• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2003.05c
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• pp.166-169
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• 2003

In this study, we evaluated the characteristics by the addition of 3 different kinds of nonionic surfactant to improve the dispersion stability of slurries. Slurry stability is an issue in any industry in which settling of particles can result in poor performance. So we observed the variation of particle size and settling rate when the concentration and addition time of surfactant are changed. When the surfactant is added after milling process, the particle size and pH became low. It is supposed that the particle agglomeration was disturbed by adsorption of surfactant on alumina abrasive. The settling rate was relatively stable when nonionic surfactant is added about 0.1~1.0 wt%. When molecular weight(MW) is too small like Brij 35, it was appeared low effect on dispersion stability. Because it can't prevent coagulation and subsequent settling with too small MW. The proper quality of MW for slurry stability was presented about 500,000. Consequently, the addition of nonionic surfactant to alumina slurry has been shown to have very good effect on slurry stabilization. If we apply this results to copper CMP process, it is thought that we will be able to obtain better yield.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.527-527
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• 2007

CMP가 1980년 IBM에 의해 반도체 웨이퍼의 표면 연마를 위해 적용된 후, 많은 연구 개발의 노력으로 반도체 집적회로의 제조 공정에서 필수 핵심기술이 되었으나, 소모자재(연마패드, 탄성지지대, 슬러리, 패드 컨디셔너)의 비용이 CMP 공정 비용의 70% 이상을 차지하는 등 제조단가가 높다는 단점을 극복할 수가 없었다. 특히, 고가의 슬러리가 차지하는 비중이 40% 이상을 넘고 있어, 슬러리 원액의 소모량을 줄이기 위한 연구들이 현재 활발히 연구 중이다. 슬러리의 변수로는 연마입자의 종류 및 특성, 용액의 pH, 연마입자의 슬러리내 안정성 등이 있다. 슬러리내 연마입자는 연마량과 균일도 측면에서 밀접한 관계를 가지고 있다. 또한, 연마제의 영향에 따라 연마율의 차이 즉, CMP 특성의 변화를 보이고 있기 때문에 투입량 또한 최적화가 필요하다. 본 연구에서는 새로운 연마제의 특성을 알아보기 위해 탈이온수(de-ionized water; DIW)에 $CeO_2,\;MnO_2,\;ZrO_2$ 등을 첨가한 후 분산시간에 따른 연마 특성과 atomic force microscopy (AFM)분석을 통해 표면 거칠기를 비교 분석하였다. 그리고, 세 가지 종류의 연마제를 각각 1wt%, 3wt%, 5wt% 첨가하여 산화막에 대한 CMP 특성을 알아본 후, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) 측정과 입도 분석을 통해 그 가능성을 알아보았다.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.23 no.6_2
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• pp.1051-1058
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• 2020

The chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) is a process of physically and chemically polishing the semiconductor substrate. The planarization quality of a substrate can be evaluated by the within wafer non-uniformity (WIWNU). In order to improve WIWNU, it is important to manage the pad profile. In this study, a device capable of non-contact measurement of the pad thickness profile was developed. From the measured pad profile, the profile of the pad surface and the groove was extracted using the envelope function, and the pad thickness profile was derived using the difference between each profile. Thickness profiles of various CMP pads were measured using the developed PMS and envelope function. In the case of IC series pads, regardless of the pad wear amount, the envelopes closely follow the pad surface and grooves, making it easy to calculate the pad thickness profile. In the case of the H80 series pad, the pad thickness profile was easy to derive because the pad with a small wear amount did not reveal deep pores on the pad surface. However, the pad with a large wear amount make errors in the lower envelope profile, because there are pores deeper than the grooves. By removing these deep pores through filtering, the pad flatness could be clearly confirmed. Through the developed PMS and the pad thickness profile calculation method using the envelope function, the pad life, the amount of wear and the pad flatness can be easily derived and used for various pad analysis.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 2021

The quantitative measurement of interfacial adhesion energy (Gc) of multilayer thin films for Cu interconnects was investigated using a double cantilever beam (DCB) and 4-point bending (4-PB) test. In the case of a sample with Ta diffusion barrier applied, all Gc values measured by the DCB and 4-PB tests were higher than 5 J/㎡, which is the minimum criterion for Cu/low-k integration without delamination. However, in the case of the Ta/Cu sample, measured Gc value of the DCB test was lower than 5 J/㎡. All Gc values measured by the 4-PB test were higher than those of the DCB test. Measured Gc values increase with increasing phase angle, that is, 4-PB test higher than DCB test due to increasing plastic energy dissipation and roughness-related shielding effects, which matches well interfacial fracture mechanics theory. As a result of the 4-PB test, Ta/Cu and Cu/Ta interfaces measured Gc values were higher than 5 J/㎡, suggesting that Ta is considered to be applicable as a diffusion barrier and a capping layer for Cu interconnects. The 4-PB test method is recommended for quantitative adhesion energy measurement of the Cu interconnect interface because the thermal stress due to the difference in coefficient of thermal expansion and the delamination due to chemical mechanical polishing have a large effect of the mixing mode including shear stress.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.74-83
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• 2022

The entire process, from the raw material to the final system qualification test, has been developed to fabricate a large-diameter, lightweight reflective-telescope system for a satellite observation. The telescope with 3 anastigmatic mirrors has an aperture of 700 mm and a total mass of 66 kg. We baked a silicon carbide substrate body from a carbon preform using a reaction sintering method, and tested the structural and chemical properties, surface conditions, and crystal structure of the body. We developed the polishing and coating methods considering the mechanical and chemical properties of the silicon carbide (SiC) body, and we utilized a chemical-vapor-deposition method to deposit a dense SiC thin film more than 170 ㎛ thick on the mirror's surface, to preserve a highly reflective surface with excellent optical performance. After we made the SiC mirrors, we measured the wave-front error for various optical fields by assembling and aligning three mirrors and support structures. We conducted major space-environment tests for the components and final assembly by temperature-cycling tests and vibration-shock tests, in accordance with the qualifications for the space and launch environment. We confirmed that the final telescope achieves all of the target performance criteria.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2012

Three-dimensional integrated circuit(3D IC) technology has become increasingly important due to the demand for high system performance and functionality. In this work, BOE and HF wet etching of Cu line surfaces after CMP were conducted for Cu-Cu pattern direct bonding. Step height of Cu and $SiO_2$ as well as Cu dishing after Cu CMP were analyzed by the 3D-Profiler. Step height increased and Cu dishing decreased with increasing BOE and HF wet etching times. XPS analysis of Cu surface revealed that Cu surface oxide layer was partially removed by BOE and HF wet etching treatment. BOE treatment showed not only the effective $SiO_2$ etching but also reduced dishing and Cu surface oxide rather than HF treatment, which can be used as an meaningful process data for reliable Cu-Cu pattern bonding characteristics.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 2012

Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) is a polishing process used in the microelectronic fabrication industries to achieve a globally planar wafer surface for the manufacturing of integrated circuits. Pad conditioning plays an important role in the CMP process to maintain a material removal rate (MRR) and its uniformity. For metal CMP process, highly acidic slurry containing strong oxidizer is being used. It would affect the conditioner surface which normally made of metal such as Nickel and its alloy. If conditioner surface is corroded, diamonds on the conditioner surface would be fallen out from the surface. Because of this phenomenon, not only life time of conditioners is decreased, but also more scratches are generated. To protect the conditioners from corrosion, thin organic film deposition on the metal surface is suggested without requiring current conditioner manufacturing process. To prepare the anti-corrosion film on metal conditioner surface, vapor SAM (self-assembled monolayer) and FC (Fluorocarbon) -CVD (SRN-504, Sorona, Korea) films were prepared on both nickel and nickel alloy surfaces. Vapor SAM method was used for SAM deposition using both Dodecanethiol (DT) and Perfluoroctyltrichloro silane (FOTS). FC films were prepared in different thickness of 10 nm, 50 nm and 100 nm on conditioner surfaces. Electrochemical analysis such as potentiodynamic polarization and impedance, and contact angle measurements were carried out to evaluate the coating characteristics. Impedance data was analyzed by an electrical equivalent circuit model. The observed contact angle is higher than 90o after thin film deposition, which confirms that the coatings deposited on the surfaces are densely packed. The results of potentiodynamic polarization and the impedance show that modified surfaces have better performance than bare metal surfaces which could be applied to increase the life time and reliability of conditioner during W CMP.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.276-280
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• 2010

Copper(Cu) as an interconnecting metal layer can replace aluminum (Al) in IC fabrication since Cu has low electrical resistivity, showing high immunity to electromigration compared to Al. However, it is very difficult for copper to be patterned by the dry etching processes. The chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process has been introduced and widely used as the mainstream patterning technique for Cu in the fabrication of deep submicron integrated circuits in light of its capability to reduce surface roughness. But this process leaves a large amount of residues on the wafer surface, which must be removed by the post-CMP cleaning processes. Copper corrosion is one of the critical issues for the copper metallization process. Thus, in order to understand the copper corrosion problems in post-CMP cleaning solutions and study the effects of DC biases and post-CMP cleaning solution concentrations on the Cu film, a constant voltage was supplied at various concentrations, and then the output currents were measured and recorded with time. Most of the cases, the current was steadily decreased (i.e. resistance was increased by the oxidation). In the lowest concentration case only, the current was steadily increased with the scarce fluctuations. The higher the constant supplied DC voltage values, the higher the initial output current and the saturated current values. However the time to be taken for it to be saturated was almost the same for all the DC supplied voltage values. It was indicated that the oxide formation was not dependent on the supplied voltage values and 1 V was more than enough to form the oxide. With applied voltages lower than 3 V combined with any concentration, the perforation through the oxide film rarely took place due to the insufficient driving force (voltage) and the copper oxidation ceased. However, with the voltage higher than 3 V, the copper ions were started to diffuse out through the oxide film and thus made pores to be formed on the oxide surface, causing the current to increase and a part of the exposed copper film inside the pores gets back to be oxidized and the rest of it was remained without any further oxidation, causing the current back to decrease a little bit. With increasing the applied DC bias value, the shorter time to be taken for copper ions to be diffused out through the copper oxide film. From the discussions above, it could be concluded that the oxide film was formed and grown by the copper ion diffusion first and then the reaction with any oxidant in the post-CMP cleaning solution.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.631-635
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• 2011

Spherical and non-spherical silica particles prepared by the direct oxidation were studied for the effect of the particle size and shape of these particles on oxide CMP removal rate. Spherical silica particles, which have 10~100 nm in size, were prepared by the direct oxidation process from silicon in the presence of alkali catalyst. The 10 nm silica particles were aggregated by addition of an acid, an alcohol, or a silane as an aggregation inducer between the particles. Two or more aggregated silica particles were used as a seed to grow non spherical silica particles in the direct oxidation process of silicon in the presence of alkali catalyst. The oxide removal rate of spherical silica particles increased with increasing an average particle size for spherical silica abrasives in the oxide CMP. It further increased non-spherical particles, compared with the spherical particles in the similar average particle size.