Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Comp. Ltd.

Soon-Kang Huang

Chi-Ming Yang

You-Hua Chou

Chen-Ming Huang

Shih-Chi Lin

Chih-Tsung Lee

Min Hao Hong

Chih-Jen Wu

Chih-Yuan Yang

Kun-Tai Wu

Chin-Hsiang Chang

Chin-Hsiang Lin

Yen-Yu Chen

Jiann Lih Wu

Tung-Huang Chen

Po-An Chen

Jong-I Mou

Shwang-Ming Jeng

Yen-Di Tsen

Bo-I Lee

Han-Hsin Kuo

James Jeng-Jyi Hwang

Keung Hui

Bih-Tiao Lin

Jin-Ning Sung

Jason Shen

Jeng-Jyi Hwang

Hsing-Chi Chen

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device having metal gates and the semiconductor device are disclosed. The method comprises providing a first sacrificial gate associated with a first conductive type transistor and a second sacrificial gate associated with a second conductive type transistor disposed over the substrate, wherein the first conductive type and the second conductive type are complementary; replacing the first sacrificial gate with a first metal gate structure; forming a patterned dielectric layer and/or a patterned photoresist layer to cover the first metal gate structure; and replacing the second sacrificial gate with a second metal gate structure. The method can improve gate height uniformity during twice metal gate chemical mechanical polish processes.

Method and structure for metal gates

A semiconductor structure and a method for forming a semiconductor structure are provided. The method includes receiving a semiconductor substrate having a first region and a second region; forming a dielectric layer over the semiconductor substrate; removing portions of the dielectric layer to form a dielectric structure in the first region, wherein the dielectric structure includes a base structure and a plurality of first isolation structures over the base structure; forming a semiconductor layer covering the first region and the second region; removing a portion of the semiconductor layer to expose a top surface of the plurality of first isolation structures; and forming a plurality of second isolation structures in the second region.

Semiconductor structure and forming method thereof

A method of using a polishing system includes securing a wafer to a support, wherein the wafer has a first diameter. The method further includes polishing the wafer using a first polishing pad rotating about a first axis, wherein the first polishing pad has a second diameter greater than the first diameter. The method further includes rotating the support about a second axis perpendicular to the first axis after polishing the wafer using the first polishing pad. The method further includes polishing the wafer using a second polishing pad after rotating the support, wherein the second polishing pad has a third diameter less than the first diameter. The method further includes releasing the wafer from the support following polishing the wafer using the second polishing pad.

Method of using a polishing system

A method of planarizing a wafer includes pressing the wafer against a planarization pad. The method further includes moving the planarization pad relative to the wafer. The method further includes conditioning the planarization pad using a pad conditioner. Conditioning the planarization pad includes moving the planarization pad relative to the pad conditioner. The pad conditioner includes abrasive particles having aligned tips a substantially constant distance from a surface of substrate of the pad conditioner.

Method of planarizing a wafer

A chemical-mechanical polishing system has a first polishing apparatus configured to perform a first chemical-mechanical polish on a workpiece and a second polishing apparatus configured to perform a second chemical-mechanical polish on the workpiece. A rework polishing apparatus comprising a rework platen and a rework CMP head is configured to perform an auxiliary chemical-mechanical polish on the workpiece when the workpiece is positioned on the rework platen. A measurement apparatus measures one or more parameters of the workpiece, and a transport apparatus transports the workpiece between the first polishing apparatus, second polishing apparatus, rework polishing apparatus, and measurement apparatus. A controller determines a selective transport of the workpiece to the rework polishing apparatus by the transport apparatus only when the one or more parameters are unsatisfactory.

High throughput CMP platform

A polishing system includes a wafer support that holds a wafer, the wafer having a first diameter. The polishing system further includes a first polishing pad that polishes a first region of the wafer, the first polishing pad having a second diameter greater than the first diameter. The polishing system further includes an auxiliary polishing system comprising at least one second polishing pad that polishes a second region of the wafer, wherein the second polishing pad has a third diameter less than the first diameter, and the wafer support is configured to support the wafer during use of the first polishing pad and the auxiliary polishing system.

Polishing system

An apparatus and method for providing target thickness and surface profile uniformity control of a multi-head chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process is disclosed. An exemplary method includes providing at least two wafers; determining a surface profile of each of the at least two wafers; determining an operation mode for a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process based on the surface profiles of the at least two wafers; determining a CMP polishing recipe for each of the at least two wafers based on the operation mode; and performing the CMP process on the at least two wafers based on the determined CMP polishing recipes.

Apparatus and method for chemical mechanical polishing process control

A wafer polishing system including a platen configured to rotate in a first direction, and a polishing head configured to hold a wafer, the polishing head configured to rotate in a second direction. The wafer polishing system further includes an optical sensing system configured to detect a thickness of the wafer at a first location on the platen and a second location on the platen. A first distance from a center of the platen to the first location is different than a second distance from the center of the platen to the second location.

Multi-point chemical mechanical polishing end point detection system and method of using

A polishing system for polishing a semiconductor wafer includes a wafer support for holding the semiconductor wafer, and a first polishing pad for polishing a region of the semiconductor wafer. The semiconductor wafer has a first diameter, and the first polishing pad has a second diameter shorter than the first diameter.

Polishing system and polishing method

The present disclosure provides a method of fabricating a semiconductor device, a semiconductor device fabricated by such a method, and a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) tool for performing such a method. In one embodiment, a method of fabricating a semiconductor device includes providing an integrated circuit (IC) wafer including a metal conductor in a trench of a dielectric layer over a substrate, and performing a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process to planarize the metal conductor and the dielectric layer. The method further includes cleaning the planarized metal conductor and dielectric layer to remove residue from the CMP process, rinsing the cleaned metal conductor and dielectric layer with an alcohol, and drying the rinsed metal conductor and dielectric layer in an inert gas environment.

Metal conductor chemical mechanical polish

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.

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Hsinchu, Taiwan

Soon-Kang Huang