Improvement of Defect Density by Slurry Fitter Installation in the CMP Process

CMP 공정에서 슬러리 필터설치에 따른 결함 밀도 개선

Chemical mechanical polishing(CMP) process has been widely used to planarize dielectrics, which can apply to employed in integrated circuits for sub-micron technology. Despite the increased use of CMP process, it is difficult to accomplish the global planarization of free-defects in inter-level dielectrics (ILD). Especially, defects like micro-scratch lead to severe circuit failure, and affects yield. CMP slurries can contain particles exceeding $1{\mu}m$ size, which could cause micro-scratch on the wafer surface. The large particles in these slurries may be caused by particle agglomeration in slurry supply line. To reduce these defects, slurry filtration method has been recommended in oxide CMP. In this work, we have studied the effects of filtration and the defect trend as a function of polished wafer count using various filters in inter-metal dielectric(IMD)-CMP. The filter installation in CMP polisher could reduce defect after IMD-CMP. As a result of micro-scratches formation, it shows that slurry filter plays an important role in determining consumable pad lifetime.