• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.11-14
• /
• 2007

Consumables used in Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) have been played important role to improve quality and productivity. Since the properties of consumables constantly change with various reasons, such as shelf time, manufactured time, lot to lot variation from supplier and so on, CMP results are not constant during the process. Also, CMP process results are affected by multiple sources from wafer, conditioner, pad and slurry. Therefore, multiple sensing systems are required to monitor CMP process variation. In this paper, the authors focus on development of monitoring system for CMP process which consist of force, temperature and displacement sensor to measure the signal from CMP process. With monitoring systems mentioned above, complex CMP phenomena can be investigated more clearly.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
• /
• 2004.10a
• /
• pp.622-625
• /
• 2004

The CMP monitoring system was newly developed by the aid of friction force measurement, resulting from installation of piezoelectric quartz sensor on R&D polisher. The correlation between friction and CMP results was investigated in terms of tribological aspects by using the monitoring system. Various friction signals were monitored and analyzed by the change of experimental conditions such as pressure, velocity, pad and slurry. First of all, the lubrication regimes were classified with Sommerfeld Number through measuring coefficient of friction in ILD CMP. And then, the removal mechanism of abrasives could be understood through the correlation with removal rate and coefficient of friction. Especially, the amount of material removal per unit sliding distance is directly proportional to the friction force. The uniformity of CMP performances was also deteriorated as coefficient of friction increased.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.38 no.8
• /
• pp.863-867
• /
• 2014

In this study, an acoustic emission (AE) sensor was used for measuring the abrasive and molecular-scale phenomena in chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). An AE sensor is a transducer that converts a mechanical wave into an electrical signal, and is capable of acquiring high-level frequencies from materials. Therefore, an AE sensor was installed in the CMP equipment and the signals were measured simultaneously during the polishing process. In this study, an AE monitoring system was developed for investigating the sensitivity of the AE signal to (a) the variations in the material properties of the pad, slurry, and wafer and (b) the change in conditions during the CMP process. This system was adapted to Oxide and Cu CMP processes. AE signal parameters including AE raw frequency, FFT, and amplitude were analyzed for understanding the abrasive and molecular-level phenomena in the CMP process. Finally, we verified that AE sensors with different bandwidths could function in complementary ways during CMP process monitoring.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2007.11a
• /
• pp.51-52
• /
• 2007

This paper compared wired Acoustic Emission (AE) signals with wireless AE signals. According to the material and process condition, each process signal has distinguishable characteristic to show each removal phenomenon. Therefore, wired and wireless AE sensors having different bandwidth are complementary for CMP process monitoring. Especially, the AE sensor was used to investigate abrasive and molecular-scale phenomena during CMP process, which was compatible to acquire high level frequency. In experiment, wireless AE system was used to get signals in rotary system, using bluetooth. But, it is possible to acquire only RMS signals, which can not analyze abrasive and molecular-sale phenomena. Second, wired AE system was installed using mercury slip-ring, which is suitable not only for rotation equipment but also for acquiring original signals. The acquired signals were analyzed by FFT for understanding of abrasive and molecular revel phenomena in CMP process, finally, we verified that two types of AE sensor with different bandwidth were complementary for CMP process monitoring.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
• /
• 2006.05a
• /
• pp.479-480
• /
• 2006

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between CMP(Chemical Mechanical Polishing) characteristics of ITO thin film and friction signal by using the CMP monitoring system. Suba 400 pad and MSW2000 slurry of the Rohm & Haas Co. was used in this experiment to investigate the charateristics of ITO CMP. From this experiment, it is proven that the coefficient of friction is related to uniformity of the removal rate of the ITO thin film. Therefore, the prediction of polishing result would be possible by measuring friction signal.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.115-122
• /
• 2018

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is a hybrid processing method in which the surface of a wafer is planarized by chemical and mechanical material removal. Since mechanical material removal in CMP is caused by the rolling or sliding of abrasive particles, interfacial friction during processing greatly influences the CMP results. In this paper, the trend of tribology research on CMP process is discussed. First, various friction force monitoring methods are introduced, and three elements in the CMP tribo-system are defined based on the material removal mechanism of the CMP process. Tribological studies on the CMP process include studies of interfacial friction due to changes in consumables such as slurry and polishing pad, modeling of material removal rate using contact mechanics, and stick-slip friction and scratches. The real area of contact (RCA) between the polishing pad and wafer also has a significant influence on the polishing result in the CMP process, and many researchers have studied RCA control and prediction. Despite the fact that the CMP process is a hybrid process using chemical reactions and mechanical material removal, tribological studies to date have yet to clarify the effects of chemical reactions on interfacial friction. In addition, it is necessary to clarify the relationship between the interface friction phenomenon and physical surface defects in CMP, and the cause of their occurrence.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2001.11b
• /
• pp.176-180
• /
• 2001

There are several factors causing re-work in CMP process such as improper polish time calculation by operator. removal rate decline of the polisher, unstable in-suit pad conditioning, slurry supply module problem and wafer carrier rotation inconsistancy. And conclusively those fundimental reason for the re-work rate increasement is mainly from the cycle time delay between wafer polish and post measurement. Therefore, Wafer thickness measurement in wet condition could be able to remove those improper process conditions which may happen during the process in comparison with the conventional dried wafer measurement system and it can be able to reduce the CMP process cycle time. CMP scrap reduction by overpolish, re-work rate reduction, thickness control efficiency also can be easily achieved. CMP Equipment manufacturer also trying to develop integrated system which has multi-head & platen, cleaner, pre & post thickness measure and even control the polish time from the calculated removal rate of each polishing head by software. CMP re-work problem such as over & under polish by target thickness may result in the cycle time delay. By reducing those inefficient factors during the process and establish of the automatic process control, CLC system need to be adopted to maximize the process performance. Wafer to Wafer Polish Time Feed Back Control by measuring the wafer right after the polish shorten the polish time calculation for the next wafer and it lead to the perfact Post CMP target thickness control capability. By Monitoring all of the processed the wafer, CMP process will also be stabilize itself.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2001.11a
• /
• pp.176-180
• /
• 2001

There are several factors causing re-work in CMP process such as improper polish time calculation by operator, removal rate decline of the polisher, unstable in-suit pad conditioning, slurry supply module problem and wafer carrier rotation inconsistency. And conclusively those fundimental reason for the re-work rate increasement is mainly from the cycle time delay between wafer polish and post measurement. Therefore, Wafer thickness measurement in wet condition could be able to remove those improper process conditions which may happen during the process in comparison with the conventional dried wafer measurement system and it can be able to reduce the CMP process cycle time. CMP scrap reduction by overpolish, re-work rate reduction, thickness control efficiency also can be easily achieved. CMP Equipment manufacturer also trying to develop integrated system which has multi-head & platen, cleaner, pre & post thickness measure and even control the polish time from the calculated removal rate of each polishing head by software. CMP re-work problem such as over & under polish by target thickness may result in the cycle time delay. By reducing those inefficient factors during the process and establish of the automatic process control, CLC system need to be adopted to maximize the process performance. Wafer to Wafer Polish Time Feed Back Control by measuring the wafer right after the polish shorten the polish time calculation for the next wafer and it lead to the perfect Post CMP target thickness control capability. By Monitoring all of the processed the wafer, CMP process will also be stabilize itself.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2006.06a
• /
• pp.573-574
• /
• 2006

The planarization technology of Chemical-mechanical polishing(CMP), used for the manufacturing of multi-layer various material interconnects for Large-scale Integrated Circuits (LSI), is also readily adaptable as an enabling technology in MicroElectroMechanical System (MEMS) fabrication, particularly polysilicon surface micromachining. However, general LSI device CMP has partly distinction aspects, the pattern scale and material sorts in comparison with MEMS CMP. This study performed preliminary CMP tests to identify slurry characteristic used in general IC device. The experiment result is possible to verify slurry characteristic in MEMS structure material.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.282-287
• /
• 2017

SU-8 is an epoxy-type photoresist widely used for the fabrication of high-aspect-ratio (HAR) micro-structures in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). To fabricate highly integrated structures, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) has emerged as the preferred manufacturing process for planarizing the MEMS structure. In SU-8 CMP, an oxidizer decomposes organic impurities and particles in the CMP slurry remove the chemically reacted surface of SU-8. To fabricate HAR microstructures using the CMP process, the adhesion between SU-8 and substrate material is important to avoid the delamination of the SU-8 film caused by the mechanical-dominant material removal characteristic. In this study, the friction force during the CMP process is measured with a CMP monitoring system to detect the delamination phenomenon and investigate the delamination of the SU-8 film from the silicon substrate under various pressure conditions. The increase in applied pressure causes an increase in the frictional force and wafer-edge stress concentration. The frictional force measurement shows that the friction force changes according to the delamination phenomenon of the SU-8 film, and that it is possible to monitor the delamination phenomenon during the SU-8 CMP process. The delamination at a high applied pressure is explained by the effect of stress distribution and pad deformation. Consequently, it is necessary to control the pressure of polishing, which can avoid the delamination in SU-8 CMP.