CMP slurry aging effect by Particle Size analysis

입도 분석을 통한 CMP 슬러리 에이징 효과

As the integrated circuit device shrinks to the smaller dimension, the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process was required for the global planarization of inter-metal dielectric (IMD) layer with free-defect. However, as the IMD layer gets thinner, micro-scratches are becoming as major defects. Micro-scratches are generated by agglomerated slurry, solidified and attached slurry in pipe line of slurry supply system. It is well known that the presence of hard and larger size particles in the CMP slurries increases the defect density and surface roughness of the polished wafers. In this paper, we have studied aging effect the of CMP slurry as a function of particle size. We prepared and compared the self-developed silica slurry by adding of abrasives before and after annealing. As our preliminary experiment results, we could be obtained the relatively stable slurry characteristics comparable to original silica slurry in the slurry aging effect.