GOALI: Process Monitoring and Development for Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP)

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DMI-9813039Dornfeld Chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) is one of the most critical steps in the production of multilayer silicon microelectronic devices. It has become one of the key roadblock issues in semiconductor manufacturing today. The decreasing line widths of semiconductor devices require new materials that further challenge the process. The objective of the proposed research is to use acoustic emission sensing technology to investigate the material removal mechanisms in CMP and as a basis for process monitoring. Material removal in CMP is dependent on both chemical and mechanical actions at the interface between the pad and the wafer surface. The focus here is on the mechanical interactions. The project will seek to determine the dependency of material removal (both at a specific point and over the wafer surface) on process variables such as work/pad gap thickness, abrasive size and shape, and polishing pad characteristics. In addition, pad design and patterning is important, and thus a basis for pad texture/groove design and optimization will be included. Process monitoring in CMP will focus on process variables important to work quality and production rate including pad wear and degradation, microscratching and other surface defects as well as uniformity over the wafer surface. The project is expected to advance the understanding of process mechanics and capability for process monitoring using acoustic emission on CMP. The collaboration with NIST provides excellent synergy for project resources and is valuable to education and technology transfer.