• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.101-106
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• 2017

The chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process combines the chemical effect of slurry with the mechanical effect of abrasive (slurry)-wafer-pads The slurry delivery system has a notable effect on polishing results, because the slurry distribution is changed by the supply method. Thus, the investigation of slurry pumps and nozzles with regard to the slurry delivery system becomes important. This paper investigated the effect of a centrifugal slurry pump on a spray nozzle system in terms of uniform slurry supply under a rotating copper (Cu) wafer, based on experimental results and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In conventional tools, the slurry is unevenly and discontinuously supplied to the pad, due to a pulsed flow caused by the peristaltic pump and distributed in a narrow area by the tube nozzle. Adopting the proposed slurry delivery system provides a higher uniformity and lowered shear stress than usual methods. Therefore, the newly developed slurry delivery system can improve the CMP performance.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.23 no.5 s.182
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• pp.59-67
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• 2006

Chemical Mechanical Polishing(CMP) in semiconductor production is characterized its output property by Removal Rate(RR) and Non-Uniformity(NU). Some previous works show that RR is determined by production of pressure and velocity and NU is also largely affected by velocity of flowfield during CMP. This study is about the direct measurement of velocity of slurry during CMP and whole flowfield upon the non-groove pad by Particle Image Velocimetry(PIV). Typical PIV system is modified adequately for inspecting CMP and slurry flowfield is measured by changing both pad rpm and carrier rpm. We performed measurement with giving some variation in the kinds of pad. The results show that the flowfield is majorly determined not by Carrier but by Pad in the case of non-groove pad.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.121-122
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• 2008

Lithium Niobate (LN:LiNbO3) is a compound of niobium, lithium and oxygen. The characteristics of LN are piezoelectricity, ferroelectricity and photoelectricity, and which is widely used in surface acoustic wave (SAW). To manufacture LN device, the LN surface should be a smooth surface and defect-free because of optical property, but the LN material is processed difficult by traditional processes such as grinding and mechanical polishing (MP) because of its brittleness. To decrease defects, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) was applied to the LN wafer. In this study, the suitable parameters scuh as pressure and relative velocity, were investigated for the LN CMP process. To improve roughness, the LN CMP was performed using the parameters that were the highest removal rate among process parameters. And, evaluation of optical property was performed by the optical reflectance and non-linear characteristic.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.58-58
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• 2009

Uniformity related issues in chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) are within wafer non-uniformity (WIWNU), wafer to wafer non-uniformity (WTWNU), planarity and dishing/erosion. Here, the WIWNU that originates from spatial distribution of independent variables such as temperature, sliding distance, down force and material removal rate (MRR) during CMP, relies to spatial dependency. Among various sources of spatial irregularity, hardness and modulus of pad and surface roughness in sources for pad uniformity are great, especially. So, we investigated the spatial variation of pad surface characteristics using pad measuring system (PMS) and roughness measuring system. Reduced peak height ($R_{pk}$) of roughness parameter shows a strong correlation with the removal rate, and the distribution of relative sliding distance onwafer during polishing has an effect on the variation of $R_{pk}$ and WIWNU. Also, the results of pad wear profile thorough developed pad profiler well coincides with the kinematical simulation of conditioning, and it can contribute for the enhancement of WIWNU in CMP process.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.261-269
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• 2013

The chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process is widely used in semiconductor manufacturing process for planarization of various materials and structures. Point-of-use (POU) filters are used in most of the CMP processes in order to reduce the unwanted micro-scratches which may result in defects. The performance of the POU filter is depends on type and size of the abrasives used during cleaning process. For this reason, there is a need to evaluate POU filters for their filtration efficiency (FE) with different types of abrasives. In this study, we developed filter test system to evaluate the FE of POU using ceria and silica abrasives (slurry). The POU filter is roll type capsule filter with retention size of 0.2 ${\mu}m$. Two POU filters of different make are evaluated for FE. We observed that both POU filters show similar filtration efficiency for silica and ceria slurry. Results reveal that the ceria slurry and the colloidal silica particle are removed not only by mechanical way but also hydrodynamic and electrostatic interaction way.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.330-336
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• 2019

Conditioning is a process involving pad surface scraping by a moving metallic disk that is electrodeposited with diamond abrasives. It is an indispensable process in chemical-mechanical planarization, which regulates the pad roughness by removing the surface residues. Additionally, conditioning maintains the material removal rates and increases the pad lifetime. As the conditioning continues, the pad profile becomes unevenly to be deformed, which causes poor polishing quality. Simulation calculates the density at which the diamond abrasives on the conditioner scratch the unit area on the pad. It can predict the profile deformation through the control of conditioner dwell time. Previously, this effect of the diamond shape on conditioning has been investigated with regard to microscopic areas, such as surface roughness, rather than global pad-profile deformation. In this study, the effect of diamond shape on the pad profile is evaluated by comparing the simulated and experimental conditioning using two conditioners: a) random-shaped abrasive conditioner (RSC) and b) uniform-shaped abrasive conditioner (USC). Consequently, it is confirmed that the USC is incapable of controlling the pad profile, which is consistent with the simulation results.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.47-51
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• 2013

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) has become one of the key processes in wafer level stacking technology for 3D stacked IC. In this study, two-step CMP process was proposed to polish $Cu/SiO_2$ hybrid bonding surface, that is, Cu CMP was followed by $SiO_2$ CMP to minimize Cu dishing. As a result, Cu dishing was reduced down to $100{\sim}200{\AA}$ after $SiO_2$ CMP and surface roughness was also improved. The bonding interface showed no noticeable dishing or interface line, implying high bonding strength.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.156-162
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• 2002

There are many factors affecting the results of CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing). Among them, the temperature is related to the removal rate and WIWNU (Within Wafer Non-Uniformity). In other words, the removal rate is proportional to the temperature and the variation of temperature distribution on a pad affects the non-uniformity within a wafer. In the former case, the active chemistry improves the rate of chemical reaction and the removal rate becomes better. But, there are not many advanced studies. In the latter case, a kinematical analysis between work-piece and pad can be obtained. And such result analysed from the mechanical aspect can be directly related to the temperature distribution on a pad affecting WIWNU. Meanwhile, the temperature change affects the quantities of both slurry and pad. The change of a pH value of the slurry chemistry due to a temperature variation affects the surface state of an abrasive particle and hence the agglomeration of abrasives happens above the certain temperature. And the pH alteration also affects the zeta potential of a pad surface and therefore the electrical force between pad and abrasive changes. Such results could affect the removal rate and etc. Moreover, the temperature changes the 1st and 2nd elastic moduli of a pad which are closely related to the removal rate and the WIWNU.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.79-85
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• 2015

RC delay is a critical issue for achieving high performance of ULSI devices. In order to minimize the RC delay time, we uses the CMP process to introduce high-conductivity Cu and low-k materials on the damascene. The low-k materials are generally soft and fragile, resulting in structure collapse during the conventional high-pressure CMP process. One troubleshooting method is electrochemical mechanical polishing (ECMP) which has the advantages of high removal rate, and low polishing pressure, resulting in a well-polished surface because of high removal rate, low polishing pressure, and well-polished surface, due to the electrochemical acceleration of the copper dissolution. This study analyzes an electrochemical state (active, passive, transpassive state) on a potentiodynamic curve using a three-electrode cell consisting of a working electrode (WE), counter electrode (CE), and reference electrode (RE) in a potentiostat to verify an electrochemical removal mechanism. This study also tries to find optimum conditions for ECMP through experimentation. Furthermore, during the low-pressure ECMP process, we investigate the effect of current density on surface roughness and removal rate through anodic oxidation, dissolution, and reaction with a chelating agent. In addition, according to the Faraday’s law, as the current density increases, the amount of oxidized and dissolved copper increases. Finally, we confirm that the surface roughness improves with polishing time, and the current decreases in this process.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.289-294
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• 2012

There are several indicators to represent characteristics of chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) such as material removal rate (MRR), surface quality and removal uniformity on a wafer surface. Especially, the removal uniformity on the wafer edge is one of the most important issues since it gives a significant impact on the yield of chip production on a wafer. Non-uniform removal rate at the wafer edge (edge effect) is mainly induced by a non-uniform pressure from nonuniform pad curvature during CMP process, resulting in edge exclusion which means the region that cannot be made to a chip. For this reason, authors tried to minimize the edge exclusion by using an edge profile control (EPC) ring. The EPC ring is equipped on the polishing head with the wafer to protect a wafer from the edge effect. Experimental results showed that the EPC ring could dramatically minimize the edge exclusion of the wafer. This study shows a possibility to improve the yield of chip production without special design changes of the CMP equipment.