Impact of Pad Material Properties on CMP Performance for Sub-10nm Technologies

Khanna, Aniruddh J.; Kakireddy, Raghava; Jawali, Puneet; Chockalingam, Ashwin; Redfield, Daniel; Bajaj, Rajeev; Fung, Jason; Cornejo, Mario; Yamamura, Mayu; Yuan, Zhibo; Orilall, Chris; Fu, Boyi; Ganapathi, Gana; Redeker, Fred C; Patibandla, Nag

doi:10.1149/2.0121905jss

Cited by 18 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The scaling-down speed of nanoscale semiconductor devices has slowed down, owing to the lithography limit as a result of large surface topography and device structure complexity 12 – 17 . In particular, the need for chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) for the removal of such surface topography has increased in nanoscale semiconductor device fabrication 18 – 21 . Among the CMP processes, shallow trench isolation (STI) CMP is an essential fabrication process for all nanoscale semiconductor devices, and poly-Si stop CMP is also an inevitable fabrication process for three-dimensional (3D) NAND-flash memory 22 – 26 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Super fine cerium hydroxide abrasives for SiO2 film chemical mechanical planarization performing scratch free

Son

Jeong

Kim

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Face-centered-cubic crystallized super-fine (~ 2 nm in size) wet-ceria-abrasives are synthesized using a novel wet precipitation process that comprises a Ce4+ precursor, C3H4N2 catalyst, and NaOH titrant for a synthesized termination process at temperature of at temperature of 25 °C. This process overcomes the limitations of chemical–mechanical-planarization (CMP)-induced scratches from conventional dry ceria abrasives with irregular surfaces or wet ceria abrasives with crystalline facets in nanoscale semiconductor devices. The chemical composition of super-fine wet ceria abrasives depends on the synthesis termination pH, that is, Ce(OH)4 abrasives at a pH of 4.0–5.0 and a mixture of CeO2 and Ce(OH)4 abrasives at a pH of 5.5–6.5. The Ce(OH)4 abrasives demonstrate better abrasive stability in the SiO2-film CMP slurry than the CeO2 abrasives and produce a minimum abrasive zeta potential (~ 12 mV) and a minimum secondary abrasive size (~ 130 nm) at the synthesis termination pH of 5.0. Additionally, the abrasive stability of the SiO2-film CMP slurry that includes super-fine wet ceria abrasives is notably sensitive to the CMP slurry pH; the best abrasive stability (i.e., a minimum secondary abrasive size of ~ 130 nm) is observed at a specific pH (6.0). As a result, a maximum SiO2-film polishing rate (~ 524 nm/min) is achieved at pH 6.0, and the surface is free of stick-and-slip type scratches.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Super fine cerium hydroxide abrasives for SiO2 film chemical mechanical planarization performing scratch free

Son

Jeong

Kim

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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show abstract

“…[12][13][14] Various researchers have shown that CMP consumables such as pads, slurries, pad conditioners can significantly impact material removal rates (MRR), planarization efficiency which in turn impacts dishing performance, within-wafer non-uniformity (WIWNU), wafer-to-wafer non-uniformity (WTWNU), within-die non-uniformity (WIDNU) and defectivity of a CMP process. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] So, significant developments in the CMP consumables space will be required for the development of future technology nodes. Innovative methods and designs have been reported for the manufacturing of novel CMP pads.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of the Impact of Pad Surface Texture from Different Pad Conditioners on the CMP Performance

Khanna

Yamamura

Kakireddy

et al. 2020

ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol.

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Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is a common method for planarization/polishing materials during integrated circuits (IC) fabrication. Pad conditioning is a critical component of a CMP process. Herein, the impact of surface textures created by different types of pad conditioners (PC) such as coarse, mid-coarse, and fine PC on the solid pads are studied. Additional surface texture parameters such as surface height distribution, skewness, Dale Void Volume are used to determine an optimum surface texture that gives desired CMP performance such as material removal rate and within-wafer non-uniformity. It was determined that an optimum surface texture on a solid CMP pad can be obtained with a mid-coarse disk. It is further demonstrated that by the addition of porosity to the pads, it is possible to recreate an optimum surface texture and desired CMP performance, similar to that obtained with a mid-coarse disk and a solid pad. Tribological mechanisms of the different pad and PC combinations are presented using the coefficient of friction. It is concluded that porous pad and fine PC pairing can tackle the issues of slurry transport limitations, lack of asperity contact, and process stability over pad life.

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“…[7][8][9][10][11][12] Consumables such as CMP pads, slurries, pad conditioners, retaining rings of the carrier are known to impact material removal rates, within-wafer non-uniformity (WIWNU), wafer-to-wafer non-uniformity (WTWNU), planarization efficiency that in turn impacts the dishing performance, (WIDNU) and the defectivity of ICs. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] CMP consumable is another area that will require significant developments in addition to advances in hardware, to meet these stringent process requirements. Novel methods have been reported using advanced manufacturing technology to manufacture CMP pads.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Performance Pad Conditioning (HPPC) Arm for Augmenting CMP Performance

Khanna

Kakireddy

Fung

et al. 2020

ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol.

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Pad conditioning (PC) is one of the key aspects of a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process. PC is known to impact the material removal rates (MRR), within-wafer non-uniformity (WIWNU) of material removal rates, planarization, defects, and the overall cost of ownership of the CMP process. Herein, changes in the aggressiveness of a pad conditioning disk with usage and exposure to the slurry are determined using the novel high-performance pad conditioning (HPPC) arm. The changes in the PC sweep torque was correlated to the change in the aggressiveness of the PC disk with usage. Thereafter, the rate of drop in the PC torque was used to characterize a PC disk into different regimes such as stable and unstable regimes. The stable regime of a PC disk is defined as the one in which the rate of drop in the PC sweep torque i.e. change in the disk aggressiveness with usage is not significant. Further, it is demonstrated that it is possible to maintain stable MRR, WIWNU over a large number of wafers by using a PC disk in its stable regime, which in turn augments the stability of a CMP process.

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Impact of Pad Material Properties on CMP Performance for Sub-10nm Technologies

Cited by 18 publications

References 25 publications

Super fine cerium hydroxide abrasives for SiO2 film chemical mechanical planarization performing scratch free

Super fine cerium hydroxide abrasives for SiO2 film chemical mechanical planarization performing scratch free

Investigation of the Impact of Pad Surface Texture from Different Pad Conditioners on the CMP Performance

High-Performance Pad Conditioning (HPPC) Arm for Augmenting CMP Performance

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