Dependence of Dishing on Fluid Pressure during Chemical Mechanical Polishing

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is a manufacturing process that uses controlled wear to planarize dielectric and metallic layers on silicon wafers. CMP experiments revealed that a sub-ambient film pressure developed at the wafer/pad interface. Additionally, dishing occurs in CMP processes when the copper-in-trench lines are removed at a rate higher than the barrier layer. In order to study dishing across a stationary wafer during polishing, dishing maps were created. Since dishing is a function of the total contact pressure resulting from the applied load and the fluid pressure, the hydrodynamic pressure model was refined and used in an existing model to study copper dishing. Density maps, highlighting varying levels of dishing across the wafer face at different radial positions, were developed. This work will present the results.