Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

Vlsi Technology, Inc.

Other

Andrew J Black

Landon B Vines

Stacy W Hall

Liming Zhang

Allison Deen

A system and method are provided that maintains a high pH at the wafer surface through the entire polish process and then lowers the pH only when necessary in a controlled fashion after CMP and during the post-polish clean. A fluid having a high pH chemistry and, optionally, surfactants is used instead of deionized water to keep the wafer and polisher components wet and to clean the slurry residue from the polishing pad.

Constant pH polish and scrub

A short CMP polish process is provided which removes minimal amounts of oxide and reduces defectivity at the surface of the wafer during short periods of rework by maintaining a high pH at the wafer surface in the presence of a high pH slurry. In one embodiment of the present inventions, the first platen of a multi-platen CMP machine is skipped for polishes of a short duration. In a second embodiment, a large amount of slurry is used to prime the second polish platen, thus displacing deionized water at the surface of the wafer which would ordinarily lower the initial pH of the process. Additionally, downforce may be minimized to reduce defectivity.

Short CMP polish method

The present invention is a fluid dispensing fixed abrasive polishing pad CMP system and method that utilizes fixed abrasive components to remove a portion or entire layer of a wafer while dispensing a fluid without suspended abrasive particles onto the wafer surface. A fluid dispensing fixed abrasive polishing pad is pressed against a wafer surface while rotating and fixed abrasive component apply a frictional force that planarizes a wafer surface. The fluid dispensed by the fluid dispensing fixed abrasive polishing pad assist the fixed components achieve wafer planarization in numerous ways, including minimizing scratching of the wafer surface, chemically reacting with the wafer surface to soften it, and aiding in the removal of particulate contaminants. The fluid flow in the present invention is strong enough to remove the waste (e.g., reaction products, wafer shavings, particulate contaminants, etc.) from the surface of the wafer and the fixed abrasive polishing pad during the polishing process. In one embodiment of the present invention, waste particles become suspended in the fluid and are sucked back through fluid dispensing ducts of the fluid dispensing fixed abrasive polishing pad.

Fluid dispensing fixed abrasive polishing pad

Thickness of a wafer is monitored during grinding. A conductive plate is located below the wafer during grinding. One or more capacitive sensors are located above the wafer during grinding. A monitoring device monitors capacitance of the conductive plate and the capacitive sensor.

In-situ backgrind wafer thickness monitor

The temperature of a wafer is controlled during a chemical mechanical polishing process. Fluid containment is provided on a wafer backing plate in contact with the wafer during the chemical mechanical polishing process. Transportation of fluid is provided to and from the fluid containment during the chemical mechanical polishing process. Temperature of the fluid is controlled in order to control temperature on the wafer during the chemical mechanical polishing process.

Temperature control carrier head for chemical mechanical polishing

A pouch for a horse's tail which has been braided and looped lengthwise into a plurality of loops extending through a space between the strands at the base of the braid including an elongated tubular body portion having a closed end, an open end for receiving the braided and looped tail, a longitudinally extending fly extending into the tubular body portion from the open end, a fastening tab having a stem formed integrally with the body portion and extending away from the open end for insertion into the space between the strands of the horse's tail at the base of the braided portion, and an elongated portion on the fastening tab at the outer end of the stem and extending perpendicularly thereto to form a T therewith, and fastening material on the elongated portion for attachment circumferentially to the periphery of the tubular body portion proximate the open end.

Growing community of inventors

San Antonio, TX, United States of America

Andrew J Black