• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.56-59
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• 2011

The characterization of the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process for undensified phophosilicate glass (PSG) film is reported using design of experiments (DOE). DOE has been used by experimenters to understand the relationship between the input variables and responses of interest in a simple and efficient way, and it typically is beneficial for determining the appropriatesize of experiments with multiple process variables and making statistical inferences for the responses of interest. The equipment controllable parameters used to operate the machine consist of the down force of the wafer carrier, pressure on the back side wafer, table and spindle speeds (SS), slurry flow (SF) rate, pad condition, etc. None of these are independent ofeach other and, thus, the interaction between the parameters also needs to be understoodfor improved process characterization in CMP. In this study, we selected the five controllable equipment parameters the most recommendedby process engineers, viz. the down force (DF), back pressure (BP), table speed (TS), SS, and SF, for the characterization of the CMP process with respect to the material removal rate and film uniformity in percentage terms. The polished material is undensified PSG which is widely used for the plananization of multi-layered metal interconnects. By statistical modeling and the analysis of the metrology data acquired from a series of $2^{5-1}$ fractional factorial designs with two center points, we showed that the DF, BP and TS have the greatest effect on both the removal rate and film uniformity, as expected. It is revealed that the film uniformity of the polished PSG film contains two and three-way interactions. Therefore, one can easily infer that process control based on a better understanding of the process is the key to success in current semiconductor manufacturing, in which the size of the wafer is approaching 300 mm and is scheduled to continuously increase up to 450 mm in or slightly after 2012.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.115-118
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• 2011

Process characterization of the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process for undensified phosphosilicate glass (PSG) film is reported using design of experiments (DOE). DOE has been addressed to experimenters to understand the relationship between input variables and responses of interest in a simple and efficient way. It is typically beneficial for determining the adequate size of experiments with multiple process variables and making statistical inferences for the responses of interests. Equipment controllable parameters to operate the machine include the down force (DF) of the wafer carrier, pressure on the backside of the wafer, table and spindle speed (SS), slurry flow rate, and pad condition. None of them is independent; thus, the interaction between parameters also needs to be indicated to improve process characterization in CMP. In this paper, we have selected the five controllable equipment parameters, such as DF, back pressure (BP), table speed (TS), SS, and slurry flow (SF), most process engineers recommend to characterize the CMP process with respect to material removal rate (RR) and film uniformity as a percentage. The polished material is undensified PSG. PSG is widely used for the plananization in multi-layered metal interconnects. We identify the main effect of DF, BP, and TS on both RR and film uniformity, as expected, by the statistical modeling and analysis on the metrology data acquired from a series of $2^{5-1}$ fractional factorial design with two center points. This revealed the film uniformity of the polished PSG film contains two and three-way interactions. Therefore, one can easily infer that the process control based on better understanding of the process is the key to success in semiconductor manufacturing, typically when the wafer size reaches 300 mm and is continuously scheduled to expand up to 450 mm in or little after 2012.