Boumyoung Park

Effect of Process Parameters on Friction Force and Material Removal in Oxide Chemical Mechanical Polishing

The relationship between sliding friction and material removal was investigated using a sensor to measure dynamic friction force according to process parameters such as pressure, velocity, conditioning, abrasive concentration, and slurry pH during oxide chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). Friction force and material removal linearly depend on applied load and relative velocity. A high relative velocity also has an effect on the boundary condition between the wafer and the pad, and friction force reduces with increase in relative velocity. Friction force reduces with polishing time during oxide CMP with ex situ conditioning because of the changes in pad roughness parameters such as Ra, Rp, Rpk, and Rsk. Thus, the in situ conditioning method increases removal rate and improves nonuniformity. Friction force can be uniformly distributed on the oxide wafer as abrasive concentration increases owing to the reduction in friction force loaded on one abrasive particle, improving the nonuniformity of removal rate. In oxide CMP using alkali-based slurry, the effective formation and mechanical removal of the Si–OH bond layer on the SiO2 surface also affect the temporal decrease in friction force and result in a higher removal rate, in comparison with the results of a high friction force and a low removal rate in oxide CMP using neutral-based slurry.

Effects of Friction Energy on Polishing Results in CMP Process

The application of chemical mechanical polishing(CMP) has a long history. Recently, CMP has been used in the planarization of the interlayer dielectric(ILD) and metal used to form the multilevel interconnections between each layers. Therefore, much research has been conducted to understand the basic mechanism of the CMP process. CMP performed by the down force and the relative speed between pad and wafer with slurry is typical tribo-system. In general, studies have indicated that removal rate is relative to energy. Accordingly, in this study, CMP results will be analyzed by a viewpoint of the friction energy using friction force measurement. The results show that energy would not constant in the same removal rate conditions

Characteristics of Friction Affecting CMP Results

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process was studied in terms of tribology in this paper. CMP performed by the down force and the relative motion of pad and wafer with slurry is typically tribological system composed of friction, wear and lubrication. The piezoelectric quartz sensor for friction force measurement was installed and the friction force was detected during CMP process. Various friction signals were attained and analyzed with the kind of pad, abrasive and abrasive concentration. As a result of experiment, the lubrication regime is classified with ηv/p(η, v and p; the viscosity, relative velocity and pressure). The characteristics of friction and material removal mechanism is also different as a function of the kind of abrasive and the abrasive concentration in slurry. Especially, the material removal per unit distance is directly proportional to the friction force and the non~uniformity has relation to the coefficient of friction.

A Study on Oxidizer Effects in Tungsten CMP

Chemical mechanical polishing(CMP) has become the process of choice for modem semiconductor devices to achieve both local and global planarization. CMP is a complex process which depends on numerous variables such as macro, micro and nano-geometry of pad, relative velocity between pad and wafer stiffness and dampening characteristics of pad, slurry, pH, chemical components of slurry, abrasive concentration, abrasive size, abrasive shape, etc. Especially, an oxidizer of chemical components is very important remove a target material in metal CMP process. This paper introduces the effect of oxidizer such as in slurry for tungsten which is used in via or/and plug. Finally the duplex reacting mechanism of through adding the could acquire the sufficient removal rate in tungsten CMP.

Effect of Temperature on Polishing Properties in Oxide CMP

We investigated the effect of process temperature on removal rate and non-uniformity based on single head kinematics in oxide CMP. Generally, it has been known that the temperature profile directly transfers to the non~uniformity of removal rate on the wafer, which has similar tendency with the sliding distance of wafer. Experimental results show that platen velocity is a dominant factor in removal rate as well as average temperature. However, the non-uniformity does not coincide between process temperature and removal rate, due to slurry accumulation and low deviation of temperature. Resultantly, the removal rate is strongly dependent on the rotational speed of platen, and its non -uniformity is controlled by the rotational speed of polishing head. It means lower WIWNU (With-in-wafer-non-uniformity) can be achieved in the region of higher head speed.

Development of Microstructure Pad and Its Performances in STI CMP

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) allows the planarization of wafers with two or more materials. There are many elements such as slurry, polishing pad, process parameters and conditioning in CMP process. Especially, polishing pad is considered as one of the most important consumables because this affects its performances such as WIWNU(within wafer non-uniformity) and MRR(material removal rate). In polishing pad, grooves and pores on its surface affect distribution of slurry, flow and profile of MRR on wafer. A subject of this investigation is to apply CMP for planarization of shallow trench isolation structure using microstructure(MS) pad. MS pad is designed to have uniform structure on its surface and manufactured by micro-molding technology. And then STI CMP performances such as pattern selectivity, erosion and comer rounding are evaluated.

Development of Multiple CMP Monitoring System for Consumable Designs

Consumables used in Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) have been played important role to improve quality and productivity. Since the properties of consumables constantly change with various reasons, such as shelf time, manufactured time, lot to lot variation from supplier and so on, CMP results are not constant during the process. Also, CMP process results are affected by multiple sources from wafer, conditioner, pad and slurry. Therefore, multiple sensing systems are required to monitor CMP process variation. In this paper, the authors focus on development of monitoring system for CMP process which consist of force, temperature and displacement sensor to measure the signal from CMP process. With monitoring systems mentioned above, complex CMP phenomena can be investigated more clearly.

Mechanical Analysis on Uniformity in Copper Chemical Mechanical Planarization

Most studies on copper Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) have focused on material removal and its mechanisms. Although many studies have been conducted on the mechanism of Cu CMP, a study on uniformity in Cu CMP is still unknown. Since the aim of CMP is global and local planarization, the approach to various factors related to uniformity in Cu CMP is essential to elucidate the Cu CMP mechanism as well. The main purpose of the experiment reported here was to investigate and mechanically analyze the roles of slurry components in the formation of the uniformity in Cu CMP. In this paper, Cu CMP was performed using citric acid(), hydrogen peroxide(), colloidal silica, and benzotriazole() as a complexing agent, an oxidizer, an abrasive, and a corrosion inhibitor, respectively. All the results of this study showed that within-wafer non-uniformity(WIWNU) of Cu CMP could be controlled by the contents of slurry components.

Planarizaiton of Cu Interconnect using ECMP Process

Copper has been used as an interconnect material in the fabrication of semiconductor devices, because of its higher electrical conductivity and superior electro-migration resistance. Chemical mechanical polishing(CMP) technique is required to planarize the overburden Cu film in an interconnect process. Various problems such as dishing, erosion, and delamination are caused by the high pressure and chemical effects in the Cu CMP process. But these problems have to be solved for the fabrication of the next generation semiconductor devices. Therefore, new process which is electro-chemical mechanical polishing(ECMP) or electro-chemical mechanical planarization was introduced to solve the technical difficulties and problems in CMP process. In the ECMP process, Cu ions are dissolved electrochemically by the applying an anodic potential energy on the Cu surface in an electrolyte. And then, Cu complex layer are mechanically removed by the mechanical effects between pad and abrasive. This paper focuses on the manufacturing of ECMP system and its process. ECMP equipment which has better performance and stability was manufactured for the planarization process.

Consumable Approaches of Polysilicon MEMS CMP

Chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP), one of the dominant technology for ULSI planarization, is used to flatten the micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) structures. The objective of this paper is to achieve good planarization of the deposited film and to improve deposition efficiency of subsequent layer structures by using surface-micromachining process in MEMS technology. Planarization characteristic of poly-Si film deposited on thin oxide layer with MEMS structures is evaluated with different slurries. Patterns used for this research have shapes of square, density, line, hole, pillar, and micro engine part. Advantages of CMP process for MEMS structures are observed respectively by using the test patterns with structures larger than 1 urn line width. Preliminary tests for material selectivity of poly-Si and oxide are conducted with two types of silica slurries: . And then, the experiments were conducted based on the pretest. A selectivity and pH adjustment of slurry affected largely step heights of MEMS structures. These results would be anticipated as an important bridge stone to manufacture MEMS CMP slurry.