• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.18 no.9
• /
• pp.787-792
• /
• 2005

Chemical mechanical polishing(CMP) has become the process of choice for modem semiconductor devices to achieve both local and global planarization. CMP is a complex process which depends on numerous variables such as macro, micro and nano-geometry of pad, relative velocity between pad and wafer stiffness and dampening characteristics of pad, slurry, pH, chemical components of slurry, abrasive concentration, abrasive size, abrasive shape, etc. Especially, an oxidizer of chemical components is very important remove a target material in metal CMP process. This paper introduces the effect of oxidizer such as $H_2O_2,\;Fe(NO_3)_3\;and\;KIO_3$ in slurry for tungsten which is used in via or/and plug. Finally the duplex reacting mechanism of $oxidizer(H_2O_2)$ through adding the $catalyst(Fe(NO_3)_3)$ could acquire the sufficient removal rate in tungsten CMP.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.174-179
• /
• 2012

In this study, we demonstrated a simple and eco-friendly method, including mechanical polishing and attrition milling processes, to recycle sputtered indium tin oxide targets to indium tin oxide nanopowders and targets for sputtered transparent conductive films. The utilized indium tin oxide target was first pulverized to a powder of sub- to a few- micrometer size by polishing using a diamond particle coated polishing wheel. The calcination of the crushed indium tin oxide powder was carried out at $1000^{\circ}C$ for 1 h, based on the thermal behavior of the indium tin oxide powder; then, the powders were downsized to nanometer size by attrition milling. The average particle size of the indium tin oxide nanopowder was decreased by increasing attrition milling time and was approximately 30 nm after attrition milling for 15 h. The morphology, chemical composition, and microstructure of the recycled indium tin oxide nanopowder were investigated by FE-SEM, EDX, and TEM. A fully dense indium tin oxide sintered specimen with 97.4% of relative density was fabricated using the recycled indium tin oxide nanopowders under atmospheric pressure at $1500^{\circ}C$ for 4 h. The microstructure, phase, and purity of the indium tin oxide target were examined by FE-SEM, XRD, and ICP-MS.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.17-21
• /
• 2011

Copper (Cu) had been attractive material due to its superior properties comparing to other metals such as aluminum or tungsten and considered as the best metal which can replace them as an interconnect metal in integrated circuits. CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) technology enabled the production of excellent local and global planarization of microelectronic materials, which allow high resolution of photolithography process. Cu CMP is a complex removal process performed by chemical reaction and mechanical abrasion, which can make defects of its own such as a scratch, particle and dishing. The abrasive particles remain on the Cu surface, and become contaminations to make device yield and performance deteriorate. To remove the particle, buffing cleaning method used in post-CMP cleaning and buffing is the one of the most effective physical cleaning process. AE(Acoustic Emission) sensor was used to detect dynamic friction during the buffing process. When polishing is started, the sensor starts to be loaded and produces an electrical charge that is directly proportional to the applied force. Cleaning efficiency of Cu surface were measured by FE-SEM and AFM during the buffing process. The experimental result showed that particles removed with buffing process, it is possible to detect the particle removal efficiency through obtained signal by the AE sensor.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.18 no.6
• /
• pp.515-520
• /
• 2005

CMP(chemical mechanical polishing) process has been attracted as an essential technology of multi-level interconnection. Also CMP process got into key process for global planarization in the chip manufacturing process. In this study, potentiodynamic polarization was carried out to investigate the influences of $H_2O_2$ concentration and metal oxide formation through the passivation on tungsten and titanium. Fortunately, the electrochemical behaviors of tungsten and titanium are similar, an one may expect. As an experimental result, electrochemical corrosion of the $5\;vol\%\;H_2O_2$ concentration of tungsten and titanium films was higher than the other concentrations. According to the analysis, the oxidation state and microstructure of surface layer were strongly influenced by different oxidizer concentration. Moreover, the oxidation kinetics and resulting chemical state of oxide layer played critical roles in determining the overall CMP performance. Therefore, we conclude that the CMP characteristics tungsten and titanium metal layer including surface roughness were strongly dependent on the amounts of hydrogen peroxide oxidizer.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.138-143
• /
• 2004

CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) technology for global planarization of multilevel interconnection structure has been widely studied for the next generation devices. Among the consumables for CMP process, especially, slurry and their chemical compositions play a very important role in the removal rates and within-wafer non-uniformity (WIWNU) for global planarization ability of CMP process. However, CMP slurries contain abrasive particles exceeding 1 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ size, which can cause micro-scratch on the wafer surface after CMP process. Such a large size particle in these slurries may be caused by particle agglomeration in slurry supply-line. In this work, to investigate the effects of agglomeration on the performance of oxide CMP slurry, we have studied an aging effect of silica slurry as a function of particle size distribution and aging time during one month. We Prepared and compared the self-developed silica slurry by adding of alumina powders. Also, we have investigated the oxide CMP characteristics. As an experimental result, we could be obtained the relatively stable slurry characteristics comparable to aging effect of original silica slurry. Consequently, we can expect the saving of high-cost slurry.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2003.05d
• /
• pp.109-112
• /
• 2003

Recently, CMP (Chemical mechanical polishing) technology has been widely used for global planarization of multi-level interconnection for ULSI applications. However, COO (cost of ownership) and COC (cost of consumables) were relatively increased because of expensive slurry. In this paper, we have studied the possibility of recycle of reused silica slurry in order to reduce the costs of CMP slurry. Also, we have collected the silica abrasive powders by filtering after subsequent CMP process for the purpose of abrasive particle recycling. And then, we annealed the collected abrasive powders to promote the mechanical strength of reduced abrasion force. Finally, we compared the CMP characteristics between self-developed KOH-based silica abrasive slurry and original slurry. As our experimental results, we obtained the comparable removal rate and good planarity with commercial products. Consequently, we can expect the saving of high cost slurry.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2003.05c
• /
• pp.41-44
• /
• 2003

As the device feature size is reduced to the deep sub-micron regime, the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) technology is widely recognized as the most promising method to achieve the global planarization of the multilevel interconnection for ULSI applications. However, cost of ownership (COO) and cost of consumables (COC) were relatively increased because of expensive slurry. In this paper, the effects of different slurry composition on the oxide CMP characteristics were investigated to obtain the higher removal rate and lower non-uniformity. We prepared the various kinds of slurry. In order to save the costs of slurry, the original slurry was diluted by de-ionized water (DIW). And then, alunima abrasives were added in the diluted slurry in order to promote the mechanical force of diluted slurry.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.167-172
• /
• 2006

Submicron colloidal silica coated with ceria were prepared by mixing of silica and nano ceria particles and modified by hydrothermal reaction. The polishing efficiency of the ceria coated silica slurry was tested over oxide film on silicon wafer. By changing the polishing pressure in the range of $140{\sim}420g/cm^2$ with the ceria coated silica slurries in $100{\sim}300nm$, rates, WIWNU and friction force were measured. The removal rate was in the order of 200, 100, and 300 nm size silica coated with ceria. It was known that the smaller particle size gives the higher removal rate with higher contact area in Cu slurry. In the case of oxide film, the indentation volume as well as contact area gives effect on the removal rate depending on the size of abrasives. The indentation volume increase with the size of abrasive particles, which results to higher removal rate. The highest removal rate in 200 nm silica core coated with ceria is discussed as proper combination of indentation and contact area effect.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2003.07a
• /
• pp.50-53
• /
• 2003

CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) process remained to solve several problems in deep sub-micron integrated circuit manufacturing process. especially consumables (polishing pad, backing film, slurry, pad conditioner), one of the most important components in the CMP system is the slurry. Among the composition of slurries (buffer solution, bulk solution, abrasive particle, oxidizer, inhibitor, suspension, antifoaming agent, dispersion agent), the abrasive particles are important in determining polish rate and planarization ability of a CMP process. However, the cost of abrasives is still very high. So, in order to reduce the high COO (cost of ownership) and COC (cost of consumables) in this paper, we have collected the silica abrasive powders by filtering after subsequent CMP process for the purpose of abrasive particle recycling. And then, we have studied the possibility of recycle of reused silica abrasive through the analysis of particle size and hardness. Also, we annealed the collected abrasive powders to promote the mechanical strength of reduced abrasion force. Finally, we compared the CMP characteristics between self-developed KOH-based silica abrasive slurry and original slurry. As our experimental results, we obtained the comparable removal rate and good planarity with commercial products. Consequently, we can expect the saving of high cost slurry.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.308-311
• /
• 2006

The purpose of this study is to investigate the difference of the wafer nanotopography impact on the oxide-film thickness variation between the STI CMP using ceria slurry and STI CMP using fumed silica slurry. The nanotopography impact on the oxide-film thickness variation after STI CMP using ceria slurry is 2.8 times higher than that after STI CMP using fumed silica slurry. It is attributed that the STI CMP using ceria slurry follows non-Prestonian polishing behavior while that using fumed silica slurry follows Prestonian polishing behavior.