Agere Systems Guardian Corp.

Nexplanar Corporation

Agere Systems Inc.

Lucent Technologies Inc.

Cabot Microelectronics Corporation

Sudhanshu Misra

Pradip Kumar Roy

Sailesh Mansinh Merchant

Vivek Saxena

Manish Deopura

William Graham Easter

Diane Scott

Susan Clay Vitkavage

Hem M Vaidya

Robert Kerprich

John Michael Sharpe

Donald Thomas Cwynar

Karey Holland

Sundar Srinivasaan Chetlur

Dennis Okumu Ouma

Frank Miceli

John Albert Maze, Iii

Allen Yen

William M Moller

The present application relates to polishing pads for chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) of substrates, and methods of fabrication and use thereof. The pads described in this invention are customized to polishing specifications where specifications include (but not limited to) to the material being polished, chip design and architecture, chip density and pattern density, equipment platform and type of slurry used. These pads can be designed with a specialized polymeric nano-structure with a long or short range order which allows for molecular level tuning achieving superior thermo-mechanical characteristics. More particularly, the pads can be designed and fabricated so that there is both uniform and nonuniform spatial distribution of chemical and physical properties within the pads. In addition, these pads can be designed to tune the coefficient of friction by surface engineering, through the addition of solid lubricants, and creating low shear integral pads having multiple layers of polymeric material which form an interface parallel to the polishing surface. The pads can also have controlled porosity, embedded abrasive, novel grooves on the polishing surface, for slurry transport, which are produced in situ, and a transparent region for endpoint detection.

Customized polishing pads for CMP and methods of fabrication and use thereof

CMP pads having novel groove configurations are described. For example, described herein are CMP pads comprising primary grooves, secondary grooves, a groove pattern center, and an optional terminal groove. The CMP pads may be made from polyurethane or poly (urethane-urea), and the grooves produced therein may be made by a method from the group consisting of molding, laser writing, water jet cutting, 3-D printing, thermoforming, vacuum forming, micro-contact printing, hot stamping, and mixtures thereof.

Grooved CMP pads

The present application relates to polishing pads for chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) of substrates, and methods of fabrication and use thereof. The pads described in this invention are customized to polishing specifications where specifications include (but not limited to) to the material being polished, chip design and architecture, chip density and pattern density, equipment platform and type of slurry used. These pads can be designed with a specialized polymeric nano-structure with a long or short range order which allows for molecular level tuning achieving superior themo-mechanical characteristics. More particularly, the pads can be designed and fabricated so that there is both uniform and nonuniform spatial distribution of chemical and physical properties within the pads. In addition, these pads can be designed to tune the coefficient of friction by surface engineering, through the addition of solid lubricants, and creating low shear integral pads having multiple layers of polymeric material which form an interface parallel to the polishing surface. The pads can also have controlled porosity, embedded abrasive, novel grooves on the polishing surface, for slurry transport, which are produced in situ, and a transparent region for endpoint detection.

Described herein are polishing apparatus, polishing formulations, and polymeric substrates for use in polishing surfaces, and related methods. The apparatus, formulations, substrates, and methods may each be used in applications involving the polishing of metal and/or metal-containing surfaces such as semiconductor wafers. The apparatus, formulations, polymeric substrates, and related methods described herein may be used without abrasives, and in some instances, without mechanical friction of a pad surface against the surface to be polished. Therefore, defects on a polished surface due to such mechanical polishing processes may be reduced.

Polishing systems

Grooved CMP pad

A polishing pad for chemical mechanical planarization of a film on a substrate is customized by obtaining one or more characteristics of a structure on a substrate. For example, when the structure is a chip formed on a semiconductor wafer, the one or more characteristics of the structure can include chip size, pattern density, chip architecture, film material, film topography, and the like. Based on the one or more characteristics of the structure, a value for the one or more chemical or physical properties of the pad is selected. For example, the one or more chemical or physical properties of the pad can include pad material hardness, thickness, surface grooving, pore size, porosity, Youngs modulus, compressibility, asperity, and the like.

Customized polish pads for chemical mechanical planarization

A semiconductor device with an interconnect layer having a plurality of layout regions of active interconnects and dummy fills for uniform planarization. In one embodiment, the device will have at least one interconnect layer with a plurality of layout regions overlying the semiconductor substrate. Each layout region will comprise an active interconnect feature region and a dummy fill feature region adjacent thereto for facilitating uniformity of planarization during manufacturing. Each dummy fill region in each layout region will have a different density with respect to other dummy fill regions in other layout regions, so that the combined density of the active interconnect feature region and the dummy fill feature region in a layout region will be substantially uniform with respect to a similar combined density in each of the other layout regions.

Semiconductor device having an interconnect layer with a plurality of layout regions having substantially uniform densities of active interconnects and dummy fills

An improved polishing pad ( ) for use in a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) operation as part of a semiconductor device fabrication process. The polishing pad is formed of a plurality of particles of abrasive material ( ) disposed in a matrix material ( ). The abrasive particles may be a stiff inorganic material coated with a coupling agent, and the matrix material may be a polymeric material such as polyurethane. As the polishing pad wears through repeated polishing operations, the newly exposed polishing surface will contain fresh abrasive particles and will exhibit the same polishing properties as the original surface, thereby providing consistent polishing performance throughout the life of the pad without the need for conditioning operations. In one embodiment the distribution of particles of abrasive material per unit volume of matrix material may vary from one portion ( ) of the pad to another ( ).

Pad for chemical mechanical polishing

Tantalum and niobium aluminum-doped hydrated mixed metal oxide sols may be made by a process comprising combining a first metal compound aluminum alkoxide, with a second metal compound selected from the group consisting of niobium alkoxide and tantalum alkoxide, and mixtures thereof to provide a substantially water-free precursor and combining the precursor with a ketone to provide a hydrated mixed metal oxide sol, wherein the ketone is substantially free of water. The sol may then be processed to obtain thin films, fibers, crystals (both micro- and meso-porous), powders and macroscopic objects and to provide mixed metal oxide that may be used in a variety of components of integrated circuits.

Non-hydrolytic-sol-gel process for high K dielectric

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Orlando, FL, United States of America

Sudhanshu Misra