Patent 8388412 was granted and assigned to Applied Materials on March, 2013 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Retaining rings with curved surfaces are described. The curved surfaces prevent damage to a fixed abrasive polishing pad when the retaining ring is used in a polishing process. The curved surfaces are on the bottom surface of the ring, such as along the outer diameter and/or along the sidewalls of channels formed in the bottom of the ring.