|
14th Edition: Achieving Higher Productivity in Oxide CMP |
|
|
|
Feb 02, 2005 at 05:44 PM |
CHAD C. GARRETSON, JEFF P. RUDD, BRIAN J. BROWN, DAN FLYNN & STEVE CHEN, Applied Materials, Santa Clara, CA, USA
ABSTRACT
Pioneered by IBM in the 1980s, silicon dioxide was the first
application of chemical mechanical planarisation (CMP). As more
transistors are packed onto each chip, the number of interconnect
levels and the number of oxide CMP wafer passes has increased
dramatically. It is common today for 0.18-mm devices to require 5-8
oxide polishes for logic devices and 3-5 oxide polishes for DRAMs.
Oxide is today, and is likely to remain for several more years, the
largest CMP application. The biggest challenge to developing improved
oxide CMP process technology is achieving better process performance
with higher productivity and lower cost of ownership (CoO).
Consumable choices have a significant impact on oxide CMP process
performance and cost of ownership [1-3]. Cost of consumables (CoC) can
represent a major portion of the total CoO for oxide CMP, thus reducing
CoC by extending consumables life has been a focus of oxide CMP cost
reduction efforts. Longer consumable life has the added benefit of
minimising the frequency of tool requalification, resulting in higher
availability and more product wafers out per week. Also, given the high
cost of oxide CMP slurry, reducing slurry usage per wafer can greatly
lower overall cost of ownership. This article will present solutions
that meet the oxide CMP productivity and process requirements for the
0.13-mm technology node and beyond.
 Achieving Higher Productivity in Oxide CMP
|
Wafer Processing 