Development of a Pad Conditioning Method for ILD CMP using a High Pressure Micro Jet System

The goal of this study is to determine if High Pressure Micro Jet (HPMJ) conditioning can be used as a substitute for, or in conjunction with, conventional diamond pad conditioning. Five conditioning methods were studied during which 50 ILD wafers were polished successively in a 100-mm scaled polisher and removal rate (RR), coefficient of friction (COF), pad flattening ratio (PFR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements were obtained. Results indicated that PFR increased rapidly, and COF and removal rate decreased significantly, when conditioning was not employed. With diamond conditioning, both removal rate and COF were stable from wafer to wafer, and low PFR values were observed. SEM images indicated that clean grooves could be achieved by HPMJ pad conditioning, suggesting that HPMJ may have the potential to reduce micro scratches and defects caused by slurry abrasive particle residues inside grooves. Regardless of different pad conditioning methods, a linear correlation was observed between temperature, COF and removal rate, while an inverse relationship was seen between COF and PFR.