Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

International Business Machines Corporation

Infineon Technologies Ag

Infineon Technologies Sc300 Gmbh & Co., Kg

Motorola Corporation

Other

Semiconductor 300 Gmbh & Co. Kg

Walter Glashauser

Katrin Ebner

Michael C Gaidis

Max Gerald Levy

Gregory Costrini

Bernhard Fiegl

Benno Utess

Andreas Purath

Lutz Teichgr&auml;ber

Chanro Park

Eugene John O'Sullivan

David Lee Rath

Stephen L Brown

Kia-Seng Low

Victor R Nastasi

Frank Prein

Joachim Nuetzel

Frank Findeis

David Weston Haggart, Jr

David Erdmann

David Haggart

Lutz Teichgräber

Grigore-Vlad Ghica

Peter Faustmann

By applying heat and pressure to a backing film with an adhesive layer while mounting it to a polish head used for chemical mechanical polishing, inhomogeneities inside the adhesive layer, e.g. thickness and compressibility variations or air bubbles can easily be removed. A corresponding configuration includes a device for exerting a uniform pressure force, which can be a roller made of silicone or rubber, or a plate. The configuration also includes a device for heating and a control unit for controlling the heat and the pressure force. After the backing film is installed using this configuration and method, the polish head can be used to uniformly remove material from a semiconductor wafer surface and therefore the wafer yield is advantageously increased.

Configuration and method for mounting a backing film to a polish head

A method and a configuration for conditioning a polishing pad surface are described. The method includes measuring a rotation table current or voltage as an input for a motor driving the rotation of the polishing pad versus a rotating conditioning head. The electrical power input is used as a measure of an actual abrasion effective in regenerating the polishing pad. Since the polishing pad commonly deteriorates by repeated usage, i.e. debris settles down onto its surface, the abrasion efficiency decreases. The method issues a warning signal, in response to the electrical power input exceeding a limit, to take actions for maintaining the uniformity of the conditioning process. The polishing pad rotation can be accelerated or the conditioning head pressure force or rotation can be increased in response to the warning signal. Therefore, the polishing pad can be conditioned.

Method and configuration for conditioning a polishing pad surface

An in-situ measurement of thickness profiles of polishing pads () used in chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is enabled by arranging sensors () for measuring distances together with a conditioner (). The sensors () are provided as e.g. laser sensors () performing an indirect measurement from a calibrated height level above the pad () surface or as e.g. laser () or ultrasonic sensors () performing a direct thickness measurement from the pad surface to the pad-platen contact surface. A thickness profile () is obtained by co-moving the sensor (7) with the conditioner () during conditioning or by leading a sensor () along a guide-rail () above the pad surface () with e.g. a constant distance. A reference distance measurement to the polishing platen () can be achieved by a second sensor () mounted at a position, where there is no pad on the platen (), e.g. a hole or the edge. Using the arrangement a disadvantageous thickness profile () with a steep slope resulting in polishing inhomogeneities affecting semiconductor device () surfaces can be detected and a warning signal be issued. A destructing micrometer measurement is not necessary, thus prolonging the pad () lifetime and increasing the device yield.

Arrangement and method for conditioning a polishing pad

Self-aligning vias and trenches etched between adjacent lines of metallization allows the area of the dielectric substrate allocated to the via or trench to be significantly reduced without increasing the possibility of electrical shorts to the adjacent lines of metallization.

Self-aligned mask to reduce cell layout area

A polish head for Chemical Mechanical Polishing includes a backing film of silicone on a rigid support element, preferably, of amorphous ceramic. The silicone backing film is fabricated by molding, thereby enabling an appropriate cross-sectional shape for specific polishing needs. The head provides a uniform polishing of a semiconductor wafer.

Configuration for polishing disk-shaped objects

Encapsulating areas of metallization in a liner material, such as Tantalum, Tantalum Nitride, Silicon Carbide allows aggressive or harsh processing steps to be used. These aggresive processing steps offer the possibility of fabricating new device architectures. In addition, by encapsulating the areas of metallization, metal ion migration and electromigration can be prevented. Further, the encapsulated areas of metallization can serve as a self-aligning etch mask. Thus, vias etched between adjacent areas of metallization allow the area of the substrate allocated to the via to be significantly reduced without increasing the possibility of electrical shorts to the adjacent areas of metallization.

Recessed metal lines for protective enclosure in integrated circuits

A wafer cleaning apparatus includes a wafer supporting device for supporting a wafer to be cleaned, and sponges for cleaning the wafer. The sponges are arranged in contact with either surface of the wafer and are rotated along rotational axes that are parallel to the wafer. A sponge positioning device pushes the sponges against the wafer. A wafer rotation drive is adapted to rotate the wafer at a constant speed, and a sponge rotation drive system is adapted to rotate the sponges at a constant speed. A closed loop controller receives motor current signals from the wafer rotation drive and/or the sponge rotation drive system, and the closed loop controller provides an adjustment signal to the sponge positioning device. The adjustment signal is for adjusting the friction between the sponges and the wafer.

Wafer cleaning apparatus

A method for determining an endpoint during chemical-mechanical polishing of a semiconductor wafer ( ) is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of depositing on a first layer ( ) to be polished a second layer ( ), the physical properties of the first layer ( ) being different from the physical properties of the second layer ( ). After that, the wafer ( ) is polished by chemical-mechanical polishing. Due to the different physical properties of the layers, a variation of the physical properties can be detected, and an endpoint can be determined on the basis of the detected variation. Further, a semiconductor wafer for use in a chemical-mechanical polishing process is disclosed.

Method for determining an endpoint and semiconductor wafer

In a chemical-mechanical polishing machine ( ) where a polishing head ( ) holds a wafer ( ) against a polishing pad ( ), a retaining ring ( ) that surrounds the wafer ( ) has an open chamber ( ) to distribute pressurized slurry ( ) to the polishing pad ( ) and to the periphery ( ) of the wafer ( ).

Retaining ring for chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) head, polishing apparatus, slurry cycle system, and method

A polishing head ( ) for a chemical-mechanical polishing machine that holds a semiconductor wafer ( ) against a polishing pad ( ) has a chuck ( ) with a pressure chamber ( ) to apply a down force substantially equally to the wafer backside ( ). An electrode arrangement ( ) within the chamber ( ) is located coplanar to the wafer ( ) to provide compensation to wafer or chuck irregularities by applying a compensation force having a distribution corresponding to the irregularities.

Polishing head for wafer, and method for polishing

FET devices are manufactured using STI on a semiconductor substrate coated with a pad from which are formed raised active silicon device areas and dummy active silicon mesas capped with pad structures on the doped silicon substrate and pad structure. A conformal blanket silicon oxide layer is deposited on the device with conformal projections above the mesas. Then a polysilicon film on the blanket silicon oxide layer is deposited with conformal projections above the mesas. The polysilicon film projections are removed in a CMP polishing step which continues until the silicon oxide layer is exposed over the pad structures. Selective RIE partial etching of the conformal silicon oxide layer over the mesas is next, followed in turn by CMP planarization of the conformal blanket silicon oxide layer which converts the silicon oxide layer into a planar silicon oxide layer, using the pad silicon nitride as an etch stop.

Manufacturing self-aligned polysilicon fet devices isolated with

A method of isolation in silicon integrated circuit processing overfills the trench by a fill margin, deposits a temporary layer of poly having a thickness less than the trench depth by the thickness of an oxide polish stop, so that the top of the polish stop is coplanar with the top of the fill layer outside the trench; the temporary layer is polished outside the trench, using the fill layer and the polish stop layer as polish stops; the polish stop layer is removed together with the same thickness of the fill layer and temporary layer, preserving planarity that is destroyed by selectively etching the fill layer; the remaining temporary layer is stripped and a final touch up polish of the fill layer stops on the pad nitride.

Method of filling shallow trenches

A method for constructing an x-ray mask having a metal carrier foil supporting an x-ray absorbing structure on a metal frame characterized by providing a carrier plate coated with a nickel layer on which a carrier foil is deposited, then forming an electrodepositing mask on the carrier foil with portions of the carrier foil being exposed, electroplating gold onto the exposed portions and subsequently etching the carrier plate to form a window therein and then etching the exposed nickel layer to at least expose the surface of portions of the carrier foil.

Process for the production of masks having a metal carrier foil

Stress and crack-free development of resist layers or films, for example composed of PMMA, used in production of galvanically generated flat precision parts is achieved. Resist layers having a thickness of at least 100 .mu.m are exposed via electron lithography or x-ray lithography techniques whereby very fine structure patterns having dimensions in the micron and sub-micron range are attained and developed with a developer comprised of a mixture of a material selected from the glycol ether group, a material selected from the primary amine group, a material selected from the aqueous group and a material selected from the azine group. Aspect ratios of 30:1 are achieved without dark errosion. Residual PMMA components remaining after development, as well as the developer itself, are fully removed with a post-development rinsing with water so that no disruptive layer residues remain on the surface which has been uncovered through development.

Growing community of inventors

Oberhaching, Germany

Walter Glashauser