Rapid Process Development for Chemical Mechanical Planarization

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The objective of this research project is to understand the fundamental mechanisms affecting the salient features of product quality and process efficiency in Chemical Mechanical Planarization. A consistent multi-scale and multi-physics approach is pursued. The Chemical Mechanical Planarization process is viewed as a confluence or a union of wafer, pad and slurry, aided by the machine. By the interactions inherent in this process, the wafer, pad, and slurry each modifies the other two, and is in turn modified by them. This project develops a multi-scale and multi-physics representation of the intricacies of 3-way fully coupled pad-wafer-slurry interactions, aided by quasi-coupled interactions with the machine. A concept mapping technique, augmented via curvature correction is utilized to ensure consistency in multi-physics and multi-scale representations. Model development will be aided by mechanistic experimentations as well as full scale planarization tests. The validated predictive model will then be utilized to conduct a detailed parametric study and design space exploration of chemical ? mechanical interactions in a planarization process.Once validated, the multi-scale simulation tool will be housed in a website and can serve as a software testbed for process development. It will not only just check if a process design choice is expected to meet the specifications, but will also be able to provide advice for generic rectifications when the process design choices fail to meet the specifications. This will facilitate development of effective process design and control. It will capture the basic nano-scale nuances of planarization processes, and relate them to macro-scale design considerations. Outreach to neighboring undergraduate institutions and high schools are planned by introducing Concept Mapping principles utilized in this project to science education at the undergraduate and high school levels.