Gerald J Alonzo

7314808, Jan 1, 2008

Nov 10, 2005

11/271242

Alpay Yilmaz - San Jose CA, US
Gerald Alonzo - Los Gatos CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

H01L 21/76

438424, 257E21525

Methods for transferring substrates in a system with a factory interface robot between at least one FOUP, a buffer coupled to a parasitic device and an inbound and outbound transfer station coupled to a processing tool are provided. In one embodiment, a method for transferring substrates includes transferring a first substrate on an end effector of a robot from a FOUP to a buffer station serving a parasitic device, moving the substrate from the buffer station into the parasitic device, picking up a second substrate on the end effector, compensating for a residence time of the first substrate in the parasitic device, transferring the second substrate to parasitic device from the end effector to the buffer station serving the parasitic device, and picking up the first substrate from the buffer station.

7407433, Aug 5, 2008

Nov 2, 2006

11/556114

Rashid A. Mavliev - Campbell CA, US
Simon Yavelberg - Cupertino CA, US
Gerald J. Alonzo - Los Gatos CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

B24B 49/00

451 6, 451 8, 451 21, 451 41, 451285, 15634528, 205645

Tools and methods for in-situ characterizing of a surface of a polishing pad are described. A characterization tool is integrated with polishing tool so that the polishing pad can be monitored in-situ. The characterization tool and the polishing pad can be rotated or moved so that any portion of the polishing pad can be tested.

7963826, Jun 21, 2011

Dec 11, 2009

12/636326

Roy C. Nangoy - Santa Clara CA, US
Donald J. K. Olgado - Palo Alto CA, US
Hung Chih Chen - Sunnyvale CA, US
Gerald John Alonzo - Los Gatos CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

B24B 1/00

451 56, 451443

Apparatus and methods for conditioning a polishing pad include an arm adapted to support a conditioning disk; a drive mechanism coupled to the arm; and a flexible coupling between the drive mechanism and the conditioning disk adapted to allow the conditioning disk to tilt while transmitting rotary motion from the drive mechanism to the conditioning disk. Numerous other aspects are disclosed.

20060276111, Dec 7, 2006

Jun 2, 2005

11/142918

Yuan Tian - San Jose CA, US
Alpay Yilmaz - San Jose CA, US
Gerald Alonzo - Los Gatos CA, US
Martin Wohlert - San Jose CA, US
Yongqi Hu - San Jose CA, US
Stan Tsai - Fremont CA, US
Robert Ewald - Aptos CA, US

B24B 1/00
B24B 33/00

451056000, 451443000

Embodiments of a conditioning element for conditioning a processing pad are provided herein. In one embodiment, a conditioning element for conditioning a processing pad includes a body having a face. A plurality of diamond particles are disposed on the face and define a conditioning surface. The diamond particles are of a type selected from the group consisting of very blocky (D), blocky (D), and irregular (D), and have a shape ratio less than or equal to 1.2. In one embodiment, the diamond particles have an average size of between about 85 and about 115 μm. In one embodiment, the size of the diamond particles may have a standard of deviation that is less than about 5 μm. In one embodiment, the diamond particles may have a spacing of greater than 400 μm.

20070151867, Jul 5, 2007

May 10, 2006

11/431231

Yongqi Hu - San Jose CA, US
Stan Tsai - Fremont CA, US
Gerald Alonzo - Los Gatos CA, US
Lakshmanan Karuppiah - San Jose CA, US

B23H 9/14
C25F 3/00
B23H 3/00

205665000

An apparatus and a method with fluid flow assist elements for electrochemical mechanical processing is provided in this invention. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a first conductive layer having an upper surface adapted to contact a substrate, a second conductive layer disposed below the first conductive layer, an isolation layer disposed between the conductive layers, and a plurality of apertures, each having a first end formed through the first conductive layer and a second end formed through the second conductive layer, wherein the second ends of at least two apertures are laterally coupled by a channel.

20070153453, Jul 5, 2007

Jan 5, 2006

11/327527

You Wang - Cupertino CA, US
Renhe Jia - Berkeley CA, US
Stan Tsai - Fremont CA, US
Yongqi Hu - San Jose CA, US
Zhihong Wang - Santa Clara CA, US
Jie Diao - San Jose CA, US
Gerald Alonzo - Los Gatos CA, US

H05K 5/00
H05K 3/10

361679000, 029846000, 029847000

Embodiments of a pad assembly for processing a substrate are provided. The pad assembly includes a plurality of discrete members and a plurality of apertures. Each of the plurality of discrete members include a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer, with an isolation layer therebetween, and a recess for byproduct accumulation. The second conductive layer comprises a plurality of reaction surfaces that are orthogonal to the upper and lower surfaces of the pad assembly.

20070158207, Jul 12, 2007

Jan 6, 2006

11/326647

Jie Diao - San Jose CA, US
Renhe Jia - Berkeley CA, US
You Wang - Cupertino CA, US
Gerald Alonzo - Los Gatos CA, US
Stan Tsai - Fremont CA, US
Lakshmanan Karuppiah - San Jose CA, US

B23H 3/00

205641000

A method for electrochemically processing a substrate is provided. In one embodiment, the method includes performing a conditioning procedure on a processing pad having a plurality of process cells, energizing the process cells by applying a voltage to the conditioned processing pad, placing a substrate having at least a conductive layer disposed thereon on the energized pad, and removing at least a portion of the conductive layer in the energized process cells. In another embodiment, a method for polishing a substrate includes placing an unused conductive pad having a plurality of process cells on a platen of a processing system, breaking in the pad on the platen, energizing the process cells by applying a voltage to the broken-in pad, placing a substrate having at least a conductive layer disposed thereon on the energized pad, and removing at least a portion of the conductive layer in the energized cells.

20070212983, Sep 13, 2007

Mar 12, 2007

11/684969

Roy C. Nangoy - Santa Clara CA, US
Donald J.K. Olgado - Palo Alto CA, US
Hung Chih Chen - Sunnyvale CA, US
Gerald John Alonzo - Los Gatos CA, US

B24B 51/00
B24B 1/00
B24B 21/18

451 11, 451 56, 451443

Apparatus and methods for conditioning a polishing pad include a base, an arm pivotally coupled to the base and adapted to support a conditioning disk, and an actuator coupled to the base and the arm. The actuator is adapted to cause the arm to press the conditioning disk against the polishing pad with a linearly variable amount of force. A first force is produced with the actuator. The first force is scaled by a linearly variable amount to a second force that is applied to the polishing pad by a conditioning disk. Numerous other aspects are disclosed.