• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.45-49
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• 2004

We examined large particles and filter size effects of Central Chemical Supplying (CCS) system for STI-CMP on Light Point Defects (LPDs) after polishing. As manufacturing process recently gets thinner below 0.1 um line width, it is very important to keep down post-CMP micro-scratch and LPDs in case of STI-CMP. Therefore, we must control the size distribution of large particles in a slurry. With optimization of final filter size, CCS system is one of the solutions for this issue. The oxide and nitride CMP tests were accomplished using nano-ceria slurries made by ourselves. The number of large particles in a slurry and the number of LPDs on the wafer surface after CMP were reduced with decrease of the final filter size. Oxide removal rates slightly changed according to the final filter size, showing the good performance of self-made nano ceria slurries.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.71-76
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• 2022

We evaluated and developed a 6th generation large-size polisher in the type of face-up and Oscar. We removed the hillocks of the low temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) thin film with this polisher. The surface roughness of LTPS was lowered from 7.9 nm to 0.6 nm after CMP(chemical mechanical polishing). The thickness of the LTPS is measured through reflectance in real time during polishing, and the polishing process is completed according to this thickness. The within glass non-uniformity (WIGNU) was 6.2% and the glass-to-glass non-uniformity (GTGNU) was 2.5%, targeting the LTPS thickness of 400Å. In addition, the residual slurry after the CMP process was removed through the Core Flow PVA Brush and alkaline chemical.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.145-150
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• 2016

During the chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process, slurry that comprises abrasive particles can directly affect the CMP performance and quality. Mainly, the large particles in the slurry can generate the defects on the wafer. Thus, many kinds of filters have been used in the CMP process to remove unwanted over-sized particles. Among these filters, the point-of-use (POU) filter is used just before the slurry is supplied onto the CMP pad. In the CMP research field, analysis of the POU filter has been relatively exceptional, and previous studies have not focused on the standardized filtration efficiency (FE) or filter performance. Furthermore, conventional evaluation methods of filter performance are not appropriate for POU filters, as the POU filter is not a membrane type, but is instead a depth type roll filter. In order to accurately evaluate the POU filter, slurry FE according to particle size was measured in this study. Additionally, a CMP experiment was conducted with filtered slurry to demonstrate the effects of filtered slurry on CMP performance. Depending on the flow rate and the filter retention size, the FE according to particle size was different. When the small and large particles have different FEs, the total filtration efficiency (TFE) can still have a similar value. For this reason, there is a need to measure the FE with respect to the particle size to verify the effects of the POU filter on the CMP process.

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

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.279-283
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• 2018

In this study, we investigate the behavior of abrasive particles and change of the stick-slip pattern according to chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process parameters when a large number of abrasive particles are fixed on a pad. The CMP process is simulated using the finite element method. In the simulation, the abrasive grains are composed of those used in the actual CMP process. Considering the cohesion of the abrasive grains with the start of the CMP process, abrasive particles with various sizes are fixed onto the pad at different intervals so that stick-slip could occur. In this analysis, we determine that when the abrasive particle size is relatively large, the stick-slip period does not change as the pressure increases while the moving speed is constant. However, if the size of the abrasive grains is relatively small, the amount of deformation of the grains increases due to the elasticity of the pad. Therefore, the stick-slip pattern may not be observed. As the number of abrasive particles increases, the stick-slip period and displacement decrease. This is consistent with the decrease in the von Mises yield stress value on the surface of the wafer as the number of abrasive grains increases. We determine that when the number of the abrasive grains increases, the polishing rate, and characteristics are improved, and scratches are reduced. Moreover, we establish that the period of stick-slip increases and the change of the stick-slip size was not large when the abrasive particle size was relatively small.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1999.07d
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• pp.1891-1894
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• 1999

We can classify the scratches after CMP process into micro-scratch and macro-scratches according to the scratch size, scratch intensity and defect map, etc. The micro-scratches on wafer after CMP process are discussed in this paper. From many causes, major factor that influences the formation of micro-scratch is known as particle size distribution of slurry.(1) It is indefinite what size or type of particle can cause micro-scratch on wafer surface, but there is possibility caused by large particle over 1um. The best way for controlling these large particle to inflow is to use the slurry filter on POU(Point of user). But the slurry filter(especially, depth-type filter) has sometimes the problem which makes more sever micro-scratches on wafer surface after CMP. We studied that depth-type slurry filter has what kind of week-points and the number of scratch could be reduced by lowering slurry flow rate and by using high spray bar which sprays DIW on polishing pad with high pressure.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2001.05b
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• pp.30-33
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• 2001

Chemical mechanical polishing(CMP) process has been widely used to planarize dielectrics, which can apply to employed in integrated circuits for sub-micron technology. Despite the increased use of CMP process, it is difficult to accomplish the global planarization of free-defects in inter-level dielectrics (ILD). Especially, defects like micro-scratch lead to severe circuit failure, and affects yield. CMP slurries can contain particles exceeding $1{\mu}m$ size, which could cause micro-scratch on the wafer surface. The large particles in these slurries may be caused by particle agglomeration in slurry supply line. To reduce these defects, slurry filtration method has been recommended in oxide CMP. In this work, we have studied the effects of filtration and the defect trend as a function of polished wafer count using various filters in inter-metal dielectric(IMD)-CMP. The filter installation in CMP polisher could reduce defect after IMD-CMP. As a result of micro-scratches formation, it shows that slurry filter plays an important role in determining consumable pad lifetime.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.557-561
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• 2001

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process has been widely used to planarize dielectric layers, which can be applied to the integraded 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). Especially, defects such as micro-scratch lead to severe circuit failure which affect yield. CMP slurries can contain particles exceeding 1㎛ in size, which could cause micro-scratch on the wafer surface. The large particles in these slurries may be caused by particles agglomeration in slurry supply line. To reduce these defects, slurry filtration method has been recommended in oxide CMP. In this work, we have studied the effects of filtration and the defect trend as a function of polished wafer count using various filters in inter-metal dielectrics(IMD)-CMP process. The filter installation in CMP polisher could reduce defects after IMD-CMP process. As a result of micro-scratch formation, it is shown that slurry filter plays an important role in determining consumable pad lifetime. The filter lifetime is dominated by the defects. We have concluded that slurry filter lifetime is fixed by the degree of generating defects.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.65-65
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• 2003

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is one of the most important processes in recent ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integrated Circuit) manufacturing technology. Recently, ceria slurries with surfactant have recently been used in STI-CMP,[1] became they have high oxide-to-nitride removal selectivity and widen the processing margin The role of the abrasives, however, on the effect of planarization on STI-CMP is not yet clear. In this study, we investigated how the crystal characteristic affects the planarization efficiency of wafer surface with controlling crystallite size and poly crystalline abrasive size independently.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.563-564
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• 2006

Recently, CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) is one of very important processing in semiconductor technology because of large integration and application of design role. CMP is a planarization process of wafer surface using the chemical and mechanical reactions. One of the most important components of the CMP system is the polishing pad. During the CMP process, the pad itself becomes smoother and glazing. Therefore it is necessary to have a pad conditioning process to refresh the pad surface, to remove slurry debris and to supply the fresh slurry on the surface. A diamond disk use during the pad conditioning. There are diamonds on the surface of diamond disk to remove slurry debris and to polish pad surface slightly, so density, shape and size of diamond are very important factors. In. this study, we characterized diamond disk with 9 kinds of sample.