Preventive maintenance apparatus for CMP top-ring's backing-film and the method thereof

Abstract

A preventive maintenance method and apparatus for quickly and precisely replacing a backing-film of a CMP machine is provided. In comparison with a conventional backing-film, the backing-film according to the present invention is pre-drilled by laser in order to bypass the restriction set by a conventional manual drilling process on the backing-film. In addition, a PM apparatus for the backing-film comprises an aligning panel having a plural first pins in order to quickly check whether drilled holes of the backing-film are aligned with the corresponding air holes or not. Therefore, the CMP machine down time due to the PM can be reduced.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A preventive maintenance method for a backing-film of a CMP machine, comprising the steps of: 
 (a) providing the CMP machine having a shaft and a detachable top-ring disposed on the shaft, wherein the top-ring is provided with plural air holes, a detachable guide-ring, and a replaceable backing-film, and wherein the backing-film is pre-drilled by laser to produce plural through holes that corresponds to the air holes;    (b) disassembling the top-ring from the shaft before the preventive maintenance for the backing-film is proceeded;    (c) cleaning the top-ring after disassembling the guide-ring from the top-ring and removing the used backing-film;    (d) providing an aligning panel having plural first pins and plural first pinholes at layout positions corresponding to the air holes of the top-ring, wherein each of the first pins are disposed inside each of the corresponding first pinholes respectively;    (e) aligning a new backing-film with the aligning panel and then inserting each of the first pins through each of the corresponding through holes of the backing-film;    (f) putting the new backing-film on the top-ring along with the aligning panel and inserting each of the first pins through each of the corresponding air holes;    (g) adhering the new backing-film onto the top-ring and then removing the aligning panel; and    (h) assembling the top-ring to the shaft after assembling the guide-ring to the top-ring.    
     
     
         2 . The method as claimed in    claim 1   , wherein the diameter of the through hole is larger than the diameter of the air hole.  
     
     
         3 . The method as claimed in    claim 2   , wherein the diameter of the air hole is 0.8 mm, and the diameter of the through hole is between 0.8 and 1.2 mm.  
     
     
         4 . The method as claimed in    claim 3   , wherein the first pin is provided with a first protrusion and a second protrusion that protrudes from the first protrusion, wherein the diameter of the first protrusion corresponds to the diameter of the through hole and wherein the diameter of the second protrusion corresponds to the diameter of the air hole.  
     
     
         5 . The method as claimed in    claim 4   , further comprising the step of: 
 providing a check-panel for checking whether each of the through holes is in alignment with each of the corresponding air holes prior to step (h), wherein the check-panel is provided with plural second pinholes formed at layout positions that correspond to the air holes, and wherein each of the second pins is disposed inside the corresponding second pinhole respectively.    
     
     
         6 . The method as claimed in    claim 5   , wherein the second pin is provide with a third protrusion and a fourth protrusion that protrudes from the third protrusion, wherein the diameter of the third protrusion corresponds to the diameter of the through hole, and wherein the diameter of the fourth protrusion corresponds to the diameter of the air hole.  
     
     
         7 . A preventive maintenance apparatus for a backing-film of a CMP machine having a top-ring with plural air holes, comprising: 
 an aligning panel provided with plural first pinholes at layout positions that corresponds to the air holes; and    a plurality of first pins each disposed inside the respective first pinhole.    
     
     
         8 . The apparatus as claimed in    claim 7   , wherein the number of the first pinholes of the aligning panel is less than the number of the air holes of the top-ring.  
     
     
         9 . The apparatus as claimed in    claim 8   , wherein the aligning panel further comprises: 
 a plurality of first bases each disposed in a respective first pinhole;    a plurality of first springs each disposed inside the respective first pinhole between the first pin and the first base.    
     
     
         10 . The apparatus as claimed in    claim 9   , further comprising: 
 a check-panel having plural second pinholes formed at layout position that corresponds to the air holes of the top-ring; and    a plurality of second pins each disposed inside the respective second pinhole.    
     
     
         11 . The apparatus as claimed in    claim 10   , wherein the check-panel further comprises: 
 a plurality of second bases each disposed in a respective second pinhole;    a plurality of second springs each disposed inside the respective second pinhole between the second pin and the second base.