TOOL WITH SINTERED BODY POLISHING SURFACE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a tool having an abrasive part of sintered superabrasive and a method for the manufacture of the same. More particularly, the invention relates to an abrasive tool for the conditioning of chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) pads, which are commonly composed of hard urethane. The tool also can be effectively used for processing various semiconductor materials to achieve an efficient and high planarity performance. This invention further relates to an effective method for the manufacture of such tool.

[Technical Background]

[0002] In recent years as technology advances in multi-layer wiring for the production of super LSI devices, CMP has been used as an effective technique for planarizing interlayer insulation films and wafers of metal such as silicon. For the CMP technique polishing pads are employed, which is commonly made of hard urethane foam and which needs to be frequently conditioned on the surface in order to secure a high degree of planarity and wafer polishing rate.

[0003] Pad conditioning has been conventionally practiced with a tool in which diamond particles are fixed to a base plate by electrodeposition. Electrodeposition conditioning tools are known, that comprise such a rotating abrasive tool, for example, that the circular surface of tool has a hollow central region with no abrasive particles thereon. There are further outer circular regions: in the first, next to the central region, smaller superabrasive particles are fixed by electrodeposition on several spaced rows of projections that are in the shape of partial sphere, and in the second, superabrasive particles are electrodeposited with metal on several ring-formed projections (Patent Document 1).
Since the superabrasive particles are fixed to the base plate only with nickel metal deposit that physically rests over, their retention is not always enough to give an acceptable tool life, with some particles becoming loosened during a process.

[0004] Another abrasive tool is known whose abrasive material layer comprises particles of diamonds or the like, which are resin-bonded to the rotating circular top flat surface of the tool; the layer is sectioned with radial and concentric slits (Patent Document 2).
However, since such resin bonding does not always produce an adequate retention of the abrasive particles, the tools can achieve rather an insufficient life in some applications. Electrodeposition bonding technique cannot always achieve a sufficient tool life, either.

[0005] Further a dresser is known that comprises a thin film of polycrystalline diamond deposited by chemical vapor deposition on the projections of a base metal working surface (Patent Document 3).

[0006] An abrasive tool that is used as a CMP pad dresser is known from WO 2006/124792 A2 (& EP 1 879 719 A0; state of the art in accordance with Article 54(3) EPC). This abrasive tool comprises an abrasive part that comprises a plurality of abrasive units and is composed of sintered superabrasive particles that are joined integrally and to a backing, wherein the abrasive units are arranged in said abrasive part along groups of linear grooves formed by wire electrical discharge machining and have upper ends arranged on an equal level. The document is however silent about using cemented carbide as the backing material.

[0007] It is apparently difficult, however, to form a diamond thin film by this technique following adequately the irregular surface of the base metal with patterned small indentations and projections, in order to produce sufficient retention of the film or to obtain a tool with a precision high enough to meet the needs, which are more and more demanding.

[0008] As described above, conventional abrasive tools, or pad conditioners, can only have a deposit of abrasive particles with the tops or upper ends not in a uniform but varying level because of the fluctuating particle sizes that those individual particles employed on the base plate (base metal) have. Such feature causes a problem that a part alone of particles that is most protruding from the base plate (base metal) comes to be used in the conditioning process, and the partial excessive loading may cause a severe damage to the particles, eventually even leading to a premature termination of the tool life.

[0009] It may be desired, for elimination of the downtime and costs for pad conditioning, the planarization of silicon or like metal wafers be practiced with a tool wherein particles of diamond or other superabrasive are fixed to the surface of a base plate of rigid metal, in the place of the polishing pad of urethane foam and loose abrasive particles that are conventionally used. That assumes that a high precision uniformity be provided and maintained for the surface of layer of abrasive particles, which are deposited on the base metal plate to provide cutting edges. Such tasks have not been fully solved heretofore, however.

Patent Document 1: JP, A, 2002-337050

Patent Document 2: JP, A, 2004-291184

Patent Document 3: JP, A, 10-071559

[Disclosure of the Invention]

[Tasks to be solved by the Invention]

[0010]  One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an abrasive tool capable of efficient processing and an effective method for the manufacture of such tool, wherein the above described problems have been eliminated that are related to the both retention of abrasive particles to the base plate and the precision of polished surfaces. This invention, in particular, is to provide such tool to be effectively adaptable as CMP pad conditioner that enables an efficient production of high precision surfaces on semiconductor wafers or the like.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

[0011] The inventor has found, as a result of devoted and concentrated efforts for a solution to the above described problems, that they could be solved by composing the abrasive part of a plurality of abrasive units of sintered superabrasive particles that are in specific arrangement, and further efforts have lead to this invention.
According to the invention is provided an abrasive tool as defined in claim 1.
Further provided is such tool, wherein the upper ends of abrasive units have sharpened edges.
Further provided is such tool, wherein the abrasive units are in a shape of truncated or non-truncated pyramid.

[0012]  According to the invention also provided is such an abrasive tool, wherein the abrasive units are in a shape of truncated rectangular pyramid that have at least one of the top edges sharpened.
Further provided is such abrasive tool, wherein the abrasive units are in a shape of truncated or non-truncated triangular pyramid.
Further provided is such abrasive tool, wherein the abrasive units are in a shape of truncated triangular pyramid that have at least one of the top edges sharpened.
Further provided is such abrasive tool, wherein the abrasive units comprise a linear ridge on the top thereof.
Further provided is such abrasive tool, wherein the abrasive units are in a shape of rectangular or triangular pyramid arranged at a pitch of 200 µm or more but not exceeding 1,500 µm.
Further provided is such abrasive tool, wherein the abrasive units are in a shape of non-truncated rectangular or triangular pyramid and has a height of 30 µm or more but not exceeding 200 µm.
Further provided is such abrasive tool, wherein the superabrasive is diamond.
Further provided is such abrasive tool, wherein the diamond particles have a nominal particle size of 40 to 60 µm or less.
Further provided is such abrasive tool, wherein the layer of sintered superabrasive particles has a thickness of 0.1 mm or more.
Further provided is such abrasive tool, wherein said abrasive tool is in a circular or annular shape.

[0013] Further provided is such abrasive tool, wherein the abrasive part is in a circular or annular shape.
Further provided is such abrasive tool, wherein the abrasive part has an outer diameter of 90 mm or more.
Further provided is such abrasive tool, wherein the abrasive part has a height of 1 mm or less over a bottom of the grooves.
Further provided is such abrasive tool, wherein the abrasive part consists of 2 or 4 equally divided segments that are in a shape of sector with an identical central angle.
Further provided is such abrasive tool, wherein said segments each comprise two groups of grooves, a first group is parallel to a radial border of the segment and a second group is arranged to cross perpendicularly to said first group.
Further provided is such abrasive tool, wherein the abrasive part consists of 3 or 6 equally divided segments that are in a shape of sector with an identical central angle.
Further provided is such abrasive tool, wherein said segments each comprise three groups of grooves, and a first group of which is arranged parallel to a radial border of the segment and second and third groups are arranged to cross said first group at an angle of 60° and 120°, respectively.
Further provided is such abrasive tool, wherein said abrasive tool is a CMP pad conditioner.

[0014] According to the invention there are provided a methods for the manufacture of an abrasive tool as defined in claims 22 and 23.

[Effects of the Invention]

[0015] With an abrasive part comprising sintered superabrasive particles, the abrasive tool of the present invention is advantageous to those conventional techniques, in that a substantially increased retention of superabrasive particles is secured and that thus the risky popping out of superabrasive particles is minimized due to the sintering process, which is conducted in a condition of combined ultrahigh pressure and high temperature where diamond is the thermodynamically stable phase of carbon, while the bond metal is molten. A higher retention can be achieved especially in the case where diamond is employed for the superabrasive, since the diamond particles are firmly joined with each other as a result of partly dissolution by the metal on the surface of the diamond.

[0016] Moreover, while common production techniques of sintered superabrasive body may leave some irregularity in structure in large diameter products and, thus making it difficult to obtain them with an adequate overall soundness, the present invention provides a solution in which such irregularity has been effectively eliminated, by composing an abrasive part of several sector-shaped pieces, thus making available material pieces with a smaller area yet acceptable soundness: they (pieces) are cropped from compacts of a smaller radius, cut into several sectors with a larger radius, and assembled on a base plate into a circular tool with the target radius.

[0017] With the abrasive part of the invention, when the abrasive units have worn out and diminished in the work operation, abrasive units and grooves can be reconstructed several times, readily by wire-EDM, for example, (along each of the grooves), since the abrasive units are formed on the abrasive part that comprises an adequately thick surface layer of sintered superabrasive particles.

[0018] Further in the invention, since the abrasive units are cut out of a compact or block of sintered superabrasive or, typically, diamond particles by means of wire EDM or like electric discharge machining process, they can be formed freely and as desired and thus a higher degree of tool precision can be readily achieved in the formation of triangular or rectangular pyramids, with the technique of the invention than with conventional art, in the level of upper ends and groove bottoms of the abrasive units.
In particular, when used as CMP pad conditioner, the abrasive tool of the invention is very effective for an efficient production of a high precision surface of semiconductor metals.

[Brief Description of the Drawings]

[0019] 

Fig. 1 shows an explanatory view (plan) of an abrasive tool (Example 1) according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an explanatory view (plan) showing an abrasive tool (Example 2) according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 is an explanatory view (plan) showing an abrasive tool according to still another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 4 is an explanatory view (plan) showing an abrasive tool according to still another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 is a detailed view of a part in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a detailed view of a part in Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 shows an explanatory view (plan) of a construction example for the abrasive units of the abrasive tool according to the invention.

Fig. 8 shows an explanatory view in section as taken along A-A in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 shows an explanatory view (plan) of another construction example for the abrasive units of the abrasive tool according to the invention.

Fig. 10 shows an explanatory view in section as taken B-B in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 shows a schematic illustration of a wire electric discharge machining process applicable to the method for the manufacture of the abrasive tool according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 12 shows an explanatory view (plan) of an abrasive tool according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 13 shows an explanatory view (plan) of an abrasive tool according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 14 shows an explanatory view (plan) of an abrasive tool according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 15 shows an explanatory view (plan) of an abrasive tool according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 16 shows an explanatory view (plan) of an abrasive tool according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 17 shows an explanatory view (plan) of an abrasive tool according to another embodiment of the invention.

[Explanation of the Numerals]

[0020] 

1

Abrasive tool

2

Abrasive unit

3

Groove

4

Abrasive tool

5

Abrasive unit

6

Groove

7

Abrasive tool

8

Abrasive unit

9

Groove

10

Abrasive part

12

Group of parallel grooves in a first direction

13, 14

Side face of a (truncated) pyramid

16

Group of parallel grooves in a second direction

17, 18

Sloping side face of a pyramid

19

(Truncated) rectangular pyramid-shaped abrasive unit

22

Group of parallel grooves in a first direction

23, 24

Sloping side face of a triangular pyramid

25

Abrasive part

27

Group of parallel grooves in a second direction

28, 29

Sloping side face

31

Group of parallel grooves in a third direction

32, 33

Sloping side face

34

Triangular pyramid-shaped abrasive unit

41

Wire for electric discharge machining

42

Abrasive part

43,44

Abrasive unit

51

Abrasive part

52

Circular base plate

53

Linear groove group

55

Second group of grooves

58

Sloping peripheral part

61

Abrasive part

62

Circular base plate

63

Linear groove group

65

Second group of grooves

66

Third group of grooves

68

Sloping peripheral part

69

Sloping peripheral part

71

Abrasive part

72

Circular base plate

73

Linear groove group

74

Border

75

Second group of grooves

81

Abrasive part

82

Circular base plate

83

Linear groove group

84

Border

85

Second group of grooves

91

Abrasive part

92

Circular base plate

93

Linear groove group

94

Border

95

Second group of grooves

96

Third group of grooves

101

Abrasive part

102

Circular base plate

103

Linear groove group

104

Border

105

Second group of grooves

106

Third group of grooves

[Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention]

[0021] The present invention uses as a material compacts of sintered particles of superabrasive, such as diamond and c-BN (cubic boron nitride), which can be prepared by an established technique, whereby superabrasive particles are processed in a combined condition of ultra-high pressure and high temperature. Since products as recovered from the process may suffer a significant deformation, which has to be preliminarily removed to produce a roughly flat surface by mold electric discharge machining, for example. Then created are abrasive units, which are to come into direct contact with works, by stepwise forming the grooves and side faces of projections, following the mode of the invention specifically described herein.
Such preliminary flattening may be saved with some commercially available compacts as having a ready flat surface.
For the formation of such grooves various techniques are available, including wire-EDM, mold-EDM, other precision EDM techniques and laser machining; wire EDM is preferred, though, especially for producing a sharp pointed top of abrasive units.
Wire EDM processes are usually program operated, whereby an electrode wire is driven along over a work surface of sintered superabrasive particles to cause electric discharge between the wire and certain ingredient of the work, thus removing the material.

[0022] In the abrasive tool of the present invention, such units can be created, for example, by cutting in several crossing groups of grooves, hereinafter also referred as "groups of separation /sectioning grooves", on a surface, either circular or annular with a central hole, of a compact of sintered superabrasive particles, to provide a sectioned abrasive surface. Alternatively they can be formed by EDM using a mold electrode that has a correspondingly patterned mold surface.
Groups of linear grooves are conveniently available to be formed either on the surface of sintered superabrasive particles or the electrode surface.

[0023] Such groups of separation sectioning grooves can be arranged in various ways. They can be formed on a circular compact, for example, in two (Fig. 1) or three (Fig. 2) groups of parallel linear [grooves] that cross each other at 90° or 60°; respectively; and extend from a peripheral point in one side of the circle on the outer circumference to a corresponding point on the opposite side at regular intervals. In those cases rectangular and triangular abrasive units are created, respectively.
The abrasive units may also have a shape with a linear ridge or the like on the top (Fig. 3 shows an abrasive unit with ridges running from one end to the other of the abrasive part; in Figs. 4 and 5, the base part of each abrasive unit has a rectangular shape). The ridges are formed essentially parallel to the longer sides in the case of rectangular based abrasive unit, as the EDM electrode wire is driven straight and creates in a pass each groove and adjacent sloping sides.
Further, it is preferred for the use as a CMP conditioner, while not necessary for other uses, that an identical pitch be set for the both lines and rows in the arrangement of rectangular pyramid abrasive units.

[0024] In the examples described above, it is necessary that each abrasive unit should have an upper end adequately small, while adjacent abrasive units be sufficiently spaced from each other, so that they can work effectively in the abrasive processes. Fig. 6, which shows schematically, as an example, a detailed view of a part of the abrasive tool 1 shown in Fig. 1, reveals some area at the top of abrasive units. The proportion of such area (Y) to the base area (Y) of abrasive unit 2, can be determined by subtracting the total sectional area of all the adjacent grooves 3 from the radial sectional area of the whole layer of sintered superabrasive particles; proportions of 50 % or less and, in particular, 2 to 25 % have been found to yield good results.
Further the abrasive unit should preferably have a top angle of 30° to 120° and in particular 60° to 90°, and, to be more specific, 70° to 80°, approximately.

[0025] The depth of the grooves (or the height of the abrasive units over the groove bottom) should be no less than 0.1 mm but not in excess of 1 mm; particularly appropriate is a depth no less than 0.15 mm but not in excess of 0.3 mm. Grooves too shallow are not effective for the elimination of debris from the work, frequently causing an excessively increased polishing resistance. Grooves formed too deep causes, on the contrary, can lead to abrasive units with insufficient strength in addition to a necessary increased depth of layer of sintered superabrasive particles.

[0026] While it may be convenient that the abrasive units be formed in a prism with a linear or a triangular, rectangular or more angular top, the lateral faces be vertical to the base plate, and the horizontal cross-sections be uniform throughout the height, the free cutting quality of the tool can be improved by providing at least one lateral face and, especially the one on the leading side of the rotation, inclined backward in relation to a plane parallel to the axis.
As for the shape of the abrasive units, truncated pyramids, such as rectangular and triangular ones, are favorable for sloping lateral faces around, and pointed top, non-truncated pyramids are even further favorable for the better cutting ability.
Further better performance can be achieved in free-cutting quality with an arrangement of abrasive units in the shape of prism or pyramid, by grinding with a specialized tool one or more, rectangular or triangular, side faces in different directions, in order to sharpen the edge or point at the top.
In particular, such sharpening process is practiced for one side of the polygonal (typically, triangular or rectangular) top of an abrasive unit in the shape of polygonal prism or truncated pyramid with a polygonal top face; a good free cutting quality can be achieved with abrasive units in rectangular or triangular pyramid, without such sharpening.

[0027] The abrasive part of the present invention is prepared with an outer diameter of 90 mm, with the layer of sintered superabrasive particles having a thickness no less than 0.1 mm but not in excess of 1 mm. For the layer of sintered superabrasive particles, compacts of polycrystalline diamond (PCD) and polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PCBN) are available, which have on one side a backing block of carbide alloy, that is a tungsten carbide based composite, or another VIa metal carbide, of the periodical table, based composite. The compact is adhered on the backing face to the base plate of a tool; the opposite face is to be provided with the grooves for the used as an abrasive part.

[0028] Such compacts are available typically in disk shape, as a product of a process on a uniaxial hydrostatic press under ultrahigh pressure and high temperature conditions. In case a compact of intended diameter is not available, if the flatness requirement is not very close, the tool of the invention may be realized by preparing the abrasive part in several segments, which are then assembled into one.

[0029] For the construction of an abrasive part with several segments, it is appropriate to form a groove along the boundary lines, for achieving an arrangement of abrasive units in a distribution as uniform as possible over the whole surface of the abrasive part. Here a good arrangement without disorder of abrasive units can be obtained, except for some part close to the periphery, with an abrasive part divided into two or four segments, by forming two groups of parallel grooves, crossing each other at 90° and thus abrasive units in the shape of rectangular pyramid, either truncated or non-truncated.
In the case of the abrasive part composed of three or six segments, on the other hand, a similar good arrangement can be obtained, by cutting in three groups of regularly spaced parallel grooves that cross each other at 120° and also three lateral faces to create an array of abrasive units in the shape of truncated or non-truncated triangular pyramid.

[0030] In short, in the case of rectangular pyramid, linear grooves are first formed on the surface of the abrasive part by electric discharge, by feeding an EDM electrode wire along the surface of the abrasive part. Next, the wire is driven in the Z-axis direction relative to the surface of abrasive part, in order to pass along and cut the abrasive part to create a side face of the (truncated) rectangular pyramid adjacent to the groove. The operation is repeated to complete the groups of grooves.

[0031] In the invention, the top part of the pyramid comprises one or more diamond particles. So any pyramid in geometrical sense cannot be obtained because finest diamond particle has a definite volume. In the invention, however, we refer as not-truncated when the pyramid in question has a top side significantly small in relation to the base side. Obviously a truncated pyramid has a top larger in each direction than a corresponding pyramid.

[0032] For the production of (truncated) rectangular pyramid abrasive units, such as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, for example, first formed on the surface of an abrasive part 10 are a group of parallel grooves (one of which is representatively designated as 12, likewise applicable hereinafter) at a regular spacing in a fist direction I 1 and two side faces (representatively designated as 13 and 14, likewise applicable hereinafter) of rectangular pyramids. Then the abrasive part 10 is rotated, together with the base plate, by 90° about the axis of the annulus and, thereafter, another group of parallel grooves (one of which is representatively designated as 16, likewise applicable hereinafter) are formed in a second direction 15 similarly to the above, as well as the two other side faces (representatively designated as 17 and 18, likewise applicable hereinafter) of the pyramids. Thus provided are two groups of parallel grooves, which cross each other at a right angle, and (truncated) rectangular pyramid abrasive units 19, which are arranged along said grooves. The sectional view taken along A-A in Fig. 7 is shown in Fig. 5.

[0033] in the above description,
For the production of triangular pyramid abrasive units such as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, formed are a group of parallel grooves 22 in a first direction 21 and sloping faces 23, 24 of the pyramids adjacent to the grooves. Then, the abrasive part 20 is rotated by 120° about the central axis of abrasive part 25, and, in the same way, another group of parallel grooves 27 are formed at a regular interval in a second direction 26 and adjacent sloping side faces 28, 29 are formed by wire EDM (electric discharge machining).
Upon completion of the process, the abrasive part is rotated again by 120° and the same process is resumed to form another group of parallel grooves 31 in a third direction 30 to cross the other two at 120°, as well as side faces 32, 33 adjacent thereto of triangular pyramid abrasive units 34, thus accomplishing the arrangement of pyramids along the grooves.

[0034] For the abrasive units described above, it is appropriate that, either triangular or rectangular pyramid abrasive units have a protrusion height of no less than 30 µm but not in excess of 200 µm above the level of groove bottom.
Protrusions too low may tend to cause a direct contact of the base of abrasive part with the work, such as CMP pad, resulting in inadequate conditioning performance.
Protrusions too high may cause, in contrast, to reduce the relative strength of the abrasive units, while an excessively thick layer becomes necessary for the sintered superabrasive particles.
On the other hand, the intervals, or a pitch, between adjacent grooves should not exceed 1500 µm, while the lower limit can be set, depending on the wire diameter to be employed for wire electric discharge machining, at something about 200 µm, for example.

[0035]  The performance of the abrasive units depends on the particle size of the superabrasive particles contained in the top part of the (truncated) pyramid of abrasion unit. For the superabrasive of diamond particles, or the abrasive part being composed of sintered diamond (PCD), either 40 to 60 µm or less, 8 to 16 µm or less or, 0 to 2 µm can be used as an appropriate particle size for sintered diamond; among such sizes nominal sizes of or smaller than 8 to 16 µm or less are preferable, and 0 to 2 µm, in particular, has been found most appropriate.

[0036] A compact of sintered diamond particles to be used for the abrasive part of the present invention can be prepared by subjecting loose diamond particles to a combined condition of ultra-high pressure and high temperature where diamond is the thermodynamically stable phase, together with a block of cemented carbide for the backing material, and, as necessary, bonding metal such as cobalt. The abrasive part of the invention can be realized by cutting out a portion, which then is surface processed to create abrasive units, by precision EDM such as, typically, wire electric discharge machining. In the wire electric discharge machining, commonly, the electrode wire is struck against the surface of sintered diamond particles to initiate an electric discharge. The wire then is held close to maintain the discharge and moved horizontally along the surface of sintered diamond particles so as to carve a groove with a desired width and further side faces of abrasive units.
The groove can be also formed, as shown in Fig. 11, by driving the EDM electrode wire 41, after striking the work 42 of sintered diamond, not horizontally but in the direction designated with arrows in the drawing, thus forming a groove such that the tangential planes to the wire correspond to the sloping faces of opposed abrasive units 43, 44, and, then the side faces of the pyramids on each side of the groove, with the groove level taken as the reference plane. A thus constructed groove has a round bottom, showing an approximately arced cross section. Such designed abrasive unit is less susceptible to the stress concentration problem and has a higher strength (or longer service life) in abrasive processes than abrasive units with grooves having a flat bottom or angled corners.

[0037] The tool of the present invention can be realized in various shapes as illustrated in Figs. 12 to 17 by way of examples. For rather small tools, the abrasive part can be prepared in an entire continuous circular or annular form as illustrated in Figs. 12 and 13 by way of examples; however, as shown in Figs. 14 to 17 the abrasive part of the invention can be composed of several divided segments without any problem, so large annular abrasive parts with an outer diameter of 95 mm or more can also be easily obtained.

[0038] For an annular construction, it is preferable that the radial width be no less than 15 mm. The abrasive part can be also realized as a solid disk (without central hole) instead of an annular shape, especially when the design does not require a central hole. Moreover, as shown in Figs. 12 and 13, it is preferred to provide a sloping margin which is 1 mm or more wide as measured in the radial direction, on the outer diameter of a solid circular abrasion part, and both on the inner and outer diameter of annular abrasion part, for the prevention of any damage by accidental contact with the work of those margins with abrasive units.

[0039] For the construction of abrasive part with several divided segments, as illustrated by way of examples in Figs. 14 to 17, the disturbance or irregularity in abrasive unit arrangement and resulting effects on the work (CMP pad) caused by divide-and-assembled construction can be effectively either avoided or reduced to a minimum by providing a groove on and along each border. Here the number of division and shape of abrasive units available are related to each other: the rectangular pyramid design (Figs. 14 and 15) is available for the two (central angle of 180°) and four (central angle of 90°) segment composition, while triangular pyramid design (Figs. 16 and 17) is available for the three segment composition(central angle of 120°).

[0040] For the manufacture of a large diameter abrasive tool, segments of abrasive part are prepared by cutting out from a compact of sintered particles of superabrasive (or diamond, preferably) large enough to give the intended size, and machined to the designed shape and dimensions. A plurality of such objects are collected and fixed with adhesive on a solid or annular, with a concentric circular hole at the center, circular surface of a rigid base plate of steel, in order to make such a large, solid circular or annular abrasive part.
Six, four, three or two sector shaped segments of sintered diamond particles of 60°, 90°, 120° and 180° central angle, respectively, are placed side by side on the radius (lateral joining). A 120° sector can be substituted for two 60° sectors. In this case the two 120 sectors should be arranged point-symmetrically relating to the center.

[0041] The segments of abrasive part 51, 61, 71, 81, 91,101 are joined on the carbide backing side to the flat circular surface of the circular base plate 52, 62, 72, 82, 92, 102, respectively, so as to provide as a whole a circular or annular abrasive part.

[0042] The compact of sintered superabrasive particles is joined to the base plate, then subjected to wire electric discharge machining, in order to form on the surface of the compact one group 53, 63, 73, 83, 93, 103 of parallel linear grooves at regular intervals, whereby an the electric discharge is taken place between the electrode wire and the compact of sintered superabrasive particles. Here, as the electrode wire is driven in parallel with the top or bottom face, to enter, via the preliminarily flattened surface, and cut in the layer of sintered superabrasive (typically a sintered diamond (PCD)) and or, in case of a thin layer of sintered superabrasive, further down to the cemented carbide layer.

[0043] Then, the electrode wire is driven in the direction of the thickness of the sintered superabrasive (Z-axis direction) and thus to cut out grooves. With a 360° continuous surface, either solid circular or annular, the first groove of a group, for either rectangular or triangular pyramid abrasive units, may be begun to form at any position. With a surface composed of several segments, however, each of the abrasive part segment borders 54, 64, 74, 84, 94, 104 has to be first provided with a groove formed along it. After that, the other grooves are formed in parallel on both sides thereof at a regular pitch over all the surface.

[0044] Upon the formation of a group of parallel grooves in one direction on the surface of the compact of sintered superabrasive particles, the compact is rotated about the central axis of the base plate, together with the base plate attached thereto by α being the angle of groove crossing. Then formed similarly to the above, a second group of parallel linear grooves 55, 65, 75, 85, 95, 105 at regular intervals, and sloping side faces adjacent to each groove. Here a is equal to 90° for 180° and 90° sectors, with the abrasive unit being in the shape of truncated or non-truncated pyramid. For a 120° or 60° sector on the other hand, the compact of sintered superabrasive is rotated by 60° (or 120°), a second group of parallel linear grooves are formed at the intervals similarly, as well as side faces adjacent to each groove; then rotating the compact by another 60° (or 120°) (by 240° relating to the first group of grooves) a third group of parallel linear grooves 56, 66, 76, 86, 96, 106 and adjacent side faces are further and likewise formed. For a continuous solid circle or annular material, α may be either 90° or 60°.

[0045] In the EDM operation described above, the grooves and pyramids, either triangular, rectangular, truncated or non-truncated, can be formed to have upper ends lying close to a level that is in parallel with the work bottom lying, by driving the electrode wire while holding a distance in the direction of thickness from the compact bottom.

[0046] In the present invention, it is not necessary that the triangular or rectangular pyramids of abrasive units be completely composed of sintered superabrasive particles; instead pyramids, either truncated or non-truncated, are also effective that are composed of sintered superabrasive down from the top to a depth (length) of around 60µm, with the lower portion composed of carbide alloy.
Now, the invention will be described more specifically with examples.

[EXAMPLE 1]

[0047] An abrasive tool 1, having a structure schematically shown in Fig. 1, was prepared. A 90 mm diameter PCD block was used as a tool material, which had a 0.6 mm thick layer of sintered diamond joined with cemented carbide by simultaneous sintering.
The PCD block was subjected to an electric discharge machining (EDM) in order to flatten the surface of the sintered diamond layer and cut in a group of 560 µm wide parallel linear grooves 3 to form abrasive units with a square top of 260 µm sides. Here the area of the top part (not shown) of the abrasive units 2 corresponds to about 10 % the cross-section of the of sintered superabrasive layer, excluding the circumference (groove 3).
The edges of the top square were sharpened, and the tool was used as a CMP conditioner.

[EXAMPLE 2]

[0048] An annular abrasive tool 4, schematically shown in Fig. 2, was prepared. Four 90° sectors of sintered PcBN with an outer radius of 60 mm and an inner radius of 24 mm, were cut out by EDM, out of a PcBN block, which had a 0.6 mm thick layer of sintered c-BN joined with cemented carbide by simultaneous sintering, to be used as tool material.
The sectors were stuck together to a base plate made of SUS stainless steel, so as to form as a whole a complete circle. The surface of the sintered c-BN layer was polished and flattened, and subjected to wire EDM to form a group of 560 µm wide parallel linear grooves 6 and abrasive units 5 having a square top with 350 µm sides. In this case, the area of the top of the abrasive units corresponded to 7 % of the total cross section of the sintered superabrasive particle layer.
The obtained tool was sharpened by the same technique as in Example 1, and used for polishing the surface of silicon wafers.

[EXAMPLE 3]

[0049] An abrasive tool, having a structure such that schematically shown in Fig. 12, was manufactured. As a material for the abrasive part a 100 mm diameter PCD compact was used, which was composed of 0.5 mm thick layer of sintered diamond particles with a nominal particle size of 40 to 60 µm that were integrated by simultaneous sintering with cemented carbide (WC - 8 % Co); the compact was fixed with an epoxy adhesive to a 108 mm diameter circular base plate of SUS 316 stainless steel.
Next, the surface of the PCD layer was flattened by die-sinking EDM; then 200 µm wide linear grooves were formed on the PCD layer to pass through the centre of the material by cutting in by wire electric discharge machining. Furthermore, grooves were formed to the required width, while the side faces of pyramids were cut out, by driving the wire towards the side faces or in a direction (Z-axis direction) parting from the base plate.
The above operation was repeated to form on the whole material face a group of parallel grooves at an 800 µm interval and roof-shaped projections with a top angle of 90°.
Then the whole was rotated by 90° about the central axis, and a second group of parallel grooves were formed to cross the first group of grooves at a right angle, by operating the wire electric discharge machining under the same conditions. At the same time, the side faces of the pyramids were cut out in the transversal direction, thus accomplishing the formation of a group of 200 µm high rectangular pyramids, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8,

[EXAMPLE 4]

[0050] The operations set forth in Example 3 were repeated to prepare an abrasive tool having rectangular pyramid abrasive units. A compact of PCD having a 100 mm outer diameter and 70 mm inner diameter was used for an abrasive part, which was composed of a 0.5 mm thick layer of sintered diamond particles of 0 to 2 µm nominal particle size, integrated with cemented carbide. First, 140 µm wide a linear groove was formed on the flattened PCD layer surface to pass via the centre of the material by wire electric discharge machining. The EDM process was further operated to extend the groove to a designed width and to cut out side faces of the pyramids. The process was repeated to form a group of parallel grooves at 200 µm intervals and roof-shaped protrusions of top angle of 60° on and over the whole material face:
Next, the whole was rotated by 90° about the central axis and, then, the wire electric discharge machining process was operated again to form a second group of parallel grooves under the same conditions and, at the same time, to cut out another side faces to accomplish 200 µm high rectangular pyramids.

[EXAMPLE 5]

[0051] Various segments given below of abrasive part were used to manufacture the tools of respective construction.
The diamond particles of the sintered diamond particles in each case had a nominal particle size of 20 to 30 µm. The wire EDM processes were substantially identical, except that, the tool material was rotated twice in the case of triangular abrasive units, by 60° each time, while only once by 90° in the case of rectangular pyramid abrasive units.
The process conditions and results are shown in the table below.

[0052] 

[Table 1]

No.	Abrasive body (part)				abrasive unit
	shape	outer radius mm	inner radius mm	groove interval (top interval*) µm	shape	height µm
1	180° sector	120	60	600	rectangular pyramid	80
2	120° sector	120	60	400	triangular pyramid	68
3	90° sector	120	60	1200	rectangular pyramid	160
4	60° sector	120	30	1000	triangular pyramid	138

* The top interval is applicable to triangular pyramids at run numbers 2 and 4.

[0053] Each of the tools obtained was used as a CMP pad conditioner and achieved a good result.

[Industrial Applicability]

[0054] The abrasive tool of the present invention can be used for different types of abrasive tools; however, it is particularly preferred as disk-type rotating abrasive tool. While the tool is particularly adapted for the use as a CMP pad conditioner, but it is also suitable for directly polishing the wafer surfaces of semiconductor metal and the like. Additionally the tool can be applied for high precision machining of various work materials.

Claims

1. An abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) comprising an abrasive part (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) that comprises a layer of sintered superabrasive particles, wherein said abrasive part (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) comprises a plurality of abrasive units (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) and is composed of a layer of sintered superabrasive particles that are joined integrally and to a backing of cemented carbide,
wherein said plurality of abrasive units (2, 5,8, 19, 34, 43, 44) are arranged in said abrasive part along groups of linear grooves (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103,105, 106) and have upper ends arranged on an equal level,
said superabrasive particles are sintered superabrasive particles that are joined as a whole with said backing material of cemented carbide,
and said grooves (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103,105,106) are formed by wire (41) electrical discharge machining (W-EDM).

2. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said upper ends have sharpened edges.

3. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said abrasive units (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) are in a shape of truncated or non-truncated rectangular pyramid (2, 8,19).

4. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that said abrasive units (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) are in a shape of truncated rectangular pyramid (2, 8, 19) that has a sharpened edge on an upper end thereof.

5. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said abrasive units (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) are in a shape of truncated or non-truncated triangular pyramid (5, 34).

6. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that said abrasive units (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) are in a shape of truncated triangular pyramid (5, 34) that has a sharpened edge on an upper end thereof.

7. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said abrasive units comprise a linear ridge on the top thereof.

8. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said abrasive units (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) are in a shape of non-truncated, rectangular (2, 8, 19) or triangular (5, 34) pyramid arranged at a pitch of 200 µm or more but not exceeding 1,500 µm.

9. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that said abrasive units (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) are in a shape of non-truncated, rectangular (2, 8, 9) or triangular (5, 34) pyramid and has a height of 30 µm or more but not exceeding 200 µm.

10. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the superabrasive is diamond.

11. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that said superabrasive being diamond has a nominal particle size of 40 to 60 µm or less.

12. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that said sintered superabrasive has a layer thickness of 0.1 mm or more.

13. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that said tool (1, 4, 7) is in a circular or annular shape.

14. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in claim 13, characterized in that said abrasive part (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) is in a circular or annular shape.

15. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in claim 14, characterized in that said abrasive part (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) has an outer diameter of 90 mm or more.

16. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that said abrasive part (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) has a height of 1 mm or less over a bottom of the grooves (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106).

17. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in any one of claims 13 to 16, characterized in that said abrasive part (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) consists of 2 or 4 equally divided segments that are in a shape of sector with an identical central angle.

18. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in claim 17, characterized in that said segments each comprise two groups of grooves, a first group (73, 83) is parallel to a radial border of the segment and a second group (75, 85) is arranged to cross perpendicular to said first group(73,83).

19. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in any one of claims 13 to 16, characterized in that said abrasive part (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) consists of 3 or 6 equally divided segments that are in a shape of sector with an identical central angle.

20. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in claim 19, characterized in that said segments each comprise three groups of grooves, a first group (93, 103) is arranged parallel to a radial border of the segment and second (95,105) and third (96,106) groups are arranged to cross said first group (93, 103) at an angle of 60 degrees and 120 degrees, respectively.

21. The abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 20, characterised in that said abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) is a CMP pad conditioner.

22. A method for the manufacture of an abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) having an abrasive part (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) that comprises a layer of sintered superabrasive particles, wherein said abrasive part (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) comprises a plurality of abrasive units (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) that have upper ends arranged on an equal level, comprising:

1) providing a composite that comprises sintered superabrasive particles that are as a whole joined to a backing material of cemented carbide,

2) leveling said composite surface, and

3) cutting in said composite surface by means of wire (41) electric discharge machining (wire EDM) to form groups of linear grooves (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 37, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106) and an array of abrasive units (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) along said grooves (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106).

23. A method for the manufacture of an abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) having an abrasive part (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) that comprises a layer of sintered superabrasive particles, comprising:

1) providing a sintered composite composed of a layer of sintered superabrasive particles that are joined integrally to a backing of cemented carbide,

2) cutting said composite to yield a segment in a shape of sector,

3) collecting a plurality of segments, which are identical in geometry to the one obtained in 2) with an equal central angle,

4) arranging said segments closely to each other, so as to form a composite surface in entire circular or annular shape, fixing said segments to a base plate on a flat surface thereof, and

5) cutting in said segments by means of wire (41) electric discharge machining (wire EDM) to produce an array of abrasive units (2, 5, 8,19, 34, 43, 44) on said composite, whereby group of grooves (3, 6, 9,12,16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106) are formed parallel to a radial border of each segment as obtained in 4).

24. A method of regenerating an abrasive tool (1, 4, 7) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 21, characterized in that said abrasive part (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101), as worn to have a decreased abrasive unit height, is cut in along said grooves (3, 6, 9, 12,16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106) by wire-EDM to regenerate the grooves (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 203, 105, 106) and the upper ends of abrasive units (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44).

Ansprüche

1. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7), umfassend ein abtragendes Teil (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101), das eine Schicht aus gesinterten superabrasiven Teilchen umfasst, wobei das abtragende Bauteil (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) eine Mehrzahl von abtragenden Einheiten (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) umfasst und aus einer Schicht aus gesinterten superabrasiven Teilchen besteht, welche einstückig miteinander sowie mit einem Träger aus gesintertem Hartmetall verbunden sind, wobei
die Mehrzahl von abtragenden Einheiten (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) in dem abtragenden Teil entlang Gruppen linearer Nuten (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106) angeordnet sind und obere Enden aufweisen, die auf gleicher Höhe angeordnet sind,
die superabrasiven Teilchen gesinterte superabrasive Teilchen sind, die als Ganzes mit dem Trägermaterial aus gesintertem Hartmetall verbunden sind,
und die Nuten (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106) mittels Drahterosion (41) ausgebildet sind.

2. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die oberen Enden geschärfte Kanten aufweisen.

3. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die abtragenden Einheiten (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) die Form eines rechteckigen Pyramidenstumpfes oder einer nicht stumpfförmigen Pyramide (2, 8, 19) aufweisen.

4. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach Anspruch 3, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die abtragenden Einheiten (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) die Form eines rechteckigen Pyramidenstumpfes (2, 8, 19) haben, der an einem oberen Ende eine geschärfte Kante aufweist.

5. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die abtragenden Einheiten (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) die Form eines dreieckigen Pyramidenstumpfes oder einer dreieckigen nicht stumpfförmigen Pyramide (5, 34) aufweisen.

6. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach Anspruch 5, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die abtragenden Einheiten (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) die Form eines dreieckigen Pyramidenstumpfes (5, 34) haben, der an einem oberen Ende eine geschärfte Kante aufweist.

7. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die abtragenden Einheiten oben einen linearen Grat aufweisen.

8. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 6, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die abtragenden Einheiten (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) die Form nicht stumpfförmiger, rechteckiger (2, 8, 19) oder dreieckiger (5, 34) Pyramiden aufweisen, welche in einem Abstand von 200 µm oder mehr, jedoch nicht mehr als 1.500 µm, voneinander beabstandet sind.

9. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach Anspruch 8, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die abtragenden Einheiten (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) die Form nicht stumpfförmiger, rechteckiger (2, 8, 19) oder dreieckiger (5, 34) Pyramiden und eine Höhe von 30 µm oder mehr, jedoch nicht mehr als 200 µm, aufweisen.

10. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 9, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass es sich bei dem superabrasiven Mittel um Diamant handelt.

11. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach Anspruch 10, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass das superabrasive Mittel aus Diamant eine Nennteilchengröße von 40 bis 60 µm oder weniger aufweist.

12. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 11, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass das gesinterte superabrasive Mittel eine Schichtdicke von 0,1 mm oder mehr aufweist.

13. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 12, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass das Werkzeug (1, 4, 7) eine kreisrunde oder ringförmige Form aufweist.

14. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach Anspruch 13, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass das abtragende Teil (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) eine kreisrunde oder ringförmige Form aufweist.

15. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach Anspruch 14, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass das abtragende Teil (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) eine Außendurchmesser von 90 mm oder mehr aufweist.

16. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 15, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass das abtragende Teil (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101)eine Höhe von 1 mm oder weniger über einem Boden der Nuten (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106) aufweist.

17. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach einem der Ansprüche 13 bis 16, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass das abtragende Teil (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) aus 2 oder 4 gleichmäßigen Teilsegmenten besteht, welche die Form eines Kreissektors mit identischem Mittelpunktswinkel aufweisen.

18. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach Anspruch 17, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Segmente jeweils zwei Gruppen von Nuten umfassen, nämlich eine erste Gruppe (73, 83), die parallel zu einer radialen Begrenzung des Segments verläuft und eine zweite Gruppe (75, 85), welche so angeordnet ist, dass sie die erste Gruppe (73, 83) im rechten Winkel schneidet.

19. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach einem der Ansprüche 13 bis 16, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass das abtragende Teil (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) aus 3 oder 6 gleichmäßigen Teilsegmenten besteht, welche die Form eines Kreissektors mit identischem Mittelpunktswinkel aufweisen.

20. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach Anspruch 19, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Segmente jeweils drei Gruppen von Nuten umfassen, nämlich eine erste Gruppe (93, 103), die parallel zu einer radialen Begrenzung des Segments angeordnet ist, sowie eine zweite (95, 105) und eine dritte (96, 106) Gruppe, welche so angeordnet sind, dass sie die erste Gruppe (93, 103) in einem Winkel von 60 Grad beziehungsweise 120 Grad schneiden.

21. Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) nach einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 20, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass es sich bei dem Abtragwerkzeug (1, 4, 7) um einen CMP-Poliertuchkonditionierer handelt.

22. Verfahren zur Herstellung eines Abtragwerkzeugs (1, 4, 7) mit einem abtragenden Teil (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101), das eine Schicht aus gesinterten superabrasiven Teilchen umfasst, wobei das abtragende Teil (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) eine Mehrzahl an abtragenden Einheiten (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) umfasst, die obere Enden aufweisen, welche auf gleicher Höhe angeordnet sind, umfassend:

1) Bereitstellen eines Verbundes, der gesinterte superabrasive Teilchen umfasst, welche als Ganzes mit einem Trägermaterial aus gesintertem Hartmetall verbunden sind;

2) Nivellieren der Verbundoberfläche und

3) Einschneiden in die Verbundoberfläche mittels Drahterosion (41) (Draht-EDM), so dass Gruppen von linearen Nuten (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106) und eine Anordnung abtragender Einheiten (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) entlang der Nuten (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106) gebildet werden.

23. Verfahren zur Herstellung eines Abtragwerkzeugs (1, 4, 7) mit einem abtragenden Teil (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101), das eine Schicht aus gesinterten superabrasiven Teilchen umfasst, umfassend:

1) Bereitstellen eines gesinterten Verbundes, bestehend aus einer Schicht aus gesinterten superabrasiven Teilchen, die einstückig mit einem Träger aus gesintertem Hartmetall ausgebildet sind,

2) Schneiden des Verbundes, so dass ein Segment in der Form eines Kreissektors erhalten wird,

3) Sammeln einer Mehrzahl von Segmenten, deren Geometrie mit der Geometrie des in 2) erhaltenen Segmentes übereinstimmt und die den gleichen Mittelpunktswinkel aufweisen,

4) Anordnen der Segmente dicht nebeneinander, so dass eine Verbundoberfläche in vollständiger kreisrunder oder ringförmiger Form gebildet wird, Befestigen der Segmente auf einer Grundplatte auf einer flachen Oberfläche derselben und

5) Einschneiden in die Segmente mittels Drahterosion (41) (Draht-EDM), so dass eine Anordnung von abtragenden Einheiten (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) auf dem Verbund entsteht, wodurch Gruppen von Nuten (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106) gebildet werden, die parallel zu einer radialen Begrenzung jedes der in 4) erhaltenen Segmente verlaufen.

24. Verfahren zur Regenerierung eines Abtragwerkzeuges (1, 4, 7) nach einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 21, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass in das abtragende Bauteil (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101), welches so verschlissen ist, dass die Höhe der abtragenden Einheiten vermindert ist, entlang seiner Nuten (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106) mittels Draht-EDM eingeschnitten wird, so dass die Nuten (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106) und die oberen Enden von abtragenden Einheiten (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) regeneriert werden.

Revendications

1. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) comprenant une partie abrasive (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) qui comprend une couche de particules superabrasives fritées, dans lequel ladite partie abrasive (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) comprend une pluralité d'unités abrasives (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) et est composée d'une couche de particules superabrasives fritées qui sont jointes de façon intégrée et à un support de carbure cémenté, dans lequel ladite pluralité d'unités abrasives (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) sont agencées dans ladite partie abrasive le long de groupes de rainures linéaires (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106) et ont des extrémités supérieures agencées sur un même niveau, lesdites particules superabrasives sont des particules superabrasives fritées qui sont jointes comme un tout avec ledit matériau de support de carbure cémenté, et lesdites rainures (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106) sont formées par usinage par électroérosion au fil (41) (W-EDM).

2. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que lesdites extrémités supérieures ont des bords vifs.

3. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que lesdites unités abrasives (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) sont sous une forme de pyramide rectangulaire (2, 8, 19) tronquée ou non tronquée.

4. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon la revendication 3, caractérisé en ce que lesdites unités abrasives (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) sont sous une forme de pyramide rectangulaire (2, 8, 19) tronquée qui a un bord vif sur une extrémité supérieure de celle-ci.

5. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que lesdites unités abrasives (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) sont sous une forme de pyramide triangulaire (5, 34) tronquée ou non tronquée.

6. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon la revendication 5, caractérisé en ce que lesdites unités abrasives (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) sont sous une forme de pyramide triangulaire (5, 34) tronquée qui a un bord vif sur une extrémité supérieure de celle-ci.

7. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que lesdites unités abrasives comprennent une arête linéaire sur le sommet de celles-ci.

8. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 6, caractérisé en ce que lesdites unités abrasives (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) sont sous une forme de pyramide rectangulaire (2, 8, 19) ou triangulaire (5, 34) non tronquée agencée selon un pas de 200 µm ou plus, mais n'excédant pas 1 500 µm.

9. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon la revendication 8, caractérisé en ce que lesdites unités abrasives (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) sont sous une forme de pyramide rectangulaire (2, 8, 19) ou triangulaire (5, 34) non tronquée et a une hauteur de 30 µm ou plus, mais n'excédant pas 200 µm.

10. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 9, caractérisé en ce que le superabrasif est le diamant.

11. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon la revendication 10, caractérisé en ce que ledit superabrasif étant le diamant à une taille nominale de particules de 40 à 60 µm ou moins.

12. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 11, caractérisé en ce que ledit superabrasif fritté a une épaisseur de couche de 0,1 mm ou plus.

13. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 12, caractérisé en ce que ledit outil (1, 4, 7) est sous une forme circulaire ou annulaire.

14. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon la revendication 13, caractérisé en ce que ladite partie abrasive (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) est sous une forme circulaire ou annulaire.

15. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon la revendication 14, caractérisé en ce que ladite partie abrasive (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) a un diamètre extérieur de 90 mm ou plus.

16. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 15, caractérisé en ce que ladite partie abrasive (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) a une hauteur de 1 mm ou moins au-dessus d'un fond des rainures (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106).

17. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 13 à 16, caractérisé en ce que ladite partie abrasive (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) consiste en 2 ou 4 segments également divisés qui sont sous une forme de secteur avec un angle central identique.

18. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon la revendication 17, caractérisé en ce que lesdits segments comprennent chacun deux groupes de rainures, un premier groupe (73, 83) est parallèle à une bordure radiale du segment et un deuxième groupe (75, 85) est agencé de manière à croiser perpendiculairement ledit premier groupe (73, 83).

19. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 13 à 16, caractérisé en ce que ladite partie abrasive (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) consiste en 3 ou 6 segments également divisés qui sont sous une forme de secteur avec un angle central identique.

20. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon la revendication 19, caractérisé en ce que lesdits segments comprennent chacun trois groupes de rainures, un premier groupe (93, 103) est agencé parallèlement à une bordure radiale du segment et un deuxième (95, 105) et un troisième (96, 106) groupes sont agencés de manière à croiser ledit premier groupe (93, 103) selon un angle de 60 degrés et de 120 degrés, respectivement.

21. Outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 20, caractérisé en ce que ledit outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) est un conditionneur de tampon de PCM.

22. Procédé pour la fabrication d'un outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) ayant une partie abrasive (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) qui comprend une couche de particules superabrasives fritées, dans lequel ladite partie abrasive (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) comprend une pluralité d'unités abrasives (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) qui ont des extrémités supérieures agencées sur un même niveau, comprenant :

1) la prévision d'un composite qui comprend des particules superabrasives fritées qui sont comme un tout jointes à un matériau de support de carbure cémenté,

2) l'arasement de la surface dudit composite, et

3) la découpe dans la surface dudit composite au moyen d'un usinage par électroérosion au fil (41) (EDM au fil) pour former des groupes de rainures linéaires (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106) et une matrice d'unités abrasives (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) le long desdites rainures (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106).

23. Procédé pour la fabrication d'un outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) ayant une partie abrasive (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101) qui comprend une couche de particules superabrasives fritées, comprenant :

1) la prévision d'un composite fritté composé d'une couche de particules superabrasives fritées qui sont jointes de façon intégrée à un support de carbure cémenté,

2) la découpe dudit composite pour donner un segment sous une forme de secteur,

3) la collecte d'une pluralité de segments, qui sont identiques en géométrie à celui obtenu en 2) avec un angle central égal,

4) l'agencement desdits segments en étroite proximité l'un de l'autre, de façon à former une surface de composite de forme complète circulaire ou annulaire, la fixation desdits segments sur une plaque de base sur une surface plate de celle-ci, et

5) la découpe dans lesdits segments au moyen d'un usinage par électroérosion au fil (41) (EDM au fil) pour produire une matrice d'unités abrasives (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44) sur ledit composite, d'où il résulte qu'un groupe de rainures (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106) sont formées parallèlement à une bordure radiale de chaque segment obtenu en 4).

24. Procédé de régénération d'un outil abrasif (1, 4, 7) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 21, caractérisé en ce que ladite partie abrasive (10, 25, 42, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101), usée de manière à avoir une hauteur d'unités abrasives diminuée est découpée le long desdites rainures (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106) par EDM au fil pour régénérer les rainures (3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31, 53, 55, 63, 65, 66, 73, 75, 83, 85, 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 106) et les extrémités supérieures des unités abrasives (2, 5, 8, 19, 34, 43, 44).

Drawing