• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.57-58
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• 2006

Chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) of Cu has used currently in semiconductor process for multilevel metallization system. This process requires the application of a considerable down-pressure to the sample in the polishing, because porous low-k films used in the Cu-multilevel interconnects of 65nm technology node are often damaged by mechanical process. Also, it make possible to reduce scratches and contaminations of wafer. Electrochemical mechanical planarization (ECMP) is an emerging extension of CMP. In this study, the electrochemical mechanical polisher was manufactured. And the static and dynamic potentiodynamic curve of Cu were measured in KOH based electrolyte and then the suitable potential was found.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.213-223
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• 2021

Electrochemical mechanical planarization (ECMP) was developed to overcome the shortcomings of conventional chemical mechanical planarization (CMP). Because ECMP technology utilizes electrochemical reactions, it can have a higher efficiency than CMP even under low pressure conditions. Therefore, there is an advantage in that it is possible to reduce dicing and erosions, which are physical defects in semiconductor CMP. This paper summarizes the papers on ECMP published from 2003 to 2021 and analyzes research trends in ECMP technology. First, the material removal mechanisms and the configuration of the ECMP machine are dealt with, and then ECMP research trends are reviewed. For ECMP research trends, electrolyte, processing variables and pads, tribology, modeling, and application studies are investigated. In the past, research on ECMP was focused on basic research for the development of electrolytes, but it has recently developed into research on tribology and process variables and on new processing systems and applications. However, there is still a need to increase the processing efficiency, and to this end, the development of a hybrid ECMP processing method using another energy source is required. In addition, ECMP systems that can respond to the developing metal 3D printing technology must be researched, and ECMP equipment technology using CNC and robot technology must be developed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.82-82
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• 2007

The chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process has been widely used to obtain global planarization of multilevel interconnection process for ultra large scale. integrated circuit applications. Especially, the application of copper CMP has become an integral part of several semiconductor device and materials manufacturers. However, the low-k materials at 65nm and below device structures because of fragile property, requires low down-pressure mechanical polishing for maintaining the structural integrity of under layer during their fabrication. In this paper, we studied electrochemical mechanical polishing (ECMP) as a new planarization technology that uses electrolyte chemistry instead of abrasive slurry for copper CMP process. The current-voltage (I-V) curves were employed we investigated that how this chemical affect the process of voltage induced material removal in ECMP of Copper. This work was supported by grant No. (R01-2006-000-11275-0) from the Basic Research Program of the Korea Science.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.20.2-20.2
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• 2006

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

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.334-338
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to characterize various electrolytes on electrochemical mechanical planarization (ECMP). The ECMP system was modified from conventional CMP system to measure the potentiodynamic curve and removal rate of Cu. The potentiodynamic curves were measured in static and dynamic states in investigated electrolytes using a potentiostat for the evaluation of the polishing behavior on ECMP. KOH (alkaline) and $NaNO_3$ (salt) were selected as electrolytes which have high conductivity. In static and dynamic states, the corrosion potential decreased and the corrosion current increased as a function of the electrolyte concentration. But, the electrochemical reaction was prevented by mechanical polishing effect in the dynamic state. The static etch and removal rate were measured as functions of concentration and applied voltage. When $NaNO_3$ was used, the dissolution was much faster than that of KOH. It was concluded that the removal rate was strongly depended on electrochemical dissolution. The removal rate increased up to 350 nm/min in $NaNO_3$ based electrolyte.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2015.11a
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• pp.203-203
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• 2015

반도체 제조 공정 중에 CMP(Chemical Mechanical Planarization)는 디바이스의 집적도(degree of integration)에 크게 영향을 미치고 있으므로, 20nm급 이하의 디바이스에서 CMP 공정 안정화는 양질의 소자 특성을 확보하기 위해서는 시급한 문제가 되고 있다. CMP 공정 안정화를 위해서는 여러 가지 해결되어야 할 문제가 있는데, 그 중에서도 W plug 연마 공정 중에 관찰되고 있는 W missing은 전기 배선의 신뢰성에 직접 영향을 주고 있으므로 공정 엔지니어에게는 도전적인 과제이다. 본 연구에서는 W missing 현상을 전기화학적인 입장에서 해석하고 몇 가지 해결책을 제기하고자 한다.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.793-797
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• 2005

This study introduces Electro-chemical Mechanical Deposition(ECMD) lot making Cu interconnect. ECMD is a novel technique that has ability to deposit planar conductive films on non-planar substrate surfaces. Technique involves electrochemical deposition(ECD) and mechanical sweeping of the substrate surface Preferential deposition into the cavities on the substrate surface nay be achieved through two difference mechanisms. The first mechanism is more chemical and essential. It involves enhancing deposition into the cavities where mechanical sweeping does not reach. The second mechanism involves reducing deposition onto surface that is swept. In this study, we demonstrate ECMD process and characteristic. We proceeded this experiment by changing of distribution of current density on divided water area zones and use different pad types.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.88-88
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• 2007

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) 공정은 그 어원에서 알 수 있듯이 슬러리의 화학적인 요소와 웨이퍼에 가해지는 기계적 압력에 의해 결정되는 평탄화 기술이다. 최근, 금속배선공정에서 높은 전도율과 재료의 값이 싸다는 이유로 Cu률 사용하였으나, 디바이스의 구조적 특성을 유지하기 위해 높은 압력으로 인한 새로운 다공성 막(low-k)의 파괴와, 디싱과 에로젼 현상으로 인한 문제점이 발생하게 되었다. 이러한 문제점을 해결하고자, 본 논문에서는 Cu 표면에 Passivation layer를 형성 및 제거하는 개념으로 공정시 연마제를 사용하지 않으며, 낮은 압력조건에서 공정을 수행하기 위해, 전해질의 농도 변화에 따른 선형추의전압전류법과 순환전압전류법을 사용하여 전압활성화에 의한 전기화학적 반응이 어떤 영향을 미치는지 연구하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.113-113
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• 2008

Cu CMP (Chemical Mechanical Planarization) has been used to remove copper film and obtain a planar surface which is essential for the semiconductor devices. Generally, it is known that chemical reaction is a dominant factor in Cu CMP comparing to Silicon dioxide CMP. Therefore, Cu CMP slurry has been regarded as an important factor in the entire process. This investigation focused on understanding the effect of corrosion inhibitor on copper surface and CMP results. Benzotriazole (BTA) was used as a corrosion inhibitor in this experiment. For the surface analysis, electrochemical characteristics of Cu was measured by a potentiostat and surface modification was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). As a result, corrosion potential (Ecorr) increased and nitrogen concentration ratio on the copper surface also increased with BTA concentration. These results indicate that BTA prevents Cu surface from corrosion and forms Cu-BTA layer on Cu surface. CMP results are also well matched with these results. Material removal rate (MRR) decreased with BTA concentration and static etch rate also showed same trend. Consequently, adjustment of BTA concentration can give us control of step height variation and furthermore, this can be applicable for Cu pattern CMP.