The present invention provides a dresser for a chemical and mechanical polishing cloth wherein a bonding material for retaining diamond grit is not dissolved and contamination of chemical slurry caused by dissolving of metal or peeling-off of diamond grit is prevented from occurring. A sintered product constituting the dressing face 2a is obtained by mixing a bonding material 4 consisting of silicon and/or silicon alloy with diamond grit 3, and forming and sintering the mixture. A carbide film 5 generated by sintering silicon in the bonding material into diamond is formed on the surface of the diamond grit 3. Thereby, the diamond grit is firmly bonded with the bonding material, and the bonding material is not dissolved. As a result, the contamination of the chemical slurry or the peeling-off of the diamond grit is prevented.

Polishing pads used in the manufacturing of microelectronic devices, and apparatuses and methods for making and using such polishing pads. In one aspect of the invention, a polishing pad for planarizing microelectronic-device substrate assemblies has a backing member including a first surface and a second surface, a plurality of pattern elements distributed over the first surface of the backing member, and a hard cover layer over the pattern elements. The pattern elements define a plurality of contour surfaces projecting away from the first surface of the backing member. The cover layer at least substantially conforms to the contour surfaces of the pattern elements to form a plurality of hard nodules projecting away from the first surface of the backing member. The hard nodules define abrasive elements to contact and abrade material from a microelectronic-device substrate assembly. As such, the cover layer defines at least a portion of a planarizing surface of the polishing pad.

A flat substrate polishing and polishing pad conditioning head for a chemical-mechanical-planarization apparatus is provided which has been shown to double the useable life of a polishing pad used to planarize and/or polish both oxide and metal outer layers in the processing of semiconductor wafers and to provide for more uniform polishing during the life of the polishing pad. The polishing pad conditioning head comprises a suitable substrate (26), a diamond grit (28) that is evenly distributed over the surface of the substrate (26) and a CVD diamond (30) grown onto the diamond grit (28) and the substrate (26) so that the diamond grit (28) becomes encased in the CVD diamond (30) and bonded to the surface of the substrate (26). The method for evenly distributing a mono-layer of diamond grit in a highly uniform manner over the exposed surface of a substrate can be done either by using diamond grit applied over a photoresist pattern or a screen printed pattern, or using diamond grit from a liquid mixture.

The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using a polishing apparatus having a polishing pad conditioning wheel. In one embodiment, the polishing pad conditioning wheel comprises a conditioning head, a setting alloy, an abrasive material, and a corrosion resistant coating. The conditioning head has opposing first and second faces with the first face being coupleable to the polishing apparatus. The setting alloy is coupled to the conditioning head at the second face, and the abrasive material is embedded in the setting alloy, which is substantially covered by the corrosion resistant coating.

Polishing pads used in the manufacturing of microelectronic devices, and apparatuses and methods for making and using such polishing pads. In one aspect of the invention, a polishing pad for planarizing microelectronic-device substrate assemblies has a backing member including a first surface and a second surface, a plurality of pattern elements distributed over the first surface of the backing member, and a hard cover layer over the pattern elements. The pattern elements define a plurality of contour surfaces projecting away from the first surface of the backing member. The cover layer at least substantially conforms to the contour surfaces of the pattern elements to form a plurality of hard nodules projecting away from the first surface of the backing member. The hard nodules define abrasive elements to contact and abrade material from a microelectronic-device substrate assembly. As such, the cover layer defines at least a portion of a planarizing surface of the polishing pad.