Applied Materials, Inc.

Ajoy Zutshi

Rahul Surana

Fred Conrad Redeker

Rajeev Bajaj

Girish Anant Dixit

Kapila P Wijekoon

Yutao Ma

A system, method and medium of detecting a transition interface between a first dielectric material and an adjacent second dielectric material in a semiconductor wafer during a chemical-mechanical polishing process includes impinging an incident light of a predetermined wavelength on the semiconductor wafer at a first time, detecting at least one first intensity of at least one first reflected light, impinging the incident light of the predetermined wavelength on the semiconductor wafer at a second time, detecting at least one second intensity of at least one second reflected light, and determining a difference between the at least one first intensity and the at least one second intensity. If the difference between the at least one first intensity and the at least one second intensity is above a predetermined threshold, the chemical-mechanical polishing process is terminated.

System, method, and medium for an endpoint detection scheme for copper low-dielectric damascene structures for improved dielectric and copper loss

A technique of the present invention utilizes qualification characteristics from a single wafer for qualifying a semiconductor manufacturing tool. Generally speaking, the technique commences with the processing of a wafer by the manufacturing tool. During processing, one or more qualification characteristics required to properly qualify the tool are measured using an in situ sensor or metrology device. Subsequently, the manufacturing tool is qualified by adjusting one or more parameters of a recipe in accordance with the qualification characteristics measured from the wafer to target one or more manufacturing tool specifications. In some embodiments, the tool to be qualified includes a bulk removal polishing platen, a copper clearing platen and a barrier removal polishing platen. In these cases, the technique involves transferring a wafer to each of the bulk removal polishing platen, copper clearing platen and barrier removal polishing platen, where qualification characteristics are measured from the wafer during processing. These platens are subsequently qualified by adjusting one or more parameters of a recipe associated with each platen in accordance with the qualification characteristics measured from the wafer, to target one or more platen specifications.

Technique for process-qualifying a semiconductor manufacturing tool using metrology data

Methods and apparatus for planarizing a substrate surface having copper containing materials thereon is provided. In one aspect, the invention provides a system for processing substrates comprising a first platen adapted for polishing a substrate with a hard polishing pad disposed on the first platen, a second platen adapted for polishing a substrate with a hard polishing pad disposed on the second platen, and a third platen adapted for polishing a substrate with a hard polishing pad disposed on the third platen. In another aspect, the invention provides a method for planarizing a substrate surface by the system described above including substantially removing bulk copper containing materials on the first platen, removing residual copper containing materials on the second platen, and then removing a barrier layer on the third platen. A computer readable program may also be provided for performing the methods described herein.

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Fremont, CA, United States of America

Ajoy Zutshi