Example 3, Invention Example 1, and Invention Example 2. With Comparison Example 3, it was confirmed that areas almost entirely not processed did exist in the pad periphery. On the other hand, with Invention Example 1 and Invention Example 2, there was sufficient processing across the entire radial length of the pad, and there was no recognition of areas where processing was insufficient.
Accordingly, it was confirmed by this test that pad removal rate was stable over long time period and that the entire pad surface could be sufficiently processed by Invention Examples 1 and 2.

WORKING EXAMPLE 2

Next, the pad removal rate was compared after polishing the pad using a metal polishing slurry. In addition to the above described Comparison Examples 1-3 and Invention Examples 1-2, there were applied Invention Examples 3-6 described as follows. Invention Examples 3-6 were identical to Invention Examples 1-2 in arrangement of the cutting blade protrusions, but Invention Example 3 had angle θ=20 degrees for the cutting blade protrusion surface in relation to the bottom surface of the substrate, Invention Example 4 had angle θ=25 degrees, Invention Example 5 had angle θ=30 degrees, and Invention Example 6 had angle θ=35 degrees.
A polishing device (MA-300, Musasino Co.) was used as the test equipment, the target target material was a foam urethane pad (IC1400, Rodel Co.), and a commercial iron nitrate group slurry (3% H₂O₂added) was used as a metal polishing slurry.
Test conditions conducted pad polishing with platen rotation speed (urethane pad rotation speed) at 45 rpm, rotation tool rotation speed at 43 rpm, load at 39.2N, and slurry flow at 25 ml/min.
FIG. 14 shows the relationship between the pad removal rate and the processing time. With Comparison Example 1 and Comparison Example 2, removal rate was 20 μm/hour or less from test start, and it was confirmed that there was substantially no processing of the pad even when metal polishing slurry was used.
On the other hand, with Comparison Example 3 and Invention Examples 1-6, pad removal rate was 50 μm/hour or more even after processing time of 25 hours had elapsed.
In addition, there was a trend for the initial pad removal rate to be higher to the extent that angle θ was larger, and with Invention Example 6 having angle θ=35 degrees, it was confirmed that after elapse of 10 minutes from usage start, pad removal rate dropped rapidly due to wear and damage to cutting blade ridges. In these conditions, it is confirmed that the pad removal rate has long-term stability when angle θ is set within a range of 5 degrees −30 degrees.

WORKING EXAMPLE 3

Next, a comparison was made for the pad removal rate after use with an oxide film slurry. The test used above described Comparison Examples 1-3, Invention Examples 1, 2, 4, 6, and hereafter described Invention Examples 7-8. Invention Examples 7-8 were identical to Invention Examples 1-6 for arrangement of cutting blade protrusions, and Invention Example 7 had angle θ=40 degrees for the cutting blade protrusion surface in relation to the bottom surface of the substrate, and Invention Example 8 had angle θ=45 degrees.
Furthermore, the oxide film slurry was weaker in corrosiveness than a metal polishing slurry.
A polishing device (MA-300, Musasino Co.) was used as the test equipment, the target target material was a foam urethane pad (IC1400, Rodel Co.), and the oxide film slurry was a KOH group colloidal silica.
Test conditions conducted pad polishing with platen rotation speed (urethane pad rotation speed) at 45 rpm, rotation tool rotation speed at 43 rpm, load at 39.2N, and slurry flow at 25 ml/min. FIG. 15 shows the relationship between pad removal rate and processing time. With Comparison Example 1 and Comparison Example 2, removal rate was 20 μm/hour or less from test start, and it was confirmed that no pad processing occurred even when using oxide film slurry.
On the other hand, Comparison Example 3 and Invention Examples 1-6 had a pad removal rate of 50 μm/hour even after processing time of 25 hours had elapsed.
In addition, when the oxide film slurry was used, a rapid fall in pad removal rate was not recognized even with Invention Example 6 having angle θ=35 degrees, but with Invention Example 8 having angle θ=45 degrees there was confirmed a rapid drop in pad removal rate due to wear and damage to cutting blade protrusions after 20 minutes elapsed from usage start. For these conditions, when angle θ is within a range of 5 degrees −40 degrees, it is confirmed that pad removal rate is stable over long time periods.

WORKING EXAMPLE 4

Next, a test was conducted to confirm the relationship between pad removal rate and the height of cutting blade ridges. Invention Example 2 was used (cutting blade ridge height H=0.05 mm), and hereafter described Invention Examples 9-14 were applied. Invention Example 9 was identical to Invention Example 2 in arrangement of cutting blade protrusions and angle θ, and had height H=0.01 mm, Invention Example 10 had height H=0.03 mm, Invention Example 11 had height H=0.08 mm, Invention Example 12 had height H=0.1 mm, Invention Example 13 had height H=0.15 mm, and Invention Example 14 had height H=0.2 mm.
A polishing device (MA-300, Musasino Co.) was used as the test equipment, the target target material was a foam urethane pad (IC1400, Rodel Co.), and a commercial iron nitrate group slurry (3% H₂O₂added) was used as a metal polishing slurry.
Test conditions conducted pad polishing with platen rotation speed (urethane pad rotation speed) at 45 rpm, rotation tool rotation speed at 43 rpm, load at 39.2N, and slurry flow at 25 ml/min.
FIG. 16 shows the relationship between pad removal rate and processing time. The trend was for pad removal rate to become greater as the height H for the cutting blade ridges was higher, and especially with Invention Example 9 having height H=0.01 mm, the depth of cutting blade ridge penetration to the pad was shallow, and it was confirmed that pad removal rate was low. In addition, Invention Examples 12, 13, 14 having height H=0.1 mm or more, the depth of cutting blade ridge penetration to the pad was sufficiently deep, the pad removal rate had high stability, and basically no change was recognized by height. Accordingly, under the test conditions currently used, it is desirable to set height H within a range of 0.03 mm-0.15 mm.

WORKING EXAMPLE 5

Next, a test was conducted to confirm the relationship between the pad removal rate and the total length of the cutting blade ridges. For the test, the following Invention Examples 15-19 were used. Invention Example 15 was identical to Invention Example 2 for arrangement of cutting blade protrusions, angle θ, and height H, and total length of cutting blade ridges formed on the substrate was L=3 mm, with Invention Example 16 total length L=7.5 mm, with Invention Example 17 total length L=27 mm, with Invention Example 18 total length L=80 mm, and with Invention Example 19 total length L=150 mm.
A polishing device (MA-300, Musasino Co.) was used as the test equipment, the target target material was a foam urethane pad (IC1400, Rodel Co.), and a commercial iron nitrate group slurry (3% H₂O₂added) was used as a metal polishing slurry.
Test conditions conducted pad polishing with platen rotation speed (urethane pad rotation speed) at 45 rpm, rotation tool rotation speed at 43 rpm, load at 39.2N, and slurry flow at 25 ml/min.
FIG. 17 shows the relationship between pad removal rate and processing time. With Invention Example 15 having total length L=3 mm and Invention Example 19 having total length L=150 mm, it was confirmed that pad removal rate was 40 μm/hour or less. Accordingly, under these conditions, it is desirable to set the total length L for cutting blade ridges formed on the substrate within a range of 7.5 mm-80 mm.

Claims

1. A flexible material processing rotation tool for processing a target material which is composed of flexible material and is moving, comprising:

a substrate having a surface:

two or more cutting blade protrusions protruding upwards formed on the surface of the substrate;

the upper surfaces of the cutting blade protrusions are inclined surfaces inclined in relation to a parallel flat surface on a bottom surface of said substrate; and

of a cutting blade ridge formed on at least the part of the inclined surface protruding furthest upward;

wherein the inclined surfaces of a portion of the cutting blade protrusions are arranged to face at least one circumferential direction for rotation of the substrate, and at least a portion of the inclined surfaces of the remaining cutting blade protrusions are arranged to face at least the other circumferential direction.

2. The flexible materials processing rotation tool according to claim 1 further comprising an angle θ formed between the inclined surfaces and the parallel flat surface on the bottom surface being set within a range of 5 degrees≦θ<40 degrees.

3. The flexible materials processing rotation tool according to claim 1 wherein the cutting blade protrusions are arranged on a surface of pedestals protruding upward from the substrate.

4. The flexible materials processing rotation tool according to claim 1 wherein the cutting blade protrusions are formed of abrasion resistant material.

5. The flexible materials processing rotation tool according to claim 1 wherein the surfaces of the cutting blade protrusions are coated with a diamond film.

6. The flexible materials processing rotation tool according to claim 1 further comprising a height of the areas formed by the cutting blade ridges of the cutting blade protrusions is within a range of 0.03 mm to 0.15 mm.

7. The flexible materials processing rotation tool according to claim 1 further comprising a total length for summed lengths of all cutting blade ridges formed on the surfaces of the substrate are within a range of 7.5 mm to 80 mm.

8. The flexible materials processing rotation tool according to claim 1 further comprising a pad conditioner for conditioning a CMP polishing pad.