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

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.319-325
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• 2017

Through silicon via (TSV) technology is extensively used in 3D IC integrations. The special structure of the TSV is realized by CMP (Chemically Mechanical Polishing) process with a high Cu removal rate and, low dishing, yielding fine topography without defects. In this study, we investigated the electrochemical behavior of copper slurries with various inhibitors in the Cu CMP process for advanced TSV applications. One of the slurries was carried out for the most promising process with a high removal rate (${\sim}18000{\AA}/Min$ @ 3 psi) and low dishing (${\sim}800{\AA}$), providing good microstructure. The effects of pH value and $H_2O_2$ concentration on the slurry corrosion potential and Cu static etching rate (SER) were also examined. The slurry formula with a pH of 6 and 2% $H_2O_2$, hadthe lowest SER (${\sim}75{\AA}/Min$) and was the best for TSV CMP. A novel Cu TSV CMP process was developed with two CMPs and an additional annealing step after some of the bulk Cu had been removed, effectively improving the condition of the TSV Cu surface and preventing the formation of crack defects by variations in wafer stress during TSV process integration.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.213-217
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• 2007

Copper has been used as an interconnect material in the fabrication of semiconductor devices, because of its higher electrical conductivity and superior electro-migration resistance. Chemical mechanical polishing(CMP) technique is required to planarize the overburden Cu film in an interconnect process. Various problems such as dishing, erosion, and delamination are caused by the high pressure and chemical effects in the Cu CMP process. But these problems have to be solved for the fabrication of the next generation semiconductor devices. Therefore, new process which is electro-chemical mechanical polishing(ECMP) or electro-chemical mechanical planarization was introduced to solve the technical difficulties and problems in CMP process. In the ECMP process, Cu ions are dissolved electrochemically by the applying an anodic potential energy on the Cu surface in an electrolyte. And then, Cu complex layer are mechanically removed by the mechanical effects between pad and abrasive. This paper focuses on the manufacturing of ECMP system and its process. ECMP equipment which has better performance and stability was manufactured for the planarization process.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.251-251
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.48-48
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.58-58
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• 2004

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.537-537
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• 2008

Copper (Cu) has been widely used for interconnection structure in intergrated circuits because of its properties such as a low resistance and high resistance to electromigration compared with aluminuim. Damascene processing for the interconnection structure utilizes 2-steps chemical mechanical polishing(CMP). After polishing, the removal of abrasive particles on the surfaces becomes as important as the polishing process. In the paper, buffing process for the removal of colloidal silica from polished Cu wafer was proposed and demonstrated.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.156-161
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• 2004

We investigated the effects of oxidizer additive on the performance of Cu-CMP process using commonly used tungsten slurry. In order to compare the removal rate and non-uniformity as a function of oxidizer contents, we used alumina-based tungsten slurry and copper blanket wafers deposited by DC sputtering method. According to the CMP removal rates and particle size distribution, and the microstructures of surface layer by SEM image as a function or oxidizer contents were greatly influenced by the slurry chemical composition of oxidizers. The difference in removal rate and roughness of copper surface are believed to cause by modification in the mechanical behavior of $Al_2$O$_3$abrasive particles in CMP slurry.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2005.07a
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• pp.653-654
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• 2005

Stick-slip friction is one of the material removal mechanisms in tribology. This stick-slip friction occurs when the static friction force is larger than the dynamic friction force, and make the friction curve fluctuated. In the friction force monitoring system for chemical mechanical polishing(CMP), the friction force also vibrates just as stick-slip friction. It seems that the stick-slip friction causes scratches on the surface of moving parts. In this paper, A study on the scratches which occur during copper CMP was conducted in a view of stick-slip friction.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.587-590
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• 2012

Recently, the demand for the miniaturization of package substrates has been increasing. Technical innovation has occurred to move package substrate manufacturing steps into CMP applications. Electroplated copper filled trenches on the substrate need to be planarized for multi-level wires of less than $10{\mu}m$. This paper introduces a chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process as a new package substrate manufacturing step. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of surfactant on the dishing and erosion of Cu patterns with the lines and spaces of around $10/10{\mu}m$ used for advanced package substrates. The use of a conventional Cu slurry without surfactant led to problems, including severe erosion of $0.58{\mu}m$ in Cu patterns smaller than $4/6{\mu}m$ and deep dishing of $4.2{\mu}m$ in Cu patterns larger than $14/16{\mu}m$. However, experimental results showed that the friction force during Cu CMP changed to lower value, and that dishing and erosion became smaller simultaneously as the surfactant concentration became higher. Finally, it was possible to realize more globally planarized Cu patterns with erosion ranges of $0.22{\mu}m$ to $0.35{\mu}m$ and dishing ranges of $0.37{\mu}m$ to $0.69{\mu}m$ by using 3 wt% concentration of surfactant.