The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 03, 2001
Filed:
Sep. 30, 1999
Optimization of chemical mechanical process by detection of oxide/nitride interface using cld system
Leping Li, Poughkeepsie, NY (US);
James A. Gilhooly, St. Albans, VT (US);
Clifford O. Morgan, III, Burlington, VT (US);
Cong Wei, Poughkeepsie, NY (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A method is provided to optimize the chemical mechanical planarization process of wafers having a target removal layer and a stop layer. A slurry is added to a polishing table which includes a polishing pad and a platen adapted for rotation; a portion of the slurry is allowed to engage an interface between the polishing pad and the wafer. A gaseous sample is continuously extracted from the slurry; the gaseous sample includes a reactant product created when the polishing pad engages the stop layer. The gaseous sample is introduced into a reactant product detector. A first time is determined, corresponding to an initial detection of the reactant product in the slurry, thereby creating a first reference point. A second time is determined, corresponding to the detection of a maximum volume of the reactant in said slurry, thereby creating a second reference point. The first and second reference points are then processed to obtain a signal, wherein the signal reflects the uniformity of removal of the layer containing the reactant product.