Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Comp. Ltd.

Chi-Wei Chung

Syun-Ming Jang Jang

Wen-Chih Chiou

Ying-Ho Chen

Tsu Shih

William Weilun Hong

Chia-Che Chung

Tung-Ching Tseng

An oxide polishing process that is part of a CMP process flow is disclosed. After a copper layer is polished at a first polishing station and a diffusion barrier layer is polished at a second polishing station, a key sequence at a third polish station is the application of a first oxide slurry and a first DI water rinse followed by a second oxide slurry and then a second DI water rinse. As a result, defect counts are reduced from several thousand to less than 100. Another important factor is a low down force that enables more efficient particle removal. The improved oxide polishing process has the same throughput as a single oxide polish and a DI water rinse method and may be implemented in any three slurry copper CMP process flow.

Chemical mechanical polishing process with reduced defects in a copper process

A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus that is equipped with a chilled retaining ring and a method for using the apparatus are described. The retaining ring is mounted therein a heat transfer means such as a metal tube and flowing therethrough a heat exchanging fluid for carrying away heat from the wafer mounted in the retaining ring, resulting in a temperature reduction in the slurry solution that contacts the wafer. The present invention apparatus and method therefore reduces the delamination problem for low k dielectric materials during polishing and the wafer scratching problem.

Chemical mechanical polisher equipped with chilled retaining ring and method of using

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Yunlin, Taiwan

Chi-Wei Chung