Bellows driven floatation-type abrading workholder

摘要

Flat-surfaced workpieces such as semiconductor wafers are attached to a rotatable floating workpiece holder carrier rotor that is supported by and rotationally driven by a bellows. The rotating wafer carrier rotor is restrained by a set of idlers that are attached to a stationary housing to provide rigid support against abrading forces. The idlers allow low-friction operation of the abrading system to be provided at the very high abrading speeds used in high speed flat lapping with raised-island abrasive disks. The carrier rotor is also restrained by a rigid rotating housing to allow a limited lateral motion and also a limited angular motion. Air pressure within a sealed bellows chamber provides controlled abrading pressure for wafers or other workpieces. Vacuum can also be applied to the bellows chamber to quickly move the wafer away from the abrading surface. Wafers can be quickly attached to the workpiece carrier with vacuum.

主权项

1. An abrading machine workpiece substrate carrier apparatus comprising:
a) a movable, nominally-horizontal, stationary-positioned carrier housing having an outer periphery and an outer periphery area that is nominally-horizontal and is adjacent to outer periphery of the stationary-positioned carrier housing, the carrier housing having rotary bearings that support a vertical hollow rotatable carrier drive shaft having:
i) a carrier drive shaft cross-section,ii) a carrier drive shaft lengthiii) a carrier drive shaft axis of rotation that is concentric to the carrier drive shaft cross-section and extends along a length of the carrier drive shaft andiv) a carrier drive shaft hollow opening that extends along the carrier drive shaft length with the carrier drive shaft is fixed vertically to the stationary-positioned carrier housing and the stationary-positioned carrier housing is moveable in a nominally vertical direction; b) a circular rotatable drive plate having a rotatable drive plate outer diameter, a rotatable drive plate top surface and an opposed rotatable drive plate bottom surface wherein both the rotatable drive plate top surface and the rotatable drive plate bottom surface are nominally horizontal and the rotatable drive plate has a rotation axis that is perpendicular to the rotatable drive plate top surface and is located at the center of the rotatable drive plate top surface, wherein the rotatable drive plate top surface is attached to and is supported by the carrier drive shaft and the carrier drive shaft axis of rotation is concentric with the rotatable drive plate rotation axis; c) a rotatable bellows spring device having multiple annular rings of flat-surfaced metal or polymers having annular ring outer diameters and annular ring inside diameters where a first portion of adjacent annular rings are joined together at their outer diameters and a second portion of adjacent annular rings are joined together at their inner diameters to form the rotatable bellows spring device, wherein the multiple individual annular rings are nominally horizontal and the individual annular rings are flexible in a vertical direction, and the rotatable bellows spring device has a rotatable bellows spring device top annular ring and a rotatable bellows spring device bottom annular ring, and the rotatable bellows spring device has a nominally-vertical axis of rotation perpendicular to the rotatable bellows spring device nominally-horizontal top annular ring and the rotatable bellows spring device axis of rotation is at the center of the rotatable bellows spring device top annular ring, and all multiple selected adjacent annular rings and the rotatable bellows spring device top annular ring and the rotatable bellows spring device bottom annular ring are joined together to form an integral rotatable bellows spring device, wherein the rotatable bellows spring device bottom annular ring are moveable over a vertical excursion distance relative to the rotatable bellows spring device top annular ring and wherein the rotatable bellows spring device bottom annular ring is moveable over a horizontal excursion distance relative to the rotatable bellows spring device top annular ring and wherein the rotatable bellows spring device bottom annular ring is tiltable through an excursion angle to a horizontal plane; d) wherein the rotatable bellows spring device individual annular ring outer diameters are similar and wherein the rotatable bellows spring device individual annular ring outer diameters are similar to the rotatable drive plate outer diameter, wherein the rotatable bellows spring device top annular ring is attached to the rotatable drive plate bottom surface and the rotatable bellows spring device axis of rotation is nominally-coincident with the rotatable drive plate rotation axis; e) a circular rotatable workpiece carrier plate having a rotatable workpiece carrier plate top surface and an opposed rotatable workpiece carrier plate flat bottom surface, wherein both the rotatable workpiece carrier plate top surface and the rotatable workpiece carrier plate bottom surface are nominally horizontal and the rotatable workpiece carrier plate has a rotation axis perpendicular to the rotatable workpiece carrier plate top surface and is located at the center of the rotatable workpiece carrier plate top surface, wherein the rotatable workpiece carrier plate has a rotatable workpiece carrier plate outer diameter similar to outer diameters of the rotatable bellows spring device individual annular rings and the rotatable workpiece carrier plate has a rotatable workpiece carrier plate thickness and a rotatable workpiece carrier plate outer periphery surface located at the rotatable workpiece carrier plate outer diameter and extends from the rotatable workpiece carrier plate top surface to the rotatable workpiece carrier plate flat bottom surface; f) the rotatable bellows spring device bottom annular ring is attached to the rotatable workpiece carrier plate top surface and the rotatable bellows spring device axis of rotation is nominally-coincident with the rotatable workpiece carrier plate rotation axis; g) at least two roller idlers having respective stationary nominally-vertical roller idler shafts having respective stationary roller idler shaft lengths are attached to the stationary-positioned carrier housing outer periphery in the stationary-positioned carrier housing outer periphery area, wherein the respective at least two stationary roller idler shafts support respective roller idler bearings that in turn support respective rotatable roller idler shells, and the respective rotatable roller idler outer shells have a roller idler outer shell periphery and a roller idler outer shell periphery surface area that is nominally-vertical, and the respective rotatable roller idler outer shells are rotatable about a rotation axis that is concentric with the roller idler shafts and extends along the respective roller idler shafts lengths, wherein respective rotation axes of the respective roller idler shafts are nominally-vertical; h) the at least two multiple roller idlers are attached to the stationary-positioned carrier housing outer periphery area around the stationary-positioned carrier housing outer periphery, the at least two respective rotatable roller idler outer shells periphery surface areas are positioned in contact with the rotatable workpiece carrier plate outer diameter rotatable workpiece carrier plate outer periphery surface, and the at least two multiple roller idlers are in rolling contact with the rotatable workpiece carrier plate outer periphery surface as the rotatable workpiece carrier plate is rotated and the at least two multiple roller idlers maintain the rotatable workpiece carrier plate rotation axis as concentric with the carrier drive shaft axis of rotation when the rotatable workpiece carrier plate is rotated; i) wherein at least one workpiece having parallel opposed flat workpiece top surfaces and flat workpiece bottom surfaces are attached to the rotatable workpiece carrier plate flat bottom surface and wherein the at least one workpiece top surface is attached to the rotatable workpiece carrier plate flat bottom surface; j) a rotatable abrading platen having a flat abrasive coated abrading surface that is nominally horizontal; k) wherein the stationary-positioned carrier housing is moveable vertically to position the flat workpiece bottom surface into flat-surfaced abrading contact with the rotatable abrading platen abrading surface and the stationary-positioned carrier housing is moveable vertically to move the flat workpiece bottom surface from flat-surfaced abrading contact with the rotatable abrading platen abrading surface.