Heondeok Seo

Self-conditioning of encapsulated abrasive pad in chemical mechanical polishing

Abstract Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is the process of planarization which was achieved by both chemical reaction and mechanical force. The polishing consists of moving wafer to be polished against the polyurethane pad, carrying slurry between wafer and polyurethane pad. There have been, however, some problems including dishing, erosion, high cost of consumables, environmental problems and scratches due to diamonds dropped out of conditioner. In particular, the slurry used in CMP not only increases the cost of consumables, but also interferes with the environmentally benign semiconductor manufacturing. This paper introduces the encapsulated abrasive pad to achieve the environmentally benign CMP and self-conditioning mechanism of pad. The self-conditioning just means that additive conditioning process on pad is not necessary between polishing wafers. Hydrophilic polymers were used to develop the encapsulated abrasive pad. When these polymers keep in contact with water, they have soluble and swelling characteristics. The removal rate of the encapsulated abrasive pad showed higher than that of general CMP process using slurry and polyurethane pad. The self-conditioning of pad was verified through experiment, which showed the possibility of environmentally benign process only using de-ionized water in interlayer dielectric CMP.

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.

The Effects of Groove Dimensions of Pad on CMP Characteristics

CMP characteristics such as material removal rate and edge effect were measured and investigated in accordance with pad grooving effect, groove width, depth and pitch. GSQ (Groove Stiffness Quotient) and GFQ (Groove Flow Quotient) were proposed to estimate pad grooving characteristics. GSQ is defined as groove depth(D) divided by pad thickness(T) and GFQ is defined as groove width(W) divided by groove pitch(P). As GFQ value increased, material removal rate increased some point but gradually saturated. It seems that material removal rate is not affected by each parameter respectively but by interaction of these parameters such as groove dimensions. In addition, an increase in GFQ and GSQ causes edge effect to be improved. Because, pad stiffness decreases as GSQ and GFQ increase. In conclusion, groove influences relative pad stiffness although original mechanical properties of pad are unchanged by grooving. Also, it affects the flow of slurry that has an effect on the lubrication regime and polishing results. The change of groove dimensions has influence on pad stiffness and slurry flow, so that polishing results such as removal rate and edge effect become changed.

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.

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.

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.

A Study on the Within Wafer Non-uniformity of Oxide Film in CMP

Within wafer non-uniformity(WIWNU) improves as the stiffness of pad decrease. We designed the pad groove to study of pad stiffness on WIWNU in Chemical mechanical polishing(CMP) and measured the pad stiffness according to groove width. The groove influences effective pad stiffness although original mechanical properties of pad are unchanged by grooving. Also, it affects the flow of slurry that has an effect on the lubrication regime and polishing results. An Increase of the apparent contact area of pad by groove width results in decrease of effective pad stiffness. WIWNU and profile of removal tate improved as effective pad stiffness decreased. Because grooving the pad reduce its effective stiffness and it makes slurry distribution to be uniform. Futhermore, it ensures that pad conforms to wafer-scale flatness variability. By grooving the top pad, it is possible to reduce its stiffness and hence reduce WIWNU and edge effect.

Electro-chemical Mechanical Deposition for Planarization of Cu Interconnect

This study introduces Electro-chemical Mechanical Deposition(ECMD) lot making Cu interconnect. ECMD is a novel technique that has ability to deposit planar conductive films on non-planar substrate surfaces. Technique involves electrochemical deposition(ECD) and mechanical sweeping of the substrate surface Preferential deposition into the cavities on the substrate surface nay be achieved through two difference mechanisms. The first mechanism is more chemical and essential. It involves enhancing deposition into the cavities where mechanical sweeping does not reach. The second mechanism involves reducing deposition onto surface that is swept. In this study, we demonstrate ECMD process and characteristic. We proceeded this experiment by changing of distribution of current density on divided water area zones and use different pad types.

A Study on the Characteristics of Stick-slip Friction in CMP

Stick-slip friction is one of the material removal mechanisms in tribology. It occurs when the static friction force is larger than the dynamic friction force, and make the friction curve fluctuated. In the friction monitoring of chemical mechanical polishing(CMP), the friction force also vibrates just as stick-slip friction. In this paper, an attempt to show the similarity between stick-slip friction and the friction of CMP was conducted. The prepared hard pa(IC1000/Suba400 stacked/sup TM/) and soft pad(Suba400/sup TM/) were tested with SiO₂ slurry. The friction force was measured by piezoelectric sensor. According to this experiment, it was shown that as the head and table velocity became faster, the stick-slip time shortened because of the change of real contact area. And, the gradient of stick-slip period as a function of head and table speed in soft pad was more precipitous than that of hard one. From these results, it seems that the fluctuating friction force in CMP is stick-slip friction caused by viscoelastic behavior of the pad and the change of real contact area.