International Business Machines Corporation

Robert M Merkling, Jr

Rajasekhar Venigalla

Uldis Artis Ziemins

William Francis Landers

Jeremy K Stephens

Karl E Boggs

David Stanasolovich

Kenneth M Davis

Michael L Passow

Raymond M Khoury

Jose M Ocasio

James Hannah

Timothy M McCormack

By adding silica to ceria-based CMP slurries the polish process starts much faster than without silica thereby eliminating dead time in the polish process and eliminating process instability caused by changes in the dead time with operating conditions. A slurry for performing chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) of patterned oxides (e.g., STI, PMD, ILD) on a substrate, comprises: ceria particles having a concentration of 1.0&#x2013;5.0 wt % and silica particles having a concentration of 0.1&#x2013;5.0 wt %. A ratio of ceria concentration to silica concentration (ceria:silica) is from approximately 10:1 to nearly 1:1 by weight. The ceria particles have a particle size of 150&#x2013;250 nm, and the silica particles have a particle size of greater than 100 nm. The silica may be fumed or colloidal. The slurry has a pH of approximately 9.0.

Ceria-based polish processes, and ceria-based slurries

A method of reconditioning a polishing pad using a chemical-mechanical polishing apparatus is disclosed, wherein the polishing pad contacts a workpiece in the presence of a slurry to perform chemical-mechanical polishing on the workpiece. The method comprises contacting the polishing pad with a reconditioning pad. The reconditioning pad is made of a polishing pad material similar to that of the polishing pad.

Polishing pad reconditioning via polishing pad material as conditioner

A system for polishing a surface. The surface is positioned in contact with a rotating table having a polishing slurry or compound applied to a table surface. The pattern formed in the polishing compound as the table is rotated is monitored, and when the pattern dimensions reach a predetermined size, indicating a polished end point, the polisher ends polishing.

Apparatus and method for controlling polishing of integrated circuit

A reactive ion etching technique is disclosed for etching a gate electrode out of layers of tungsten silicide and polycrystalline silicon without etching the underlying layer of silicon dioxide which serves as the gate dielectric and which covers the source and drain regions. The key feature of the invention, wherein the gate, which has been partially etched out of the tungsten silicide and polycrystalline silicon layers, is coated with poly tetra-fluoroethylene (teflon) to protect the sidewalls of the gate from being excessively etched in the lateral direction while the etching continues at the bottom on either side of the gate. The process is especially suitable for formation of tungsten silicide structures since no subsequent thermal steps are required which would otherwise cause a delamination of the tungsten silicide. In addition to eliminating undercutting, the process does not disturb the gate oxide over the source and drain areas, which would otherwise create a leaky device unsuitable for applications such as dynamic RAMs. The entire process can be carried out in a single pump down and therefore contamination levels can be minimized.

Selective anisotropic reactive ion etching process for polysilicide

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Danbury, CT, United States of America

Robert M Merkling, Jr