The use of monodispersed colloids in the polishing of copper and tantalum

The properties of abrasive particles play a significant role in chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) of metal and dielectric films in semiconductor device manufacturing. This study investigates the effects of the particle size, shape, and hardness of abrasives on the polishing of copper and tantalum films in the presence of different slurry chemistries. Well-defined dispersions of uniform particles, including spherical silica of varying diameters, hematite of different shapes, and hematite cores coated with silica of different thicknesses, were prepared and used to polish blanket films of Cu and Ta. It was shown that the total surface area of the solids in the slurry controlled the rate of material removal by pure silica for both Cu and Ta, while the surface quality of the polished films was better when higher silica content was used. The shape or the aspect ratio of hematite particles had a minor effect on the removal rate. In contrast, when hematite particles coated with silica were employed in the polishing of Cu and Ta, the polish rate decreased with increasing thickness of the shell.     

Surface Formation of Single Silicon Wafer Polished with Nano-sized Al2O3 Powders

"Ice polishing single silicon wafers with nano-sized Al2O3 abrasives can be known as ice fixed abrasives chemical mechanical polishing (IFA-CMP). TAn abrasive slurry was made of nano-sized Al2O3 particles dispersed in de-ionized water with a surfactant and the slurry was frozen to form an ice polishing pad. Then polishing tests of blanket silicon wafers with the above ice polishing pad were carried out. The morphologies and surface roughness of the polished silicon wafers were observed and examined on an atomic force microscope. The subsurface damage was assessed by means of cross-section transmission electron microscopy. The surface chemical constituents of the polished silicon wafers were characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in order to gain insight into the chemical mechanisms in the process. Scratch resistance of the single silicon wafer was measured by nanoscratching using a nanoindenter to explore the mechanical removal mechanism. The results show that a super smooth surface with an average roughness of 0.367 nm is obtained within 1000 nm￡1000 nm and there is a perfect silicon diamond structure without any microcracks in the subsurface. The removal of material is dominated by the coactions of ductile regime machining and chemical corrosion. In the end, a model of material removal of IFA-CMP is built."     

Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) for Microelectronic Applications

Surface planarity is of paramount importance in microelectronics. Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) is the most viable approach to address the planarity issues during the fabrication of advanced semiconductor devices. With the integration of copper as interconnect and low k materials as dielectric, the CMP community is facing an ever increasing demand on reducing defectivity without scarifying production throughput. Key issues in CMP today include reduction of surface defectivity and enhancement of planarization efficiency. More specifically, the polished surface should be free of defects such as scratches, pits, corrosion spots, and residue particles. To accomplish these goals, we have investigated a wide range of pathways including reduction of oversized particles,use of unique abrasives such as functionalized nanoparticles, and development of polishing solution without abrasive particles.In this presentation, some fundamental aspects of the CMP process will be given first.Several academic and industrial examples will be used to illustrate the issues and challenges during the implementation of various slurry designs into the CMP processes.     

Role of interaction forces in controlling the stability and polishing performance of CMP slurries

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is an essential step in metal and dielectric planarization in multilayer microelectronic device fabrication. In the CMP process it is necessary to minimize the extent of surface defect formation while maintaining good planarity and optimal material removal rates. These requirements are met through the control of chemical and mechanical interactions during the polishing process by engineering the slurry chemistry, particulate properties, and stability. In this study, the performance of surfactant-stabilized silica CMP slurries at high pH and high ionic strengths are investigated with particular emphasis on the particle-particle and particle-substrate interactions. It is shown that for the design of consistently high performing slurries, stability of abrasive particles must be achieved under the dynamic processing conditions of CMP while maintaining sufficient pad-particle-wafer interactions.     

Strategies for Optimal Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) Slurry Design

Abstract

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) has become the preferred route for achieving wafer‐level global planarization in microelectronics device manufacturing. However, the micro‐ to molecular‐level mechanisms that control its performance and optimization are not well understood. In CMP, complex slurry chemistries react with the first few atomic layers on the wafer surfaces forming a chemically modified film. This film is subsequently mechanically abraded by nanosized slurry particles to achieve local and global planarity for multi‐level metalization. For optimal CMP performance, high material removal rates with minimal surface defectivity are required. This can be achieved by controlling the extent of interparticle and particle–substrate interactions, which are facilitated through the manipulation of the slurry composition, solution chemistry, as well as operational parameters. Interparticle interactions must be engineered to maintain slurry stability to minimize the number and extent of surface defects during polishing while maintaining adequate removal rates. The fundamental considerations, which are necessary for the development of high performance CMP slurries, are discussed in this article through model silica CMP systems.     

Role of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) in selective polishing of polysilicon over silicon dioxide and silicon nitride films

A cationic polymer, poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride), or PDADMAC (MW ≈ 200,000), at a concentration of 250 ppm was used to enhance polysilicon removal rates (RRs) to ～600 nm/min while simultaneously suppressing both silicon dioxide and silicon nitride RRs to <1 nm/min, both in the absence or in the presence of ceria or silica abrasives during chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). These results suggest that aqueous abrasive-free solutions of PDADMAC are very attractive candidates for several front-end-of-line (FEOL) CMP processes. Possible mechanisms for the enhancement of poly-Si RR and the suppression of oxide and nitride RRs are proposed on the basis of the RRs, contact angle data on poly-Si films, zeta potentials of polishing pads, polysilicon films, silicon nitride particles, and silica and ceria abrasives, thermogravimetric analysis, and UV-vis spectroscopy data.     

Water-in-Oil Dispersion for KH2PO4 (KDP) Crystal CMP

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) has become an essential process in the manufacturing of advanced microelectronic devices. More recently, CMP has also been applied to the process of other advanced materials such as optical crystals and thin films. Typically, a CMP slurry is formulated as an aqueous dispersion which may contain abrasive particles, activating agent, passivating agent, surfactant, etc. Due to its sensitivity to water, hygroscopic crystals must not be processed with aqueous based slurry. In this study, a new abrasive-free system based on water-in-oil microemulsion was investigated to address this challenge. More specifically, a dispersion made of dodecanol, Triton X-100, and water was studied for its potential application in KH₂PO₄(KDP) crystal processing. In this unique polishing system, water molecules are caged into micelles so the reaction between KDP and water is controlled. As a result, the static etch rate of the substrate surface is minimized. During polishing process, the frictional action between crystal surface and pad leads to the release of reactive water molecules. The material removal is, thus, enhanced. In this paper, the techniques used to characterize such abrasive-free system were first introduced. The water-in-oil structures were characterized and confirmed by conductivity, dynamic lighting scattering and dynamic nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements. The performance of this system on the process of KDP crystals was then discussed. The static etch rate and the material removal rate in polishing process were measured under various conditions in order to elucidate the polishing mechanism. Finally, the potential application of such a novel nonaqueous polishing system in CMP beyond KDP crystals is discussed.     

Colloid aspects of chemical-mechanical planarization

The essential parts of interconnects for silicon based logic and memory devices consist of metal wiring (e.g. copper), a barrier metal (Ta, TaN), and of insulation (SiO2, low-k polymer). The deposition of the conducting metal cannot be confined to trenches, resulting in additional coverage of Cu and Ta/TaN on the surface of the dielectrics, yielding an electrically conducting continuous but an uneven surface. The surplus metal must be removed until a perfectly flat surface consisting of electrically isolated metal lines is achieved with no imperfections. This task is accomplished by the chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) process, in which the wafer is polished with a slurry containing abrasives of finely dispersed particles in submicrometer to nanometer size. The slurries also contain dissolved chemicals to modify the surfaces to be planarized. Eventually the final product must be cleared of any adhered particles and debris left after polishing is completed. Obviously the entire process deals with materials and interactions which are the focal subjects of colloid and surface science, such as the natures of abrasive particles and their stability in the slurry, the properties of various surfaces and their modifications, adhesion and detachment of the particles and different methods for the characterization of constituents, as well as elucidation of the relevant interfacial phenomena. This review endeavors to describe the colloid approach to optimize the materials and processes in order to achieve desirable polish rates and final surfaces with no imperfections. Specifically, the effects of the composition, size, shape, and charge of abrasive particles on the polish process and the quality of planarized wafers is described in detail. Furthermore, the interactions of metal surfaces with oxidizing, chelating, and other species which affect the dissolution and surface modification of metal (copper) surfaces are illustrated and related to the planarization process. Finally, using the packed column technique the adhesion phenomena of abrasives on metals and oxides is evaluated on suitable model systems, that contain the same additives in the slurries as in the actual planarization process. A close correlation is established in all cases between the attachment and detachment results with experimentally determined polish rates.     

核壳结构PS/CeO2复合微球的制备及其在化学机械抛光中的应用

以原位化学沉淀的方法制备了不同粒径、包覆结构PS(核)/CeO2(壳)复合微球,利用X射线衍射仪、透射电子显微镜、选区电子衍射、场发射扫描电子显微镜、能谱分析仪、Fourier转换红外光谱仪、热失重分析仪和ζ电位测定仪等手段对所制备样品的微观结构进行了表征。将所制备的复合微球用做磨料,考察其对二氧化硅介质层的抛光性能,用原子力显微镜观察和测量抛光表面的微观形貌、轮廓曲线和粗糙度。结果表明,所制备的PS/CeO2复合微球具有核壳包覆结构,粒径分别约为140,180和220 nm,PS内核被粒径约为5 nm的CeO2颗粒均匀包覆。AFM结果显示,复合磨料的粒径越小,抛光后表面粗糙度越低;且酸性(pH=3)比碱性(pH=10)抛光浆料具有更好的抛光效果。     

CORRELATION OF DISPERSION STABILITY WITH SURFACTANT CONCENTRATION AND ABRASIVE PARTICLE SIZE FOR CHEMICAL MECHANICAL POLISHING (CMP) SLURRIES

The preparation of stable colloidal slurries is often difficult in industries where many chemical components are added into the slurries. A critically acclaimed example of such an industry is the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) industry which involves polishing slurries with several chemical additives. In the present work, the stabilization of a slurry used for CMP of metals is investigated in detail. This high ionic strength slurry has been stabilized using an optimaJ combination of sodium dodecyl sulfate (anionic surfactant) and Tween 80 (nonionic surfactant). The amount of surfactant needed to impart stability has been investigated in this study for two different sizes of abrasive particles. It has been found that the amount of surfactant needed to stabilize the slurry increases as the total surface area per gram of panicles increases. Slurry stabilization has been correlated with particle size measurements. It has been found that the average panicle size of the slurry decreases as the stability of the slurry increases. Stable slurries have been found to have particle sizes close to those of the particles before agglomeration. It is proposed that the stabilized CMP slurries can lead to reduced defects in wafers by preventing agglomeration of panicles.     

氧化铝-g-聚丙烯酰胺复合磨粒的制备及表征

为提高α-Al₂O₃磨粒在水基介质中的分散稳定性，采用接枝聚合方法制备了Al₂O₃-g-聚丙烯酰胺复合粒子。采用FTIR、XPS、TOF-SIMS、激光粒度仪、SEM、沉降试验等对氧化铝复合粒子结构及分散性能等进行了表征。结果表明，聚丙烯酰胺以化学键形式接枝到Al₂O₃粒子表面，形成聚丙烯酰胺为壳，Al₂O₃为核的复合磨粒;接枝改性后的Al₂O₃粒子分散性明显提高，并且其分散性与Al₂O₃表面接枝量密切相关。     

Abrasive properties of nano silica particles prepared by a sol–gel method for polishing silicon wafers

Abrasive properties of cocoon shaped silica particles fabricated by a sol–gel method have been studied. Since silicon wafers are polished with slurry by the mechanism of Chemical Mechanical Polishing, polishing rates may depend on various chemical and mechanical factors, such as particle concentration in slurry, slurry pH and kinds of basic compounds for controlling the slurry pH. The silicon wafer was polished by slurry continuously fed on a pad, and the polishing rate was estimated as a weight loss of the wafer. For studying the effects of the various factors on the rate, the slurries were prepared by adding the silica particles, basic compounds or salts, and the polishing rates of the slurry were measured. The effects of the various factors were made clear as follows: For the effect of particle concentration, the rates increased with increasing of the concentrations up to 1.0 wt.%. And for the effect of the slurry pH, slurries added basic compounds, such as KOH, NaOH, ammonia, were tested, and it was found that increasing of the slurry pH brought increases of the polishing rates. KOH-containing slurry of pH 13.2 had the fastest rate, 3.6 times as fast as the standard slurry with pH 9.4. For the effect of the adding of salts, it was indicated that the salts, such as KCl, NaCl, NH₄Cl, NaNO₃ and K₂SO₄ increased the polishing rates, and that KCl-containing slurry of 0.36 mol/l had the highest polishing rate, 3.4 times as fast as that of the standard slurry containing no salts.     

计算机硬盘基片CMP中表面膜特性的分析研究

目前,普遍采用化学机械抛光(Chemical-mechanical polishing,CMP)技术对计算机硬盘基片(盘片)表面进行原子级平整。CMP加工中,盘片表面膜及其特性对CMP过程及CMP性能具有关键作用。本文分别采用俄歇能谱(AES)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、扫描电镜(SEM)、纳米硬度计、电化学极化法等分析手段对盘片表面物理、化学及机械特性进行了研究,发现盘片CMP后表面发生了氧化,氧化膜在盘片的表层,厚度在纳米量级,氧化产物为Ni(OH)₂;氧化膜为较软的、疏松的、粗糙的多孔结构;氧化膜的存在加快了盘片表面的腐蚀磨损。结合盘片CMP试验结果,推测盘片的CMP机理为盘片表面氧化生成机械强度较低的Ni(OH)₂氧化膜及随后氧化膜的机械和化学去除,二者的不断循环实现表面的全局平面化。     

Analysis the microscopic solid‐based wear process in the chemical mechanical planarization

Chemical mechanical planarization (CMP), being the important technique of realizing the surface planarization, has already been widely applied in the microelectronic and computer industry. The abrasive size employed in the CMP, far less than that employed in the conventional grinding and material removal during CMP, is on the order of atoms or clusters of atoms and molecules. Classical continuum mechanics cannot give a reasonable explanation about the phenomenon in the CMP. Large‐scale classical molecular dynamics simulation of tribology interaction among nanoparticles and materials surface has been carried out to investigate the physical essence of surface planarization. The results show that simultaneous impact of several abrasive particles or the repeated impact of abrasive particles leads to material failure. For individual asperity contact in the CMP, non‐obvious Archard adhesive wear or abrasive wear is observed. The contact area is not entirely dependent upon the external pressure but also closely related to the relative position because of lateral motion between the particles and the substrate. The results also justify that no single wear mechanism dominates all operating conditions; different wear mechanisms operate with their relative importance changing as the sliding conditions change. As the slurry particles slide relative to the wafer surface, the atomic groups experience three stages, namely, interlock, elastic–plastic deformation and finally slip process; the surface planarization is mainly accomplished in the last two stages. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adsorption behavior of anionic polyelectrolyte for chemical mechanical polishing (CMP)

In this work, we investigated the adsorption characteristics of anionic polyelectrolytes, which are used in shallow trench isolation chemical mechanical polishing with ceria abrasives. Specifically, the adsorption isotherms and chain conformation of anionic polyelectrolytes were studied in order to elucidate the difference in removal rates of silicon dioxide (SiO2) and silicon nitride (Si3N4) layers and the high selectivity characteristics of ceria slurry. Adsorption isotherms, FT-IR spectroscopy and contact angle measurements revealed that the anionic polyelectrolyte additives had much better adsorption affinities for the Si3N4 surface than for the SiO2 surface. Moreover, blanket wafer polishing results were successfully correlated with the adsorption isotherms of polyelectrolytes on the oxide particle suspensions.     

Arc-Enhanced Plasma Machining Technology for High Efficiency Machining of Silicon Carbide

Atmosphere plasma etching methods have been demonstrated efficient in the etching of fused silica or ULE. However, because of the high chemical stability of silicon carbide (SiC), the conventional plasma etching methods seem incapable of obtaining a high material removal rate (MRR). We have found that MRR will be significantly improved while the electric spark appears between the plasma and the SiC surface. As a result, a new plasma source is designed to generate stable arc at the surface. Due to the generation of arc, the MRR of 0.35 mm³/min is obtained, about 10 times as high as the conventional method. In this paper, the removal characteristics and the thermal effect of this method are presented. MRR and the surface temperature are investigated in dependence on plasma parameters: RF power, travel speed of plasma source, SF₆ gas flow and O₂ gas flow. Due to the negligible thermal effect, the surface figuring can be achieved using the conventional dwell time method. The shape error of a flat SiC surface is corrected, verifying the figuring capability and the effectiveness of this method.     

Non-linear Compensated Dwell Time for Efficient Fused Silica Surface Figuring Using Inductively Coupled Plasma

Atmospheric plasma etching has been increasingly applied in the fabrication of optical elements for high efficiency and near-zero damage to optical surfaces. However, the non-linearity of material removal rate is inevitable because of the thermal effect of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching for fused silica. To apply ICP to figure fused silica surface, the time-varying non-linearity between material removal rate and dwell time is analyzed. An experimental model of removal function is established considering the time-varying non-linearity. According to this model, an algorithm based on nested pulsed iterative method is proposed for calculating and compensating this time-varying non-linearity by varying the dwell time. Simulation results show that this algorithm can calculate and adjust the dwell time accurately and remove surface errors with rapid convergence. Surface figuring experiments were set up on the fused silica planar work-pieces with a size of 100 mm (width) × 100 mm (length) × 10 mm (thickness). With the compensated dwell time, the surface error converges rapidly from 4.556 λ PV (peak-to-valley) to 0.839 λ PV within 13.2 min in one iterative figuring. The power spectral density analysis indicates that the spatial frequency errors between 0.01 and 0.04 mm^?1 are smoothed efficiently, and the spatial frequency errors between 0.04 and 0.972 mm^?1 are also corrected. Experimental results demonstrate that the ICP surface figuring can achieve high convergence for surface error reduction using the compensated dwell time. Therefore, the ICP surface figuring can greatly improve surface quality and machining efficiency for fused silica optical elements.     

Atomic force microscopy of coated glasses

Atomic force microscopy has been used to investigate the topology of alkoxide gel dip coatings on different substrates. Results of SiO(2) - TiO(2) - ZrO(2) (STZ) coatings are presented on float glass, on polished fused silica, on commercially coated insulating flat glass, and on PtRh. Consolidated STZ coatings display the so-called glass pattern with ripples equal or less than 2 nm high. The same pattern is seen on partially dense STZ coatings, as soon as the surface is stiff enough for scanning, and also on the bottom of a 50 nm deep sputtering crater in the consolidated coating. The vitreous STZ coating on the fire side of the float glass is as flat as the float glass itself. It has the same tendency to contamination. 100 nm wide and 50 nm deep polishing grooves on fused silica have been filled up with the 80 nm thick coating, only dips of a few nm remain. The trenches between the SnO(2) crystallites on the insulating flat glass were filled up and the roughness of the substrate was partially reduced. PtRh sheet remained rough even after the coating. On the partially densified STZ coating, sputtering generates a grained surface.     

Surface charge tuning of ceria particles by titanium doping: Towards significantly improved polishing performance

Titanium-doped ceria Ce_1 ? x Ti_xO₂ (x = 0–0.3) powders were prepared and their material removal rate (MRR) values for polishing the ZF₇ optical glass were evaluated with respect to their particle sizes, surface charges, crystallinity as well as the suspension stability. Significantly increased MRR values with a particle zeta potential dependence were observed for all the Ti-doped ceria powders, indicating that ceria abrasives with high MRR can be designed and synthesized by tuning particle surface charge using the titanium doping method. The XRD and Raman spectroscopic analyses revealed that the large increase in MRR and the surface negative zeta potentials were attributed to lattice defects due to the formation of CeO₂–TiO₂ solid solutions and the CeTi₂O₆ phase. A maximum MRR value of 544 nm min^?1 was obtained using Ce_0.9Ti_0.1O₂ solid solution as a polishing powder for the ZF7 glass. This value is ca. 2.2 times of that obtained from using pure ceria. With the x value further increasing to 0.2 and 0.3, the MRR value decreased slightly with the CeTi₂O₆ phase content increasing. This fact reveals that the contribution of CeTi₂O₆ to the MRR increase is less than that of CeO₂–TiO₂ solid solution.     

Mechanochemistry of metal polishing with an abrasive suspension

Conditions in which the mechanism of precision polishing, based on controlled oxidation of the metal surface and mechanical removal of the oxidation products with an abrasive suspension in its shear deformation by a polishing instrument, can be implemented are considered.