Apparatus and method for polishing semiconductor wafers using one or more polishing surfaces

Abstract

An apparatus and method for polishing objects, such as semiconductor wafers, utilizes one or more polishing surfaces, multiple wafer carriers and at least one load-and-unload cup. The load-and-unload cup may be configured to move to and from the wafer carriers in a pivoting manner. The load-and-unload cup may be configured to move to and from the wafer carriers in a linear reciprocating manner. The wafer carriers may be configured to move to and from the load-and-unload cup in a pivoting manner. The wafer carriers may be configured to move to and from the load-and-unload cup in a linear reciprocating manner.

1 . An apparatus for polishing objects, said apparatus comprising:
 a first object carrier positioned over a first polishing surface;   a second object carrier positioned over a second polishing surface;   an object relay device positioned between said first and second object carriers, said object relay device including a load-and-unload cup; and   a linear drive mechanism operatively connected to said object relay device, said linear drive mechanism being configured to displace said load-and-unload cup of said object relay device in a substantially linear reciprocating manner to and from said first and second object carriers to transfer said objects from said first object carrier to said second object carrier.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising a first object transport device to transfer said objects to said first object carrier, and a second object transport device to transfer said objects from said second object carrier. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a first additional object carrier positioned over said first polishing surface;   a second additional object carrier positioned over said second polishing surface; and   an additional object relay device positioned between said first and second additional object carriers, said additional object relay device including an additional load-and-unload cup, said additional load-and-unload cup being displaced in a substantially linear reciprocating manner to and from said first and second additional object carriers to transfer said objects from said first additional object carrier to said second additional object carrier.   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3  wherein said additional object relay device is coupled to said object relay device such that said additional load-and-unload cup and said load-and-unload cup are linearly displaced together. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a plurality of object carriers positioned over a plurality of polishing surfaces, said plurality of object carriers including said first and second object carriers; and   a plurality of object relay devices positioned between said object carriers such that at least one object relay device is positioned between two adjacent object carriers, said object relay devices being operatively connected to said linear drive mechanism to be linearly displaced, each object relay device including a load-and-unload cup, said plurality of object relay devices including said object relay device.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5  wherein said linear drive mechanism is configured to collectively displace some of said object relay devices in a substantially linear motion. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 5  wherein said linear drive mechanism is configured to individually displace each of said object relay devices in a substantially linear motion. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 5  wherein said object carriers are arranged in a linear manner. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8  wherein said load-and-unload cups of said object relay devices are further arranged in a linear manner such that said object carriers are positioned to be substantially parallel to said load-and-unload cups. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9  wherein the distance between adjacent object carriers of said object carriers is substantially equivalent to the distance between load-and-unload cups of adjacent object relay devices. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 5  wherein said load-and-unload cups of said object relay devices are arranged in a linear manner. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 5  further comprising a first object transport device to transfer said objects to a first end object carrier of said object carriers, and a second object transport device to transfer said objects from a second end object carrier of said object carriers. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 5  further comprising an additional object relay device positioned to transfer said objects to or from an end object carrier of said object carriers, said additional object relay device including a load-and-unload cup. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13  further comprising a first object transport device to transfer said objects to said load-and-unload cup of said additional object relay device, and a second object transport device to transfer said objects from a second end object carrier of said object carriers. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 13  further comprising a first object transport device to transfer said objects to a second end object carrier of said object carriers, and a second object transport device to transfer said objects from said load-and-unload cup of said additional object relay device. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 13  further comprising a second additional object relay device positioned to transfer said objects to a second end object carrier of said object carriers, said second additional object relay device including a load-and-unload cup. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16  further comprising a first object transport device to transfer said objects to said load-and-unload cup of said additional object relay device, and a second object transport device to transfer said objects from said load-and-unload cup of said second additional object relay device. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 5  wherein said object carriers are arranged such that distances between adjacent object carriers are substantially equivalent. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 5  wherein said load-and-unload cups of said object relay devices are arranged such that distances between adjacent load-and-unload cups are substantially equivalent when said load-and-unload cups are positioned at respective parking positions. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 5  further comprising:
 a plurality of additional object carriers positioned over said plurality of polishing surfaces such that at least one of said object carriers and at least one of said additional object carriers are positioned over each of said polishing surfaces; and   a plurality of additional object relay devices positioned between said additional object carriers such that at least one additional object relay device is positioned between two adjacent additional object carriers, each of said additional object relay devices including an additional load-and-unload cup, each additional load-and-unload cup of said additional object relay devices being displaced in a substantially linear reciprocating manner to transfer said objects between two adjacent additional object carriers.   
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 20  wherein at least one of said additional object relay devices is coupled to at least one of said object relay devices such that said additional load-and-unload cup of said at least one of said additional object relay devices and said load-and-unload cup of said at least one of said object relay devices are linearly displaced together. 
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising an object cleaner configured to clean said objects, said object cleaner being positioned such that a longer side of said object cleaner is adjacent to a longer side of an area defined by said first and second polishing surfaces.