Electrolysis: processes – compositions used therein – and methods – Electrolytic coating – Treating electrolytic or nonelectrolytic coating after it is...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-14
2002-06-11
Valentine, Donald R (Department: 1741)
Electrolysis: processes, compositions used therein, and methods
Electrolytic coating
Treating electrolytic or nonelectrolytic coating after it is...
C204S22400M, C204S22400M, C205S157000, C205S221000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06402925
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Method and Apparatus for Electro Chemical Mechanical Deposition, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus that provides for both the deposition and polishing of a conductive material on a semiconductor wafer.
2. Background of the Invention
Metallization of semiconductor wafers, i.e. deposition of a layer of metal on the face of wafers over a barrier/seed layer of metal has important and broad application in the semiconductor industry. Conventionally, aluminum and other metals are deposited as one of many metal layers that make up a semiconductor chip. More recently, there is great interest in the deposition of copper for interconnects on semiconductor chips, since, as compared to aluminum, copper reduces electrical resistance and allows semiconductor chips using copper to run faster with less heat generation, resulting in a significant gain in chip capacity and efficiency.
Conformal thin film deposition of copper into deep submicron via holes and trenches is becoming more difficult in ULSI chip processing, especially when the feature sizes are decreasing below the 0.25 &mgr;m with aspect ratios of greater than 5 to 1. Common chemical vapor deposition and electroplating techniques have been used to fill these deep cavities etched into silicon substrates. These processes so far have yielded a very high cost and defect density for developing and integrating local interconnects for ULSI technology.
One of the factors that contributes to the high cost is the manner in which the conductive material, and particularly copper, is applied. Specifically, it is well known to apply certain contaminants, known as leveling agents, in the electrolyte solution that prevent or slow down the rate of deposition of the metal to the surface of the wafer substrate. Since these contaminants have a large size in comparison to the size of the typical via that needs to be filled, deposition of the metal on the surface of the wafer is, in part, prevented. This prevention, however, is achieved at the expense of adding contaminants to the electrolytic solution, which results, in part, in vias that do not have the desired conductive characteristics. In particular, the grain size of the deposited conductor, due to the use of such contaminants, is not as large as desired, which thereby results in quality problems for the resulting device, as well as increased expense due to significant annealing times that are subsequently required.
Further, the cost of achieving the desired structure, in which the conductive material exists in the via, but not on the substrate surface, still requires separate deposition and polishing steps. After the conventional deposition of the metal using an anode, cathode and electrolytic solution containing metal as is known, there is then required a polishing step, which polishing step is, for high performance devices at the present time, typically a chemical-mechanical polishing step. While chemical mechanical polishing achieves the desired result it achieves it at considerable expense, and requires a great degree of precision in applying a slurry in order to achieve the desired high degree of polish on the conductive surface.
Accordingly, a less expensive and more accurate manner of applying a conductor to a semiconductor wafer is needed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus that electroplates and electropolishes.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus that simultaneously deposits a conductive material in deep cavities of a semiconductor wafer and polishes/starves electrolytic solution from the top surface area of the semiconductor wafer and thereafter electropolishes deposited conductive material.
These and other object of the present invention are obtained by depositing a conductive material from an electrolyte solution to a predetermined area of a wafer. The steps that are used when making this application include applying the conductive material to the predetermined area of the wafer using an electrolyte solution disposed on a surface of the wafer, when the wafer is disposed in proximity to an anode upon the application of a first potential difference, and preventing accumulation of the conductive material to areas other than the predetermined area by mechanically polishing, protecting, or reducing from electrolyte contact to the other areas while the conductive material is being deposited and thereafter electropolishes the previously applied conductive material by applying a second potential difference having a polarity opposite the first potential difference and polishing the conductive layer with the previously accumulated conductive material disposed thereover at the same time that the second potential difference is applied.
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Nutool, Inc.
Parsons Thomas H.
Valentine Donald R
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