SBIR Phase I: Novel Slurry for Direct Shallow Trench Isolation (STI) Planarization Process for Sub-50 nm Devices

该小型企业创新研究(SBIR)项目建议开发一种新颖的单步浅沟隔离(STI)平坦化。理想的STI化学机械平坦化(CMP)工艺应该是单步工艺，它可以直接快速地去除覆盖层的介电层，并最大限度地减少表面形成或缺陷的产生。然而，当前技术水平的工艺受到几个挑战的困扰，包括(A)较差的平坦化、(B)小的工艺窗口和(C)高缺陷率。我们提出了一种基于包覆二氧化硅颗粒和化学添加剂相结合的高平面度和高选择性(HP-HS)直接STI化学机械抛光工艺。这一工艺的独特之处在于使用表面活性剂添加剂与涂层颗粒相结合来获得非线性压力依赖抛光特性，从而获得高平面度的二氧化硅表面抛光。单步STI化学机械抛光工艺的成功实施预计将达到或超过45纳米制造节点的技术性能水平，同时降低芯片制造成本高达8亿美元。成本的降低在很大程度上是由于简化了制造工艺，提高了生产能力和产量。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project proposes to develop a novel single step shallow trench isolation (STI) planarization. An ideal STI Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) process is expected to be a single step process, which directly and rapidly removes the overburden dielectric layer with minimum topography formation or defect generation. However, the present state of the art processes areplagued with several challenges including (a) poor planarization, (b) small processing window, and (c) high defectivity. We propose to develop a novel high planarity and high selectivity (HP-HS) direct STI CMP process based on combination of coated silica particles and chemical additives. The unique feature of this process is the use of surfactant additives in combination with coated particles to obtain non-linear pressuredependent polishing characteristics, which results in high planarity polishing of the silica surface. The successful implementation of the single step STI CMP process is expected to meet or exceed the technical performance levels of the 45 nm manufacturing node while decreasing chip manufacturing costs by up to $800 million. The reduction in costs is largely due to the simplification of the manufacturing process, higher throughput and increased yield.