• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.213-217
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• 2007

Copper has been used as an interconnect material in the fabrication of semiconductor devices, because of its higher electrical conductivity and superior electro-migration resistance. Chemical mechanical polishing(CMP) technique is required to planarize the overburden Cu film in an interconnect process. Various problems such as dishing, erosion, and delamination are caused by the high pressure and chemical effects in the Cu CMP process. But these problems have to be solved for the fabrication of the next generation semiconductor devices. Therefore, new process which is electro-chemical mechanical polishing(ECMP) or electro-chemical mechanical planarization was introduced to solve the technical difficulties and problems in CMP process. In the ECMP process, Cu ions are dissolved electrochemically by the applying an anodic potential energy on the Cu surface in an electrolyte. And then, Cu complex layer are mechanically removed by the mechanical effects between pad and abrasive. This paper focuses on the manufacturing of ECMP system and its process. ECMP equipment which has better performance and stability was manufactured for the planarization process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.528-528
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• 2007

Cu CMP widely has been using for the formation of multilevel metal interconnects by the Cu damascene process. And lower dielectric constant materials are required for the below 45nm technology node. As the dielectric constant of dielectric materials are smaller, the strength of dielectric materials become weaker. Therefore these materials are easily damaged by high down pressure during conventional CMP. Also, technical problems such as surface scratches, delamination, dishing and erosion are also occurred. In order to overcome these problems in CMP, the ECMP (electro-chemical mechanical planarization) has been introduced. In this process, abrasive free electrolyte, soft pad and low down force were used. The electrolyte is one of important factor to solve these problems. Also, additives are required to improve the removal rate, uniformity, surface roughness, defects, and so on. In this study, KOH and $NaNO_3$ based electrolytes were used for Cu ECMP and the electrochemical behavior was evaluated by the potentiostat. Also, the Cu surface was observed by SEM as a function of applied voltage and chemical concentration.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.334-338
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to characterize various electrolytes on electrochemical mechanical planarization (ECMP). The ECMP system was modified from conventional CMP system to measure the potentiodynamic curve and removal rate of Cu. The potentiodynamic curves were measured in static and dynamic states in investigated electrolytes using a potentiostat for the evaluation of the polishing behavior on ECMP. KOH (alkaline) and $NaNO_3$ (salt) were selected as electrolytes which have high conductivity. In static and dynamic states, the corrosion potential decreased and the corrosion current increased as a function of the electrolyte concentration. But, the electrochemical reaction was prevented by mechanical polishing effect in the dynamic state. The static etch and removal rate were measured as functions of concentration and applied voltage. When $NaNO_3$ was used, the dissolution was much faster than that of KOH. It was concluded that the removal rate was strongly depended on electrochemical dissolution. The removal rate increased up to 350 nm/min in $NaNO_3$ based electrolyte.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.78-78
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• 2007

In semiconductor devices, Cu has been used for the formation of multilevel metal interconnects by the damascene technique. Also lower dielectric constant materials is needed for the below 65 nm technology node. However, the low-k materials has porous structure and they can be easily damaged by high down pressure during conventional CMP. Also, Cu surface are vulnerable to have surface scratches by abrasive particles in CMP slurry. In order to overcome these technical difficulties in CMP, electro-chemical mechanical planarization (ECMP) has been introduced. ECMP uses abrasive free electrolyte, soft pad and low down-force. Especially, electrolyte is an important process factor in ECMP. The purpose of this study was to characterize KOH and $KNO_3$ based electrolytes on electro-chemical mechanical. planarization. Also, the effect of additives such as an organic acid and oxidizer on ECMP behavior was investigated. The removal rate and static etch rate were measured to evaluate the effect of electro chemical reaction.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.79-80
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• 2007

Copper has been used as an interconnect material in the fabrication of semiconductor devices, because of its higher electrical conductivity and superior electro-migration resistance. Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) technique is required to planarize the overburden Cu film in an interconnect process. Various problems such as dishing, erosion, and delamination are caused by the high pressure and chemical effects in the Cu CMP process. But these problems have to be solved for the fabrication of the next generation semiconductor devices. Therefore, new process which is electro-chemical mechanical planarization/polishing (ECMP) or electro-chemical mechanical planarization was introduced to solve the. technical difficulties and problems in CMP process. In the ECMP process, Cu ions are dissolved electrochemically by the applying an anodic potential energy on the Cu surface in an electrolyte. And then, Cu complex layer are mechanically removed by the mechanical effects between pad and abrasive. This paper focuses on the manufacturing of ECMP system and its process. ECMP equipment which has better performance and stability was manufactured for the planarization process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.163-163
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• 2008

반도체 소자가 고집적화 되고 고속화를 필요로 하게 됨에 따라, 기존에 사용되었던 알루미늄이나 텅스텐보다 낮은 전기저항, 높은 electro-migration resistance으로 미세한 금속배선 처리가 가능한 Cu가 주목받게 되었다. 하지만 과잉 디싱 현상과 에로젼을 유도하여 메탈라인 브리징과 단락을 초래할 있고 Cu의 단락인 islands를 남김으로서 표면 결함을 제거하는데 효과적이지 못다는 단점을 가지고 있었다. 특히 평탄화 공정시 높은 압력으로 인하여 Cu막의 하부인 ILD막의 다공성의 low-k 물질의 손상을 초래 할 수 있는 문제점을 해결하기 위하여 기존의 CMP에 전기화학을 결합시킴으로서 낮은 하력에서의 Cu 평탄화를 달성 할 수 있는 기존의 CMP 기술에 전기화학을 접목한 새로운 개념의 ECMP (electrochemical-mechanical polishing) 기술이 생겨나게 되었다. 따라서 본 논문에서는 최적화된 ECMP 공정을 위하여 I-V곡선과 CV법을 이용하여 active. passive. trans-passive 영역의 전기화학적 특징을 알아보았고. Cu막의 표면 형상을 알아보기 위해 Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) 측정과 Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) 분석을 통해 금속 화학적 조성을 조사하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.57-58
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• 2006

Chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) of Cu has used currently in semiconductor process for multilevel metallization system. This process requires the application of a considerable down-pressure to the sample in the polishing, because porous low-k films used in the Cu-multilevel interconnects of 65nm technology node are often damaged by mechanical process. Also, it make possible to reduce scratches and contaminations of wafer. Electrochemical mechanical planarization (ECMP) is an emerging extension of CMP. In this study, the electrochemical mechanical polisher was manufactured. And the static and dynamic potentiodynamic curve of Cu were measured in KOH based electrolyte and then the suitable potential was found.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.20.2-20.2
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• 2006

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.346-351
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• 2020

The removal characteristics of copper (Cu) from electrochemical surface by voltage-activated reaction were reviewed to assess the applicability of electrochemical-mechanical polishing (ECMP) process in three types of electrolytes, such as HNO₃, KNO₃ and NaNO₃. Electrochemical surface conditions such as active, passive, transient and trans-passive states were monitored from its current-voltage (I-V) characteristic curves obtained by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) method. In addition, the oxidation and reduction process of the Cu surface by repetitive input of positive and negative voltages were evaluated from the I-V curve obtained using the cyclic voltammetry (CV) method. Finally, the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analyses were used to observe the structural surface states of a Cu electrode. The electrochemical analyses proposed in this study will help to accurately control the material removal rate (MRR) from the actual ECMP process because they are a good methodology for predicting optimal electrochemical process parameters such as current density, operating voltage, and operating time before performing the ECMP process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.53-53
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• 2007

반도체 소자의 고집적화, 미세화 화로 인해 반도체의 동작속도를 증가시키기 위하여 Cu를 이용한 금속배선이 주목받게 되었으나, 높은 압력으로 인한 보은 Cu 영역에서 과잉 디슁 현상과 에로젼을 유도하고 반도체 웨이퍼위의 low-k 물질에 손상을 줌에 따라 메탈라인 브리징과 단락을 초래할 있어, Cu의 단락인 islands를 남김으로서 표면 결항을 제거하지 못한다는 단점을 가지고 있었다. 그래서 이러한 문제점을 해결하기 위하여 기존의 CMP에 전기화학을 결합시킴으로서 낮은 하력에서의 Cu평탄화를 달성할 수 있는 ECMP (electrochemical mechanical polishing)기술이 필요하게 되었다. 따라서 본 논문에서는 전기화학적 기계적 연마(ECMP)작용을 위해, I-V 특성 곡선을 이용하여 패시베이션 막의 active, passive, transient, trans-passive영역의 전기화학적 특성을 비교 분석하였으며, Cu막의 표면 형상을 알아보기 위해 scanning electron microscopy (SEM) 측정과 energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS)와 X-ray Diffraction (XRD) 분석을 통해 금속 화학적 조성을 조사하였다.