Abrading – Precision device or process - or with condition responsive... – By optical sensor
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-26
2001-04-10
Hail, III, Joseph J. (Department: 3723)
Abrading
Precision device or process - or with condition responsive...
By optical sensor
C451S041000, C451S299000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06213845
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to devices for endpointing mechanical and/or chemical-mechanical planarizing processes of microelectronic-device substrate assemblies and, more particularly, to web-format polishing pads and planarizing machines for in-situ optical endpointing.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Mechanical and chemical-mechanical planarizing processes (collectively “CMP”) are used in the manufacturing of electronic devices for forming a flat surface on semiconductor wafers, field emission displays and many other microelectronic-device substrate assemblies. CMP processes generally remove material from a substrate assembly to create a highly planar surface at a precise elevation in the layers of material on the substrate assembly.
FIG. 1
is a schematic isometric view of a web-format planarizing machine
10
that has a table
11
with a support surface
13
. The support surface
13
is generally a rigid panel or plate attached to the table
11
to provide a flat, solid workstation for supporting a portion of a web-format planarizing pad
40
in a planarizing zone “A” during planarization. The planarizing machine
10
also has a pad advancing mechanism including a plurality of rollers to guide, position, and hold the web-format pad
40
over the support surface
13
. The pad advancing mechanism generally includes a supply roller
20
, first and second idler rollers
21
a
and
21
b
, first and second guide rollers
22
a
and
22
b
, and a take-up roller
23
. As explained below, a motor (not shown) drives the take-up roller
23
to advance the pad
40
across the support surface
13
along a travel axis T—T. The motor can also drive the supply roller
20
. The first idler roller
21
a
and the first guide roller
22
a
press an operative portion of the pad against the support surface
13
to hold the pad
40
stationary during operation.
The planarizing machine
10
also has a carrier assembly
30
to translate a substrate assembly
12
across the pad
40
. In one embodiment, the carrier assembly
30
has a head
32
to pick up, hold and release the substrate assembly
12
at appropriate stages of the planarizing process. The carrier assembly
30
also has a support gantry
34
and a drive assembly
35
that can move along the gantry
34
. The drive assembly
35
has an actuator
36
, a drive shaft
37
coupled to the actuator
36
, and an arm
38
projecting from the drive shaft
37
. The arm
38
carries the head
32
via another shaft
39
. The actuator
36
orbits the head
32
about an axis B—B to move the substrate assembly
12
across the pad
40
.
The polishing pad
40
may be a non-abrasive polymeric web (e.g., a polyurethane sheet), or it may be a fixed abrasive polishing pad having abrasive particles fixedly dispersed in a resin or some other type of suspension medium. During planarization of the substrate assembly
12
, a planarizing fluid
44
flows from a plurality of nozzles
45
. The planarizing fluid
44
may be a conventional CMP slurry with abrasive particles and chemicals that etch and/or oxidize the substrate assembly
12
, or the planarizing fluid
44
may be a “clean” non-abrasive planarizing solution without abrasive particles. In most CMP applications, abrasive slurries are used on non-abrasive polishing pads, and clean solutions are used on fixed abrasive polishing pads.
In the operation of the planarizing machine
10
, the pad
40
moves across the support surface
13
along the pad travel path T—T either during or between planarizing cycles to change the particular portion of the polishing pad
40
in the planarizing zone A. For example, the supply and take-up rollers
20
and
23
can drive the polishing pad
40
between planarizing cycles such that a point P moves incrementally across the support surface
13
to a number of intermediate locations I
1
, I
2
, etc. Alternatively, the rollers
20
and
23
may drive the polishing pad
40
between planarizing cycles such that the point P moves all the way across the support surface
13
to completely remove a used portion of the pad
40
from the planarizing zone A. The rollers may also continuously drive the polishing pad
40
at a slow rate during a planarizing cycle such that the point P moves continuously across the support surface
13
. Thus, the polishing pad
40
should be free to move axially over the length of the support surface
13
along the pad travel path T—T.
CMP processes should consistently and accurately produce a uniform, planar surface on substrate assemblies to enable circuit and device patterns to be formed with photolithography techniques. As the density of integrated circuits increases, it is often necessary to accurately focus the critical dimensions of the photo-patterns to within a tolerance of approximately 0.1 &mgr;m. Focusing photo-patterns to such small tolerances, however, is difficult when the planarized surfaces of substrate assemblies are not uniformly planar. Thus, to be effective, CMP processes should create highly uniform, planar surfaces on substrate assemblies.
In the highly competitive semiconductor industry, it is also desirable to maximize the throughput of CMP processing by producing a planar surface on a substrate assembly as quickly as possible. The throughput of CMP processing is a function of several factors, one of which is the ability to accurately stop CMP processing at a desired endpoint. In a typical CMP process, the desired endpoint is reached when the surface of the substrate assembly is planar and/or when enough material has been removed from the substrate assembly to form discrete components on the substrate assembly (e.g., shallow trench isolation areas, contacts, damascene lines, etc.). Accurately stopping CMP processing at a desired endpoint is important for maintaining a high throughput because the substrate assembly may need to be re-polished if it is “under-planarized.” Accurately stopping CMP processing at the desired endpoint is also important because too much material can be removed from the substrate assembly, and thus it may be “over-polished.” For example, over-polishing can cause “dishing” in shallow-trench isolation structures or completely destroy a section of the substrate assembly. Thus, it is highly desirable to stop CMP processing at the desired endpoint.
In one conventional method for determining the endpoint of CMP processing, the planarizing period of a particular substrate assembly is estimated using an estimated polishing rate based upon the polishing rate of identical substrate assemblies that were planarized under the same conditions. The estimated planarizing period for a particular substrate assembly, however, may not be accurate because the polishing rate may change from one substrate assembly to another. Thus, this method may not produce accurate results.
In another method for determining the endpoint of CMP processing, the substrate assembly is removed from the pad and then a measuring device measures a change in thickness of the substrate assembly. Removing the substrate assembly from the pad, however, interrupts the planarizing process and may damage the substrate assembly. Thus, this method generally reduces the throughput of CMP processing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,651 issued to Lustig et al. (“Lustig”) discloses an in-situ chemical-mechanical polishing machine for monitoring the polishing process during a planarizing cycle. The polishing machine has a rotatable polishing table including a window embedded in the table. A polishing pad is attached to the table, and the pad has an apeiture aligned with the window embedded in the table. The window is positioned at a location over which the workpiece can pass for in-situ viewing of a polishing surface of the workpiece from beneath the polishing table. The planarizing machine also includes a reflectance measurement means coupled to the window on the underside of the rotatable polishing table for providing a reflectance signal representative of an in-situ reflectance of the polishing surface of the workpiece.
Although the apparatus disclosed in Lustig
Berry Jr. Willie
Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Hail III Joseph J.
Micro)n Technology, Inc.
LandOfFree
Apparatus for in-situ optical endpointing on web-format... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Apparatus for in-situ optical endpointing on web-format..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Apparatus for in-situ optical endpointing on web-format... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2534829