Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Comp. Ltd.

Worldwide Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation

Bih-Tiao Lin

Soon-Kang Huang

Pao-Kang Niu

Chang-Sheng Lee

Sen-Nan Lee

Rong Jye Jang

Kung-Teng Huang

Meng-Feng Tsai

Shuang-Neng Peng

A dynamically adjustable slurry feed arm and method for adjusting the same in a CMP process including carrying out the CMP process for a predetermined period of time on a substrate comprising a polishing layer to remove a portion of a polishing layer; determining the thickness of the polishing layer at a plurality of predetermined measurement areas comprising at least a polishing layer peripheral portion and a polishing layer center portion; determining a desired subsequent dispensing position to equalize the thickness of the polishing layer; and, adjusting the slurry feed arm to the subsequent dispensing position such that the slurry is dispensed over the polishing pad at the subsequent dispensing position comprising one of closer to the polishing pad center portion and closer to the polishing pad peripheral portion.

Dynamically adjustable slurry feed arm for wafer edge profile improvement in CMP

A method of fabricating a copper damascene. The method is applicable to a substrate, which substrate has a dielectric layer formed thereon. The method comprising forming a damascene opening in the dielectric layer, forming a barrier layer which conforms to a profile of the damascene opening over the substrate, and forming a conformal copper seeding layer on the barrier layer. A copper layer is then formed on the copper seeding layer, wherein the copper seeding layer has a thickness that is sufficient to fill the damascene opening, followed by forming a conformal protective layer on the copper layer. A first CMP step is performed to remove the protective layer, while a portion of the copper layer outside the damascene opening is removed until the protective layer is completely removed, wherein a first polishing rate is faster than a second polishing rate. A second CMP step is further performed to remove portions of the copper layer, the copper seeding layer, and the barrier layer outside the damascene opening, so as to form a copper damascene. A third polishing rate for the copper layer is provided in the second CMP step, wherein the third polishing rate is slower than the first polishing rate.

Chemical mechanical polishing method for fabricating copper damascene structure

A slurry dilution system with an ultrasonic vibrator capable of diluting slurry in-situ to any desired level of concentration is proposed. Raw slurry and the de-ionized water fed into the slurry dilution system is mixed and homogenized by an ultrasonic vibrator and a mixer. The well-mixed slurry solution is then delivered to a chemical-mechanical polishing station. When the chemical-mechanical station requires slurry of a different concentration, the raw slurry can be diluted to the desired level simply by changing the rate of flow of de-ionized water into the dilution system.

Slurry dilution system with an ultrasonic vibrator capable of in-situ adjustment of slurry concentration

A method of fabricating copper damascene. In this invention, only crystalline copper metal layer is formed inside the damascene trench and only amorphous copper metal layer is formed outside the damascene trench. During stacking the copper metal layer, copper metal stacks up to form crystalline copper metal with good lattice packing according to the position of the copper seed layer. Conversely, amorphous copper metal is formed in positions where no copper seed layer exists. Since the amorphous copper metal is softer than the crystalline copper metal, lower pressure and the ordinary slurry are used in chemical mechanical polishing to remove amorphous copper metal layer outside the damascene trench, in order to form a flat-surfaced copper damascene structure.

Method of fabricating copper damascene

An electroplating tool, which includes at least of a deposition cassette which is installed on a negative electrode and copper piece in an electroplating tank, or a copper rod is installed on the positive electrode of the electroplating room. 25 wafers are installed in the electroplating room, and both ends of each of the wafers are respectively fixed in place by a wafer clamp. The wafer clamp is in contact with the negative electrode, and is electrically connected to the wafer. The copper rod or copper piece that connects to the positive electrode can be a big piece that is installed on the outer side of the deposition cassette opening. It can also assume a comb-like arrangement of 25 pieces, respectively interlocked and extending into the gaps between the wafers. Moreover, in order to increase the even distribution during copper deposition, the present invention further adds a sound wave vibration apparatus at the bottom of and on the two sides of the electroplating tank. An ultrasonic vibration is simultaneously provided on the electroplating, causing the copper layer on the wafers in the deposition cassette to be well distributed.

High throughput and high performance copper electroplating tool

An apparatus and method for conditioning the polishing pad of CMP system by employing a multi-zone conditioner, or dresser. The conditioner comprises a plurality of rollers or disks, which can be well tuned to make down-pressure and rolling speed of the rollers or disks to the extent as desirable. The conditioner further comprises driving means for rotating the polishing rollers or disks. It can make a better uniformity of the pad conditioning and improve the profile of the polished wafers. The apparatus and method for conditioning the polishing pad can be especially used to compensate the uniformity of the incoming films, or the pre-CMP films.

Multi-zone conditioner for chemical mechanical polishing system

A method for planarizing a semiconductor wafer. An insulation layer is formed over the wafer. A spin-on-glass layer is coated over the insulation layer. Subsequently, the spin-on-glass layer is baked to smooth out its upper surface. A chemical-mechanical polishing process is carried out to planarize the insulation layer. The method eliminates recess cavities in the more loosely packed device region of the insulation layer after a planarization process.

Method of planarization

A method for fabricating a shallow trench isolation structure. A pad oxide layer and a pad silicon nitride layer are formed over a substrate and are patterned to form a trench in the substrate. A high-density plasma (HDP) oxide layer is formed to fill the trench of a certain thickness. A silicon nitride layer is formed over the substrate. The silicon nitride layer and the oxide layer together form a protruding portion. A chemical-mechanical polishing is performed in a range of from at least removing the protruding portion to exposing the silicon nitride layer. The HDP oxide layer is etched until the HDP oxide layer on the pad silicon nitride layer is removed. The pad silicon nitride layer and the silicon nitride layer are removed by etching.

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Ping-Tung Hsien, Taiwan

Bih-Tiao Lin