• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.196-203
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• 2002

Generally, non-uniformity and removal rate are important factors on measurements of both wafer and die scale. In this study, we verify the effects of the pressure and relative velocity on the results of the chemical mechanical polishing and the effect of pattern density on inter layer dielectric chemical mechanical polishing of patterned wafer. We suggest an appropriate modeling equation, transformed from Preston\`s equations which was used in glass polishing, and simulate the removal rate of patterned wafer in chemical mechanical polishing. Results indicate that the pressure and relative velocity are dominant factors for the chemical mechanical polishing and pattern density effects on removal rate of pattern wafers in die scale. The modeling is well agreed to middle and low density structures of the die. Actually, the die used in Fab. was designed to have an appropriate density, therefore the modeling will be suitable for estimating the results of ILD CMP.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2003.07a
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• pp.335-338
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• 2003

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process has been widely used to planarize dielectric layers, which can be applied to the integrated circuits for sub-micron technology. Despite the increased use of CMP process, it is difficult to accomplish the global planarization of in the defect-free inter-layer dielectrics (ILD). Especially, defects such as micro-scratch lead to severe circuit failure which affect yield. CMP slurries can contain particles exceeding $1\;{\mu}m$ in size, which could cause micro-scratch on the wafer surface. In this paper, we have studied aging effect the of CMP sin as a function of particle size. We prepared and compared the self-developed silica slurry by adding of abrasives before and after annealing. As our preliminary experiment results, we could be obtained the relatively stable slurry characteristics comparable to original silica slurry in the slurry aging effect.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.185-188
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• 2001

Chemical mechanical polishing(CMP) process is widely used for global planarization of inter-metal dielectric (IMD) layer and inter-layer dielectric (ILD) for deep sub-micron technology. However, as the IMD and ILD layer gets thinner, defects such as micro-scratch lead to severe circuit failure, which affect yield. In this paper, for the improvement of CMP Process, deionized water (DIW) pressure, purified $N_2$ (P$N_2$) gas, slurry filter and high spray bar were installed. Our experimental results show that DIW pressure and P$N_2$ gas factors were not related with removal rate, but edge hot-spot of patterned wafer had a serious relation. Also, the filter installation in CMP polisher could reduce defects after CMP process, it is shown that slurry filter plays an important role in determining consumable pad lifetime. The filter lifetime is dominated by the defects. However, the slurry filter is impossible to prevent defect-causing particles perfectly. Thus, we suggest that it is necessary to install the high spray bar of de-ionized water (DIW) with high pressure, to overcome the weak-point of slurry filter. Finally, we could expect the improvements of throughput, yield and stability in the ULSI fabrication process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.86-89
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• 2003

Chemical Mechanical Planarization(CMP) has been accepted as the most effective processes for ultra large scale integrated (ULSI) chip manufacturing. However, as the polishing process continues, pad pores get to be glazed by polishing residues, which hinder the supply of new slurry. And pad surface is ununiformly deformed as real contact distance. These defects make material removal rate(MRR) decrease with a number of polishied wafer. Also the desired within-chip planarity, within wafer non-uniformity(WIWNU) and wafer to wafer non-uniformity(WTWNU) arc unable to be achieved. So, pad conditioning in CMP Process is essential to overcome these defects. The eletroplated or brazed diamond conditioner is used as the conventional conditioning. And. allumina long fiber, the jet power of high pressure deionized water, vacuum compression. ultrasonic conditioner aided by cavitation effect and ceramic plate conditioner are once used or under investigation. But. these methods arc not sufficient for ununiformly deformed pad surface and the limits of conditioning effect. So this paper focuses on the characteristics of diamond conditioner which reopens glazed pores and removes ununiformly deformed pad away.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2005.07a
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• pp.651-652
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• 2005

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) has emerged as the planarization technique of choice in integrated circuit manufacturing. Especially, polishing pad is considered as one of the most important consumables because of its properties. Generally, conventional polishing pad has irregular pores and asperities. If conditioning process is except from whole polishing process, smoothing of asperities and pore glazing occur on the surface of the pad, so repeatability of polishing performances cannot be expected. In this paper, CMP pad with microstructure was made using micro-molding technology and repeatability of ILD(interlayer dielectric) CMP performances and was evaluated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2001.11b
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• pp.185-188
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• 2001

Chemical mechanical polishing(CMP) process is widely used for global planarization of inter-metal dielectric (IMD) layer and inter-layer dielectric (ILD) for deep sub-micron technology. However, as the IMD and ILD layer gets thinner, defects such as micro-scratch lead to severe circuit failure, which affect yield. In this paper, for the improvement of CMP process, deionized water (DIW) pressure, purified $N_2 \; (PN_2)$ gas, slurry filter and high spray bar were installed. Our experimental results show that DIW pressure and $PN_2$ gas factors were not related with removal rate, but edge hot-spot of patterned wafer had a serious relation. Also, the filter installation in CMP polisher could reduce defects after CMP process, it is shown that slurry filter plays an important role in determining consumable pad lifetime. The filter lifetime is dominated by the defects. However, the slurry filter is impossible to prevent defect-causing particles perfectly. Thus, we suggest that it is necessary to install the high spray bar of de-ionized water (DIW) with high pressure, to overcome the weak-point of slurry filter. Finally, we could expect the improvements of throughput, yield and stability in the ULSI fabrication process.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.191-195
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• 2002

Chemical mechanical Polishing (CMP) process is widely used for the global planarization of inter-metal dielectric (IMD) layer and inter-layer dielectric (ILD) for deep sub-micron technology. However, as the IMD and ILD layer gets thinner, defects such as micro-scratch lead to severe circuit failure, which affect yield. In this paper, for the improvement of CMP process, deionized water (DIW) pressure, purified $N_2$ ($PN_2$) gas, point of use (POU) slurry filler and high spray bar (HSB) were installed. Our experimental results show that DW pressure and P$N_2$ gas factors were not related with removal rate, but edge hot-spot of patterned wafer had a serious relation. Also, the filter installation in CMP polisher could reduce defects after CMP process, it is shown that slurry filter plays an important role in determining consumable pad lifetime. The filter lifetime is dominated by the defects. However, the slurry filter is impossible to prevent defect-causing particles perfectly. Thus, we suggest that it is necessary to install the high spray bar of de-ionized water (DIW) with high pressure, to overcome the weak-point of slurry filter Finally, we could expect the improvements of throughput, yield and stability in the ULSI fabrication process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2004.07a
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• pp.313-316
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• 2004

Chemical mechanical polishing(CMP) process has been widely used to planarize dielectric layers, which can be applied to the integrated circuits for sub-micron technology. Despite the increased use of CMP process, it is difficult to accomplish the global planarization of in the defect-free inter-level dielectrics(ILD). we investigated the performance of $WO_3$ CMP used silica slurry, ceria slurry, tungsten slurry In this paper, the effects of addition oxidizer on the $WO_3$ CMP characteristics were investigated to obtain the higher removal rate and lower non-uniformity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.188-191
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• 2003

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process has been widely used to planarize dielectric layers, which can be applied to the integrated circuits for sub-micron technology. Despite the increased use of CMP process, it is difficult to accomplish the global planarization of in the defect-free inter-level dielectrics (ILD). we investigated the performance of $WO_3$ CMP used silica slurry, ceria slurry, tungsten slurry. In this paper, the effects of addition oxidizer on the $WO_3$ CMP characteristics were investigated to obtain the higher removal rate and lower non-uniformity.