Abstract
During the chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process, slurry that comprises abrasive particles can directly affect the CMP performance and quality. Mainly, the large particles in the slurry can generate the defects on the wafer. Thus, many kinds of filters have been used in the CMP process to remove unwanted over-sized particles. Among these filters, the point-of-use (POU) filter is used just before the slurry is supplied onto the CMP pad. In the CMP research field, analysis of the POU filter has been relatively exceptional, and previous studies have not focused on the standardized filtration efficiency (FE) or filter performance. Furthermore, conventional evaluation methods of filter performance are not appropriate for POU filters, as the POU filter is not a membrane type, but is instead a depth type roll filter. In order to accurately evaluate the POU filter, slurry FE according to particle size was measured in this study. Additionally, a CMP experiment was conducted with filtered slurry to demonstrate the effects of filtered slurry on CMP performance. Depending on the flow rate and the filter retention size, the FE according to particle size was different. When the small and large particles have different FEs, the total filtration efficiency (TFE) can still have a similar value. For this reason, there is a need to measure the FE with respect to the particle size to verify the effects of the POU filter on the CMP process.