Howard Grunes

True wafer temperature during metallization in physical vapor deposition cluster tools

Aluminum metallization is an important process for planarization and interconnect applications. Wafer temperature during deposition is one of the key parameter determining film properties such as reflectivity and resistivity. Results of experiments carried out in order to characterize the thermal behavior of product wafers during physical vapor deposition, primarily aluminum and wafer degas will be presented. The effects of back and front side depositions, backside gas pressure and plasma power level on deposition temperature are all investigated. The utility of real time in-situ temperature monitoring on every product wafer in all deposition chambers within a cluster tool and the advantages provided in terms of process monitoring are discussed.