Patent Application
20070032170
The present invention is in the field of semiconductor wafer processing, and more specifically relates to a disposable polishing pad for use in chemical mechanical polishing. The polishing pad contains an optical sensor for monitoring the condition of the surface being polished while the polishing operation is taking place, thus permitting determination of the endpoint of the process.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,796 issued Apr. 13, 1999 and in continuation U.S. Pat. No. 6,045,439 issued Apr. 4, 2000, Birang et al. show a number of designs for a window installed in a polishing pad. The wafer to be polished is on top of the polishing pad, and the polishing pad rests upon a rigid platen so that the polishing occurs on the lower surface of the wafer. That surface is monitored during the polishing process by an interferometer that is located below the rigid platen. The interferometer directs a laser beam upward, and in order for it to reach the lower surface of the wafer, it must pass through an aperture in the platen and then continue upward through the polishing pad. To prevent the accumulation of slurry above the aperture in the platen, a window is provided in the polishing pad. Regardless of how the window is formed, it is clear that the interferometer sensor is always located below the platen and is never located in the polishing pad.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,927 issued Sep. 7, 1999 to Tang, there are described a number of techniques for monitoring polished surfaces during the polishing process. In one embodiment Tang refers to a fiber-optic ribbon embedded in a polishing pad. This ribbon is merely a conductor of light. The light source and the detector that do the sensing are located outside of the pad. Nowhere does Tang suggest including a light source and a detector inside the polishing pad. In some of Tang's embodiments, fiber-optic decouplers are used to transfer the light in the optical fibers from a rotating component to a stationary component. In other embodiments, the optical signal is detected onboard a rotating component, and the resulting electrical signal is transferred to a stationary component through electrical slip rings. There is no suggestion in the Tang patent of transmitting the electrical signal to a stationary component by means of radio waves, acoustical waves, a modulated light beam, or by magnetic induction.
In another optical end-point sensing system, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,796 issued Jan. 21, 1992 to Schultz there is described a method in which, after partial polishing, the wafer is moved to a position at which part of the wafer overhangs the edge of the platen. The wear on this overhanging part is measured by interferometry to determine whether the polishing process should be continued.
In earlier attempts to mount the sensor in the polishing pad, an aperture was formed in the polishing pad and the optical sensor was bonded into position within the aperture by means of an adhesive. However, subsequent tests revealed that the use of an adhesive could not be depended upon to prevent the polishing slurry, which may contain reactive chemicals, from entering the optical sensor and from penetrating through the polishing pad to the supporting table.
In conclusion, although several techniques are known in the art for monitoring the polished surface during the polishing process, none of these techniques is entirely satisfactory. The fiber optic bundles described by Tang are expensive and potentially fragile; and the use of an interferometer located below the platen, as used by Birang et al., requires making an aperture through the platen that supports the polishing pad. Accordingly, the present inventor set out to devise a monitoring system that would be economical and robust, taking advantage of recent advances in the miniaturization of certain components.
The disposable polishing pad described below is composed of foamed urethane. It contains an optical sensor for monitoring, in situ, an optical characteristic of a wafer surface being polished. The real-time data derived from the optical sensor enables, among other things, the end-point of the process to be determined without disengaging the wafer for off-line testing. This greatly increases the efficiency of the polishing process.
The wafers to be polished are composite structures that include strata of different materials. Typically, the outermost stratum is polished away until its interface with an underlying stratum has been reached. At that point it is said that the end point of the polishing operation has been reached. The polishing pad and accompanying optics and electronics is able to detect transitions from an oxide layer to a silicon layer as well as transitions from a metal to an oxide, or other material.
The polishing pad described involves modifying a conventional polishing pad by embedding within it an optical sensor and other components. The unmodified polishing pads are widely available commercially, and the Model IC 1000 made by the Rodel Company of Newark, N.J., is a typical unmodified pad. Pads manufactured by the Thomas West Company may also be used.
The optical sensor senses an optical characteristic of the surface that is being polished. Typically, the optical characteristic of the surface is its reflectivity. However, other optical characteristics of the surface can also be sensed, including its polarization, its absorptivity, and its photoluminescence (if any). Techniques for sensing these various characteristics are well known in the optical arts, and typically they involve little more than adding a polarizer or a spectral filter to the optical system. For this reason, in the following discussion the more general term “optical characteristic” is used.
In addition to the optics the disposable pad provides an apparatus for supplying electrical power to the optical sensor in the polishing pad.
The disposable polishing pad also provides an apparatus for supplying electrical power for use in transmitting an electrical signal representing the optical characteristic from the rotating polishing pad to an adjacent non-rotating receiver. The pad is removably connectable to a non-disposable hub that contains power and signal processing circuitry.
An optical sensor that includes a light source and a detector is disposed within a blind hole in the polishing pad so as to face the surface that is being polished. Light from the light source is reflected from the surface being polished and the detector detects the reflected light. The detector produces an electrical signal related to the intensity of the light reflected back onto the detector.
The electrical signal produced by the detector is conducted radially inward from the location of the detector to the central aperture of the polishing pad by a thin conductor concealed between the layers of the polishing pad.
The disposable polishing pad is removably connected, both mechanically and electrically, to a hub that rotates with the polishing pad. The hub contains electronic circuitry that is concerned with supplying power to the optical sensor and with transmitting the electrical signal produced by the detector to non-rotating parts of the system. Because of the expense of these electronic circuits, the hub is not considered to be disposable. After the polishing pad has been worn out from use, it is disposed of, along with the optical sensor and the thin conductor.
Electrical power for operating the electronic circuits within the hub and for powering the light source of the optical sensor may be provided by several techniques. In one embodiment, the secondary winding of a transformer is included within the rotating hub and a primary winding is located on an adjacent non-rotating part of the polishing machine. In another embodiment, a solar cell or photovoltaic array is mounted on the rotating hub and is illuminated by a light source mounted on a non-rotating portion of the machine. In another embodiment, electrical power is derived from a battery located within the hub. In yet another embodiment, electrical conductors in the rotating polishing pad or in the rotating hub pass through the magnetic fields of permanent magnets mounted on adjacent non-rotating portions of the polishing machine, to constitute a magneto.
The electrical signal representing an optical characteristic of the surface being polished is transmitted from the rotating hub to an adjacent stationary portion of the polishing machine by any of several techniques. In one embodiment, the electrical signal to be transmitted is used to frequency modulate a light beam that is received by a detector located on adjacent non-rotating structure. In other embodiments, the signal is transmitted by a radio link or an acoustical link. In yet another embodiment, the signal is applied to the primary winding of a transformer on the rotating hub and received by a secondary winding of the transformer located on an adjacent non-rotating portion of the polishing machine. This transformer may be the same transformer used for coupling electrical power into the hub, or it can be a different transformer.
There must be a viable optical path between the top of the sensor and the lower side of the wafer. However, a void would not be acceptable, because it would quickly become filled with polishing slurry, thereby rendering it incapable of serving as an optical medium. In addition, a void would present a large mechanical discontinuity in the otherwise homogenous and uniformly resilient polishing pad. Further, the components of the optical sensor must not come into direct mechanical contact with the wafer that is being polished, to avoid scratching the surface of the wafer.
To overcome this problem, the optical sensor is embedded into the polishing pad using techniques described in detail below. These techniques have been successful in overcoming the disadvantages described above.
The slurry used in the polishing process is injected onto the surface of the polishing pad through slurry injection tube 7. The suspension arm 8 connects to the non-rotating hub 9 that suspends over the electronic assembly hub 10. The electronics assembly hub 10 is removably attached to the polishing pad 3 by means of twist lock, detents, snap rings, screws, threaded segments, or any releasable mating mechanism. The hub 10 is attached to an electrical conducting assembly located within the pad where the hub attaches. The electrical conducting assembly can be either a single contact or a plurality of contacts attached to a thin, electrically conducting ribbon 11, also known as a flex circuit or ribbon cable. The ribbon 11 electrically connects an optical sensing mechanism, located within the optical port 2 and embedded in the pad 3, to the electronics in the electronics hub 10. The ribbon 11 may also comprise individual wires or a thin cable.
The window rotates with the polishing pad, which itself rotates on a process drive table, or platen 18, in the direction of arrow 12. The polishing heads rotate about their respective spindles 13 in the direction of arrows 14. The polishing heads themselves are translated back and forth over the surface of the polishing pad by the translating spindle 15, as indicated by arrow 16. Thus, the optical window 2 passes under the polishing heads while the polishing heads are both rotating and translating, swiping a complex path across the wafer surface on each rotation of the polishing pad/platen assembly.
The optical port 2 and the electrical conducting assembly (see
As shown in
When the polishing pad 3 is to be used, an electronics hub is inserted from above into the central aperture 23 and secured there by screwing a base 26, which lies below the polishing pad 3, onto a threaded portion of the hub 10. As seen in
The non-rotating hub 9 of the polishing machine is located adjacent and above the hub 10. The non-rotating hub 9 is fixed during operation to the suspension arm 8.
The optical components and the end of the conductor ribbon 11 are encapsulated in the form of a thin disk 38 that is sized to fit snugly within the blind hole 24 of
An electrical signal produced by the detector and related to the optical characteristic is carried by the conductor 54 from the signal jack 51 to a signal processing circuit 55, that produces in response to the electrical signal a processed signal on the conductor 56 representing the optical characteristic. The processed signal on the conductor 56 is then applied to a transmitter 57.
The process by which the signal is passed from the rotating hub 10 to the non-rotating hub 9 is referred to as inductive coupling, or RF coupling. The overall assembly may be referred to as an inductive coupler or an RF coupler.
The transmitter 57 applies a time-varying electrical current to the primary winding 58 of a transformer that produces a varying magnetic field 59 representative of the processed signal. The magnetic field 59 extends upward through the top of the hub 10 and is intercepted by a secondary winding 60 of the transformer which is located on an adjacent non-rotating portion 9 of the polishing machine, or on some other non-rotating object. The varying magnetic field 59 induces a current in the secondary winding 60 that is applied to a receiver 61 that produces on the terminal 62 a signal representative of the optical characteristic. This signal is then available for use by external circuitry for such purposes as monitoring the progress of the polishing operation or determining whether the end point of the polishing process has been reached.
A similar technique may be used to transfer electrical power from the adjacent non-rotating portion 9 of the polishing machine to the rotating hub 10. A prime power source 63 on the non-rotating portion 9 applies an electrical current to the primary winding 64 of a transformer that produces a magnetic field 65 that extends downward through the top of the hub 10 and is intercepted by a secondary winding 66 in which the varying magnetic field induces an electrical current that is applied to a power receiver circuitry 67. The power receiver 67 applies electrical power on the conductor 68 to the power jack 50, from which it is conducted through the power plug 46 and the power conductor 46 to the light source. The power receiver 67 also supplies electrical power to the signal processing circuit 55 through the conductor 69, and to the transmitter 57 through the conductor 70. Thus, power for operation of the LED may also be provided by inductive coupling.
The winding 58 is the same winding as winding 66, and winding 60 is the same winding as winding 64. Alternatively, the windings may be different. The superimposed power and signal components are at different frequency ranges and are separated by filtering.
The prime source of electrical power is a battery 81 that supplies power to a power distribution circuit 82 that, in turn, distributes electrical power to the power jack 50, to the signal processing circuit 55, and to the transmitter circuit 57. In
Electrical power is generated by a magneto consisting of a permanent magnet 91 located in the non-rotating portion 29 and an inductor 92 in which the magnetic field of the permanent magnet 91 induces a current as the inductor 92 rotates past the permanent magnet 91. The induced current is rectified and filtered by the power circuit 93 and then distributed by a power distribution circuit 94.
In
Electrical power is generated in the rotating hub 9 by a solar cell or solar panel 105 in response to light 106 applied to the solar panel 105 by a light source 107 located in the non-rotating portion 29. The electrical output of the solar panel 105 is converted to an appropriate voltage by the converter 108, if necessary, and applied to the power distribution circuit 94.
The electrically conducting ribbon 11 conveys electrical signals and power between the optical assembly 25 and the electronics hub 10. The terminus of ribbon 11 is disposed on a contact pad 126 in the bottom of the hub-receiving aperture 120. The contact pad is provided with contacts for establishing electrical contact with matching contacts 122 disposed on the hub 10. The contacts 122 are preferably spring loaded or biased contacts (such as pogo pins). The contacts may be provided in redundant groups. As shown, three contacts are provided in the group visible in this view.
The snap ring assembly 114 is preferably isoplanar with the polishing pad 3 such that multiple pads may be easily stacked on top of each other.
The electronics hub will snap into place inside the lip 115 of the snap ring 114. Proper alignment of the contacts of the hub with the contacts of the contact pad 127 is assured by the guide pin 116. Thus, the contacts of the hub establish electrical contact with contacts 123, 124, and 125 of the contact pad 126 when the hub is secured in the snap ring.
A channel is produced in the underside of the upper layer 147 to accommodate the conducting ribbon 11 used to convey electrical power and signals from the electronics hub 10 to the optical sensor 25. The conducting ribbon 11 may intrude into the space generally occupied by the layer of adhesive 148, which secures the upper layer 147 of the polishing pad to the lower layer 149 of the polishing pad. Alternatively the conducting ribbon 11 may lie above or beneath the adhesive layer 148.
After the aperture 143 has been formed in the polishing pad 3, the optical sensor 25 and its conductor ribbon 11 are inserted into their respective places, where they are supported and held in place by spacers composed of urethane or by portions of the upper layer 147 and lower layer 149.
Thereafter, the assembly is placed into a fixture that includes flat, non-stick surfaces 155 and 156. The non-stick surfaces 155 and 156 are brought into contact with the. upper pad surface 144 and lower pad surface 145 and pressed together.
Next, a liquid urethane is injected by syringe 157 through a passage 158 in the lower mold plate 159 and into the void immediately surrounding the optical sensor 25 until the injected urethane begins to emerge through the vent passage 160 of upper mold plate 161. During the injection, it is helpful to tilt the assembly slightly in the clockwise direction so that the liquid is injected at the lowest point of the void and the vent passage 160 is at the highest point. Tilting the assembly in this manner prevents air from becoming trapped in the void.
The injected urethane 162 directly above the optical sensor 25 serves as a window through which the optical sensor 25 can view the underside of the wafer , which is placed on top of the upper layer 147. The liquid urethane is a type of urethane that is optically transparent when it has cured. Because it is chemically similar to the urethane of the polishing pad 3, it forms a durable, liquid-proof bond with the material of the polishing pad 3.
The snap-ring assembly can be inserted into the pad, as shown in
As shown in
This process can be accomplished using a snap ring insert as shown in
It should be noted that the various inventions may be employed in various combinations. For example, the releasable hub embodiments, described in connection with inductive couplers and other non-contacting couplers, can also be employed with slip rings and other contacting couplers. While urethane has been discussed as the material to be used as for injection and use as the injected sealant, other materials may be used, so long as they provide substantial adhesion and sealing between the several inserts and the pad. Additionally, while the pad construction has been discussed in relation to optical sensors, electrical sensors, heat sensors, impedance sensors and other sensors may be used instead, and the benefits of the molding and releasable hub still achieved. Thus, while the preferred embodiments of the devices and methods have been described in reference to the environment in which they were developed, they are merely illustrative of the principles of the inventions. Other embodiments and configurations may be devised without departing from the spirit of the inventions and the scope of the appended claims.
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/334,148, filed Jan. 17, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,083,497, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/850,346 filed May 20, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,986,701, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/970,252 filed Sep. 29, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,739,945, which claims priority to U.S. provisional application 60/236,575 filed Sep. 29, 2000.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60236575 | Sep 2000 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11334148 | Jan 2006 | US |
| Child | 11497545 | Jul 2006 | US |
| Parent | 10850346 | May 2004 | US |
| Child | 11334148 | Jan 2006 | US |
| Parent | 09970252 | Sep 2001 | US |
| Child | 10850346 | May 2004 | US |
