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

化学机械抛光（CMP）是多层硅微电子器件生产中最关键的步骤之一。它已成为当今半导体制造中的关键障碍问题之一。半导体器件线宽的减小需要新的材料，这进一步挑战了这一工艺。本研究的目的是利用声发射传感技术来研究CMP中材料的去除机制，并作为过程监测的基础。CMP中的材料去除依赖于衬垫和晶圆表面之间界面的化学和机械作用。这里的重点是机械相互作用。该项目将试图确定材料去除（在特定点和晶圆表面）对工艺变量的依赖关系，如工作/衬垫间隙厚度、磨料尺寸和形状以及抛光垫特性。此外，衬垫设计和图案是重要的，因此衬垫纹理/凹槽设计和优化的基础将包括在内。CMP中的过程监控将关注对工作质量和生产率至关重要的过程变量，包括焊盘磨损和退化、微划伤和其他表面缺陷以及晶圆表面的均匀性。该项目有望促进对过程力学的理解和利用声发射在CMP上进行过程监测的能力。与NIST的合作为项目资源提供了良好的协同作用，对教育和技术转移有价值。

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.