• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.53-57
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• 2007

In this study, a novel slurry containing ceria as the abrasive particles was analyzed in terms of its frictional, thermal and kinetic attributes for interlayer dielectric (ILD) CMP application. The novel slurry was used to polish 200-mm blanket ILD wafers on an $IC1000_{TM}$ K-groove pad with in-situ conditioning. Polishing pressures ranged from 1 to 5 PSI and the sliding velocity ranged from 0.5 to 1.5 m/s. Shear force and pad temperature were measured in real time during the polishing process. The frictional analysis indicated that boundary lubrication was the dominant tribological mechanism. The measured average pad leading edge temperature increased from 26.4 to $38.4\;^{\circ}C$ with the increase in polishing power. The ILD removal rate also increased with the polishing power, ranging from 400 to 4000 A/min. The ILD removal rate deviated from Prestonian behavior at the highest $p{\times}V$ polishing condition and exhibited a strong correlation with the measured average pad leading edge temperature. A modified two-step Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model was used to simulate the ILD removal rate. In this model, transient flash heating temperature is assumed to dominate the chemical reaction temperature. The model successfully captured the variable removal rate behavior at the highest $p{\times}V$ polishing condition and indicates that the polishing process was mechanical limited in the low $p{\times}V$ polishing region and became chemically and mechanically balanced with increasing polishing power.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.101-106
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• 2017

The chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process combines the chemical effect of slurry with the mechanical effect of abrasive (slurry)-wafer-pads The slurry delivery system has a notable effect on polishing results, because the slurry distribution is changed by the supply method. Thus, the investigation of slurry pumps and nozzles with regard to the slurry delivery system becomes important. This paper investigated the effect of a centrifugal slurry pump on a spray nozzle system in terms of uniform slurry supply under a rotating copper (Cu) wafer, based on experimental results and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In conventional tools, the slurry is unevenly and discontinuously supplied to the pad, due to a pulsed flow caused by the peristaltic pump and distributed in a narrow area by the tube nozzle. Adopting the proposed slurry delivery system provides a higher uniformity and lowered shear stress than usual methods. Therefore, the newly developed slurry delivery system can improve the CMP performance.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.44 no.2 s.297
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• pp.98-102
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• 2007

The stability of slurry and removal rate during recycling of colloidal silica slurry was evaluated in silicon wafer polishing. The particle size distribution, pH, and zeta potential were measured to investigate the stability of colloidal silica. Large particles appeared as recycling time increased while average size of slurry did not change. Large particles were identified by EDS(energy dispersive spectrometer) as foreign substances from pad or abraded silicon flakes during polishing. As the recycling time increased, pH of slurry decreased and removal rate of silicon reduced but zeta potential decreased inversely. Hence, it could be mentioned that decrease of removal rate is related to consumption of $OH^-$ ions during recycling. Attention should be given to the control of pH of slurry during polishing.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.85-86
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• 2006

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) technology has been widely used for global planarization of multi-level interconnection for ULSI applications. However, the cost of ownership and cost of consumables arc relatively high because of expensive slurry. In this paper, in order to save the costs of slurry, the original silica slurry was diluted by de-ionized water (DIW). And then, $ZrO_2$, abrasives were added in the diluted silica slurry (DSS) in order to promote the mechanical force of diluted slurry. We have also investigate the possibility of mixed abrasive slurry (MAS) for the oxide CMP application.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.219-223
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• 2010

Despite the increasing need of nanometer-scale accuracy in abrasive machining using ultrasmall particles such as abrasive jet and chemical mechanical polishing(CMP), the process mechanism is still unknown. Based on the background, research on the effects of various process parameters on the machined surface at abrasive machining was motivated and performed by using finite element analysis where the effect of slurry fluid flow involved. The effect of particle shape on the machined surface during particle-surface collision was discussed in this paper. The results from FEA simulation revealed that any damage or defect generation on machined surface by the impact may occur only if the particle has enough impact energy. Therefore, it could be concluded that generation of the defects and damage on the wafer surface after CMP process was mainly due to direct contact of the 3 bodies, i.e., pad-particle-wafer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.136-139
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• 2003

Copper has attractive properties as a multi-level interconnection material due to lower resistivity and higher electromigration resistance as compared with Alumina and its alloy with Copper(0.5%). Among a variety of agents in Copper CMP slurry, $H_2O_2$ has commonly been used as the oxidizer However. $H_2O_2$ is so unstable that it requires stabilization to use as oxidizer Hence, stabilization of $H_2O_2$ is a vital process to get better yield in practical CMP process. In this article the stability of Hydrogen Peroxide as oxidizer of Copper CMP slurry has been investigated. When alumina abrasive was used, $\gamma$-particle Alumina C had a better stability than $\alpha$-particle abrasive. As adding KOH as pH buffering agent, $H_2O_2$ stability in slurry decreased. Urea hydrogen peroxide was used as oxidizer, an enhanced stability was gotten. When $H_3PO_4$ as $H_2O_2$ stabilizer was added, the decrease of $H_2O_2$ concentration in slurry became slower. Even though adding $H_2O_2$ in slurry after bead milling lead to better stability than in advance of bead milling, it had a lower dispersibility.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.156-161
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• 2004

We investigated the effects of oxidizer additive on the performance of Cu-CMP process using commonly used tungsten slurry. In order to compare the removal rate and non-uniformity as a function of oxidizer contents, we used alumina-based tungsten slurry and copper blanket wafers deposited by DC sputtering method. According to the CMP removal rates and particle size distribution, and the microstructures of surface layer by SEM image as a function or oxidizer contents were greatly influenced by the slurry chemical composition of oxidizers. The difference in removal rate and roughness of copper surface are believed to cause by modification in the mechanical behavior of $Al_2$O$_3$abrasive particles in CMP slurry.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.49-57
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• 2002

The effect of mechanical parameters on chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) of blanket and patterned aluminum thin films are investigated. CMP process experiments are conducted using the soft pad and the slurry mainly composed of acid solution and A1$_2$O$_3$ abrasive. The result for the blanket film showed that as the concentration of abrasive in slurry is increased, the surface roughness gets worse but the waviness gets better. The planarity of the patterned Al films is slowly improved by CMP when the width of and gap between the patterns are relatively small. It is tried to find the optimized CMP process conditions by that the patterned Al thin film can be planarized with fine surface. The most satisfiable film surface is obtained when the applied pressure is low (10kPa) and the abrasive concentration is relatively high (5wt%).

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.25 no.9
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• pp.32-37
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• 2008

Freestanding hydride vapor phase epitaxy grown GaN(Gallium Nitride) substrates subjected to various polishing methods were characterized for their surface and subsurface conditions, Although CMP(Chemical Mechanical Polishing) is one of the best approaches for reducing scratches and subsurface damages, the removal rate of Ga-polar surface in CMP is insignificant($0.1{\sim}0.3{\mu}m$/hr) as compared with that of N-polar surface, Therefore, conventional MP(Mechanical Polishing) is commonly used in the GaN substrate fabrication process, MP of (0001) surface of GaN has been demonstrated using diamond slurries with different abrasive sizes, Diamond abrasives of size ranging from 30nm to 100nm were dispersed in ethylene glycol solutions and mineral oil solutions, respectively. Significant change in the surface roughness ($R_a$ 0.15nm) and scratch-free surface were obtained by diamond slurry of 30nm in mean abrasive size dispersed in mineral oil solutions. However, MP process introduced subsurface damages confirmed by TEM (Transmission Electronic Microscope) and PL(Photo-Luminescence) analysis.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.922-927
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• 2003

In this paper, slurry fluid motion, abrasive particle motion, and roles of groove patterns on the pads are numerically investigated in the 2D and 3D geometries. The simulation results are analyzed in terms of experimental removal rate and WIWNU (within wafer non-uniformity) for ILD (inter level dielectric) CMP process. Numerical investigations reveal that the grooves in the pad behave as uniform distributor of abrasive particles and enhance the removal rate by increasing shear stress. Higher removal rate and desirable uniformity are numerically and experimentally observed at the pad with grooves. Numerical analysis is very well matched with experimental results and helpful for understanding polishing mechanism and local physics.