Optics: measuring and testing – By light interference – For dimensional measurement
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-29
2001-02-20
Kim, Robert (Department: 2877)
Optics: measuring and testing
By light interference
For dimensional measurement
C356S389000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06191864
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for detecting the endpoint in chemical-mechanical polishing of semiconductor wafers; more particularly, the present invention detects the endpoint at critical areas on the wafer where an upper layer of material is not easily removed from the wafer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Chemical-mechanical polishing (“CMP”) processes remove material from the surface of the wafer in the production of ultra-high density integrated circuits. In a typical CMP process, a wafer is pressed against a polishing pad in the presence of a slurry under controlled chemical, pressure, velocity, and temperature conditions. The slurry solution generally contains small, abrasive particles that abrade the surface of the wafer, and chemicals that etch and/or oxidize the surface of the wafer. The polishing pad is generally a planar pad made from a continuous phase matrix material such as polyurethane. Thus, when the pad and/or the wafer moves with respect to the other, material is removed from the surface of the wafer by the abrasive particles (mechanical removal) and by the chemicals (chemical removal) in the slurry.
FIG. 1
schematically illustrates the conventional CMP machine
10
with a platen
20
, a wafer carrier
30
, a polishing pad
40
, and a slurry
44
on the polishing pad. An under-pad
25
is typically attached to the upper surface
22
of the platen
20
, and the polishing pad
40
is positioned on the under-pad
25
. In conventional CMP machines, a drive assembly
26
rotates the platen
20
as indicated by arrow A. In other existing CMP machines, the drive assembly
26
reciprocates the platen
20
back and forth as indicated by arrow B. The motion of the platen
20
is imparted to the pad
40
through the under-pad
25
because the polishing pad
40
frictionally engages the under-pad
25
. The wafer carrier
30
has a lower surface
32
to which a wafer
12
may be attached, or the wafer
12
may be attached to a resilient pad
34
positioned between the wafer
12
and the lower surface
32
. The wafer carrier
30
may be a weighted, free floating wafer carrier, but an actuator assembly
36
is preferably attached to the wafer carrier
30
to impart axial and rotational motion, as indicated by arrows C and D, respectively.
In the operation of the conventional CMP machine
10
, the wafer
12
faces downward against the polishing pad
40
, and then the platen
20
and the wafer carrier
30
move relative to one another. As the face of the wafer
12
moves across the planarizing surface
42
of the polishing pad
40
, the polishing pad
40
and the slurry
44
remove material from the wafer
12
. CMP processes typically remove either conductive materials or insulative materials from the surface of the wafer to produce a flat, uniform surface upon which additional layers of devices may be fabricated.
When a conductive layer is polished from a wafer, the CMP processes must accurately stop polishing the wafer at a desired endpoint. Conductive layers are typically deposited over insulative layers to fill vias or trenches in the insulative layer and form electrical interconnects between device features on the wafer. To electrically isolate the interconnects from one another, it desirable to stop the CMP process below the top of the insulative layer and above the bottom of the conductive material in the vias and trenches. If the CMP process is stopped before the desired endpoint (“under-polishing”), then the interconnects will not be electrically isolated from one another and shorting will occur in the circuit. Conversely, if the CMP process is stopped after the desired endpoint (“over-polishing”), then interconnects may be completely removed from the wafer. Therefore, to avoid serious defects in a wafer, it is highly desirable to stop the CMP process at the desired endpoint.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,651 to Lustig et al. discloses an apparatus and a method for determining the endpoint of a CMP process in which a laser beam passes through a window in the polishing pad and impinges upon the polished surface of the wafer. The laser beam scans across the surface of the wafer, and a photosensor senses the intensity of the beam that reflects from the wafer. Conductive materials, such as aluminum, have a reflectivity index of approximately 90%, while insulative materials, such as boro-phosphate silicon glass (“BPSG”), have a reflectivity index of approximately 35%. At the endpoint of the CMP process, therefore, the intensity of the reflected beam alternates between that of the conductive material and the insulative material as the laser beam scans across the wafer. The Lustig et al. patent discloses that the endpoint of the CMP process is detected when the intensity of the reflected beam changes from that of the conductive material to the average intensity of the conductive and insulative materials.
One problem with the method of determining the endpoint of the CMP process disclosed in the Lustig et al. patent is that it may not accurately detect the endpoint on wafers that have small “critical areas.” The critical areas are typically depressions on the surface of the wafer that are the last point on the wafer from which the conductive material is removed by CMP processing. The location and size of the critical areas is a function of the circuit design and the uniformity of the polishing rate across the surface of the wafer. As a result, the critical areas vary from one type of die to another, and they typically occupy a minuscule portion of the wafer surface. The method disclosed in the Lustig et al. patent may not detect the status of the CMP process at many critical areas on the wafer because the critical areas occupy such a small percentage of the wafer's surface that the few reflective signals generated by the critical areas do not statistically impact the overall average reflectivity of the substantially larger number of reflective signals from the interconnects. Thus, even if the Lustig et al. patent recognized the problem of critical areas, it may not accurately detect the endpoint of the CMP process at critical areas on the wafer.
In light of the problems with detecting the endpoint of the CMP process at critical areas on the wafer, it would be desirably to develop a method that quickly and accurately detects the endpoint of CMP processing at predetermined critical areas on a semiconductor wafer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The inventive method and apparatus detects the endpoint of CMP processing on semiconductor wafers in which a lower layer of material with a first reflectivity is positioned under an upper layer of material with a second reflectivity. Initially, an endpoint site is selected on the wafer in a critical area where a boundary between the upper and lower layers defines the desired endpoint of the CMP process. The critical area on the wafer is determined by analyzing the circuit design on the dies of the wafer and the polishing characteristics of previously polished test wafers, and preferably denoting the last points on the wafer from which the upper layer is desirably removed by CMP processing. After an endpoint site is selected, a light beam impinges the polished surface of the wafer and reflects off of the surface of the wafer to a photo-sensor. The photosensor senses the actual intensity of the reflected light beam. The actual intensity of the reflected light beam is compared with an expected intensity to determine whether the upper layer has been removed from the wafer at the endpoint site. The actual intensity is preferably compared with an expected intensity for light reflected from one of the upper or lower layers, and the endpoint is preferably detected when the actual intensity of the reflected light beam is either substantially the same as the expected intensity for light reflected from the lower layer or substantially different from the expected intensity for light reflected from the upper layer.
Kim Robert
Micro)n Technology, Inc.
Perkins Coie LLP
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