Performance analysis of a novel slurry injection system for oxide chemical mechanical planarization

In this study, a novel slurry injection system (SIS) was installed on an Ebara F-REX200® polisher and its performance was analyzed for oxide chemical mechanical planarization process. The slurry injector contacts the pad with a light load and applies slurry in a thin layer at the device trailing edge using single or multiple injection points. Used slurry, rinse water and pad debris are then removed from the pad by the injector leading edge. Blanket 200-mm oxide wafers were polished using Cabot Microelectronics Corporation Semi-Sperse™ 25 slurry at different flow rates (100, 150 and 200 ml/min) on Dow IC1000™ k-groove and XY-perforated pads. The results show that at each flow rate, the oxide removal rate is enhanced sufficiently over the rate from the standard slurry applicator that the flow rate can be reduced by about 35% on the XY-perforated pad and 50% on the k-groove pad without sacrificing removal rate.