• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1807-1812
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• 2004

The application of chemical mechanical polishing(CMP) has a long history. Recently, CMP has been used in the planarization of the interlayer dielectric(ILD) and metal used to form the multilevel interconnections between each layers. Therefore, much research has been conducted to understand the basic mechanism of the CMP process. CMP performed by the down force and the relative speed between pad and wafer with slurry is typical tribo-system. In general, studies have indicated that removal rate is relative to energy. Accordingly, in this study, CMP results will be analyzed by a viewpoint of the friction energy using friction force measurement. The results show that energy would not constant in the same removal rate conditions

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.19.2-19.2
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• 2006

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.279-283
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• 2018

In this study, we investigate the behavior of abrasive particles and change of the stick-slip pattern according to chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process parameters when a large number of abrasive particles are fixed on a pad. The CMP process is simulated using the finite element method. In the simulation, the abrasive grains are composed of those used in the actual CMP process. Considering the cohesion of the abrasive grains with the start of the CMP process, abrasive particles with various sizes are fixed onto the pad at different intervals so that stick-slip could occur. In this analysis, we determine that when the abrasive particle size is relatively large, the stick-slip period does not change as the pressure increases while the moving speed is constant. However, if the size of the abrasive grains is relatively small, the amount of deformation of the grains increases due to the elasticity of the pad. Therefore, the stick-slip pattern may not be observed. As the number of abrasive particles increases, the stick-slip period and displacement decrease. This is consistent with the decrease in the von Mises yield stress value on the surface of the wafer as the number of abrasive grains increases. We determine that when the number of the abrasive grains increases, the polishing rate, and characteristics are improved, and scratches are reduced. Moreover, we establish that the period of stick-slip increases and the change of the stick-slip size was not large when the abrasive particle size was relatively small.

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

• 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.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2001.04a
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• pp.1117-1120
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• 2001

Chemical mechanical planarization(CMP) has emerged as the planarization technique of choice in both front-end and back-end integrated circuit manufacturing. Conventional CMP process utilize a polyurethane polishing pad and liquid chemical slurry containing abrasive particles. There have been serious problems in CMP in terms of repeatability and defects in patterned wafers. Since IBM's official announcement on Copper Dual Damascene(Cu2D) technology, the semiconductor world has been engaged in a Cu2D race. Today, even after~3years of extensive R&D work, the End-of-Line(EOL) yields are still too low to allow the transition of technology to manufacturing. One of the reasons behind this is the myriad of defects associated with Cu technology. Especially, dishing and erosion defects increase the resistance because they decrease the interconnection section area, and ultimately reduce the lifetime of the semiconductor. Methods to reduce dishing & erosion have recently been interface hardness of the pad, optimization of the pattern structure as dummy patterns. Dishing & erosion are initially generated an uneven pressure distribution in the materials. These defects are accelerated by free abrasive and chemical etching. Therefore, it is known that dishing & erosion can be reduced by minimizing the abrasive concentration. Minimizing the abrasive concentration by using Ce$O_2$ is the best solution for reducing dishing & erosion and for removal rate. This paper introduce dishing & erosion generating mechanism and a method for developing a semi-rigid abrasive pad to minimize dishing & erosion during CMP.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.52 no.10
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• pp.441-446
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• 2003

The chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process is now widely employed in the ultra large scale integrated (ULSI) semiconductor fabrication. Especially, shallow trench isolation (STI) has become a key isolation scheme for sub-0.13/0.10${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ CMOS technology. The most important issues of STI-CMP is to decrease the various defects such as nitride residue, dishing, and tom oxide. To solve these problems, in this paper, we studied the planarization characteristics using slurry additive with the high selectivity between $SiO_2$ and $Si_3$$N_4$ films for the purpose of process simplification and in-situ end point detection. As our experimental results, it was possible to achieve a global planarization and STI-CMP process could be dramatically simplified. Also, we estimated the reliability through the repeated tests with the optimized process conditions in order to identify the reproducibility of STI-CMP process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.127-128
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• 2010

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2004.07b
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• pp.1283-1287
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• 2004

The design rules are being more strict with requirement of operation speed and development of IC industry. For this reason, required minimum line-width has been narrowed under sub-micron region. As the length of minimum line-width is narrowed, local and global planarization are being prominent. CMP(Chemical-Mechanical Polishing), one of the planarizarion technology, is a process which polishes with the ascent of chemical reaction and relative velocity between pad and wafer without surface defects. CMP is performed with a complex interaction among many factors, how CMP has an interaction with such factors is not evident. Accordingly, the studies on this are still carrying out. Therefore, an examination of the CMP phenomena and an accurate understanding of compositive factors are urgently needed. In this paper, we will consider of the relations between the effects of temperature which influences many factors having an effect on polishing results and the characteristics of CMP in order to understand and estimate the influence of temperature. Then, through the interaction of shown temperature and polishing result, we could expect to boost fundamental understanding on complex CMP phenomena.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2001.05b
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• pp.34-37
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• 2001

As the integrated circuit device shrinks to smaller dimensions, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process was required for the global planarization of inter-metal dielectric (IMD) layer with free-defect. However, as the inter-metal dielectrics (IMD) layer gets thinner, micro-scratches are becoming as major defects. Micro-scratches are generated by agglomerated slurry, solidified and attached slurry in pipe line of slurry supply system. To prevent agglomerated slurry particle from inflow, we installed 0.5${\mu}m$ POU (point of use) filter, which is depth-type filter and has 80% filtering efficiency for the $1.0{\mu}m$ size particle. In this paper, we studied the relationship between defect generation and pad count to understand the exact efficiency of the slurry filtration, and to find out the appropriate pad usage. Our preliminary results showed that it is impossible to prevent defect-causing particles perfectly through the depth-type filter. Thus, we suggest that it is necessary to optimize the flow rate of slurry to overcome depth type filters weak-point, and to install the high spray of de-ionized Water (DIW) with high pressure.