• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.63-70
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• 2002

Chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) is the polishing process enabled by both chemical and mechanical actions. CMP is used in the fabrication process of the integrated circuits to achieve adequate planarity necessary for stringent photolithography depth of focus requirements. And recently copper is preferred in the metallization process because of its low resistivity. We have studied the effects of chemical reaction on the polishing rate and surface planarity in copper CMP by means of numerical simulation solving Navier-Stokes equation and copper diffusion equation. We have performed pore-scale simulation and integrated the results over all the pores underneath the wafer surface to calculate the macroscopic material removal rate. The mechanical abrasion effect was not included in our study and we concentrated our focus on the transport phenomena occurring in a single pore. We have observed the effects of several parameters such as concentration of chemical additives, relative velocity of the wafer, slurry film thickness or ash)tract ratio of the pore on the copper removal rate and the surface planarity. We observed that when the chemical reaction was rate-limiting step, the results of simulation matched well with the experimental data.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.434-437
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• 2005

Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) has become an essential step in the overall semiconductor wafer fabrication technology. In general, CMP is a surface planarization method in which a silicon wafer is rotated against a polishing pad in the presence of slurry under pressure. The polishing pad, generally a polyurethane-based material, consists of polymeric foam cell walls, which aid in removal of the reaction products at the wafer interface. It has been found that the material removal rate of any polishing pad decreases due to the so-called 'pad glazing' after several wafer lots have been processed. Therefore, the pad restoration and conditioning has become essential in CMP processes to keep the urethane polishing pad at the proper friction coefficient and to allow effective slurry transport to the wafer surface. Diamond pad conditioner employs a single layer of brazed bonded diamond crystals. Due to the corrosive nature of the polishing slurry required in low pH metal CMP such as copper, it is essential to minimize the possibility of chemical interaction between very low pH slurry (pH <2) and the bond alloy. In this paper, we report an exceptional protective coated conditioner for in-situ pad conditioning in low pH Cu CMP process. The protective Cr-coated conditioner has been tested in slurry with pH levels as low as 1.5 without bond degradation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.144-144
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• 2004

마이크로프로세서가 점점 더 고집적화 되어감에 따라 가장 중요한 반도체 제조 기술 중 하나인 로광시 초점 심도를 맞추기 위해 웨이퍼의 광역 평탄화가 요구되어 왔다. 화학 기계적 연마기술(CMP： Chemical Mechanical Polishing)은 80년대 중반 IBM에 의해 제안된 이후 이러한 요구를 만족시키기 위해서 마이크로프로세서산업에 있어서 필수 기술로 자리매김 되고 있다. 화학 기계적 연마기술은 연마 결과에 영향을 미치는 인자가 많아 체계적인 기술로 발전되지 못하고 경험적인 기술에 머물러 있는 단계이다.(중략)

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 1997.11a
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• pp.456-460
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• 1997

As device sizes are scaled to submicron dimensions, planarization technology becomes increasing1y important, both during device fabrication and during formation of multilevel interconnects and wiring. Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) has emerged recently as a new processing technique for achieving a high degree of planarization for submicron VLSI applications. This paper is presented the results of CMP process window characterization studies for 0.35 micron process with 6 metal layers.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2002.10b
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• pp.441-442
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• 2002

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.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2002.10b
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• pp.445-446
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of micro holes, pattern structure and elastic modulus of pads on the polishing behavior such as the removal rate and WIWNU (within wafer non-uniformity) during CMP. The regular holes on the pad act as the superior abrasive particle's reservoir and regular distributor at the bulk pad, respectively. The superior CMP performance was observed at the laser processed bulk pad with holes. Also, th ε groove pattern shape was very important for the effective polishing. Wave grooved pad showed higher removal rates than K-grooved pad. The removal rate was linearly increased as the top pad's elastic modulus increased.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.116-121
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• 2006

Most high-k materials are well known not to be etched easily, Some problems such as low etch rate poor sidewall angle, plasma damage, and process complexity were emerged from the high-density DRAM fabrication. Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) by a damascene process was proposed to pattern this high-k material was polished with some commercial silica slurry as a function of pH variation. Sufficient removal rate with adequate selectivity to realize the pattern mask of tera-ethyl ortho-silicate (TEOS) film for the vertical sidewall angle were obtained. The changes of X-ray diffraction pattern and dielectric constant by CMP process were negligible. The planarization was also achieved for the subsequent multi-level processes. Our new CMP approach will provide a guideline for effective patterning of high-k material by CMP technique.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.16 no.12S
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• pp.1181-1186
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• 2003

Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) is an essential dielectric planarization in multilayer microelectronic device fabrication. In the CMP process, it is necessary to minimize the extent of surface defect formation while maintaining good planarity and optimal material removal rates. The polishing mechanism of W-CMP process has been reported as the repeated process of passive layer formation by oxidizer and abrasion action by slurry abrasives. Thus, it is important to understand the effect of oxidizer on W passivation layer, in order to obtain higher removal rate (RR) and very low non-uniformity (NU %) during W-CMP process. In this paper, we compared the effects of oxidizer or W-CMP process with three different kind of oxidizers with 5 wt% hydrogen peroxide such as Fe(NO$_3$)$_3$, H$_2$O$_2$, and KIO$_3$. The difference in removal rate and roughness of W in stable and unstable slurries are believed to caused by modification in the mechanical behavior of Al$_2$O$_3$ particles in presence of surfactant stabilizing the slurry.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.378-383
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• 2004

Tungsten is widely used as a plug for the multi-level interconnection structures. However, due to the poor adhesive properties of tungsten(W) on SiO$_2$ layer, the Ti/TiN barrier layer is usually deposited onto SiO$_2$ for increasing adhesion ability with W film. Generally, for the W-CMP(chemical mechanical polishing) process, the passivation layer on the tungsten surface during CMP plays an important role. In this paper, the effect of oxidant on the polishing selectivity of W/Ti/TiN layer was investigated. The alumina(A1$_2$O$_3$)-based slurry with $H_2O$$_2$ as the oxidizer was used for CMP applications. As an experimental result, for the case of 5 wt％ oxidizer added, the removal rates were improved and polishing selectivity of 1.4:1 was obtained. It was also found that the CMP characteristics of W and Ti metal layer including surface roughness were strongly dependent on the amounts of $H_2O$$_2$ oxidizer.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.29 no.9 s.240
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• pp.1276-1281
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• 2005

Compound semiconductors are the semiconductors composed of more than two chemical elements. Lithium Tantalate$K_I$ wafer is used for several optical devices, especially surface acoustic wave(SAW) device. Because of the lithography in SAW device process, $LiTaO_3$ polishing is needed. In this paper, the commercial slurries $(NALC02371^{TM},\; ILD1300^{TM},\;ceria slurry)$ used for chemical mechanical polishing(CMP) were tested, and the most suitable slurry was selected by measuring material removal rate and average centerline roughness$(R_a)$. From these result, it was proven that $ILD1300^{TM}$ was the most suitable slurry for $LiTaO_3$ wafer CMP due to the chemical reaction between solution in slurry and material.