Low Shear Force Defect Removal from SiC Using Megasonic Enhanced Cleaning

Abstract

Wide band gap (WBG) materials (i.e., Silicon Carbide (SiC)) have attracted much attention in the semiconductor arena because of their intrinsic properties (i.e. high capacitance, thermal stability, and wear resistance). In order to achieve the desired removal rate and surface planarity during the Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) process of SiC substrates high shear force and chemically aggressive conditions are employed. Although effective this process can result in significant surface contamination/defectivity (i.e., organic residue, abrasive particles, etc.) post-polish. Current methods of post-CMP cleaning for SiC substrates implement a Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) brush scrubbing to aid in surface contaminate removal. A balance of controlled shear force and interfacial adsorption/redox reactions are necessary to effectively remove rouge contaminates without any generation of secondary defects. This research focuses on development of a “soft” (low-shear force) post-CMP cleaning process for SiC which uses transient cavitation effects via megasonic energy coupled with catalytic complexes to enhance reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. More specifically, hydroxyl radical (*OH) generating organometallic complexes were incorporated into the cleaning fluid to increase ROS and provide additional surface-active chemistries to disrupt the defects non-covalent surface binding energy. Initial results show increased ROS generation (which is complex structure dependent) improved defect removal efficiency under static megasonic conditions with no changes to the surface energy of the final polished SiC substrate.