Apparatus for wafer patterning to reduce edge exclusion zone

• US 7,460,211 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2006
• Issued: 12/02/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Bell Semiconductor, LLC (Hilco Inc. (d/b/a Hilco Global))
• Original Assignee: LSI Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Abercrombie, David, Whitefield, Bruce
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HUNG
• Application Number:
  US11/383,171
• Publication Number:
  US 20060191634A1
• Time in Patent Office: 935 Days
• Field of Search: 355/53, 355/67, 355/72, 430/5, 430/20, 430/30
• US Class Current: 355/53
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/2028 of an edge bead on wafers
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02087 Cleaning of wafer edges
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 438/926 Dummy metallization

Abstract

An apparatus includes an edge expose unit for exposing an annular area in an edge exclusion zone of a wafer to radiation having a wavelength suitable for removing a film from the wafer in the annular area and a radiation modulator coupled to the edge expose unit for modulating the radiation to pattern the film in the annular area.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

an edge expose unit for exposing an annular area in an edge exclusion zone of a wafer to radiation having a wavelength suitable for removing edge films from the wafer, the edge films having stepped edges in the edge exclusion zone;

and a radiation modulator coupled to the edge expose unit for modulating the radiation to create a continuous pattern around the annular area suitable for shortening a planarization length of the wafer to the stepped edges of the edge films.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the film is a photo resist film.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the radiation modulator performs at least one of spatial modulation and temporal modulation.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the pattern comprises circles.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the pattern comprises lines.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a table coupled to the edge expose unit for rotating the wafer.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a table coupled to the edge expose unit for rotating the edge expose unit around the wafer.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the radiation is ultraviolet radiation.