The invention relates to the general field of chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) with particular reference to conditioning the polishing pads after extended use.
CMP has, for many years, been the preferred method for planarizing integrated circuits. As its name implies, this process involves mechanical polishing assisted by chemical action. In CMP, wafers are mounted on a suitable holder and then pressed against a polishing pad that has been attached to a rotating platen. A problem with CMP processing is that the throughput may drop because waste particles accumulate at the surface of the polishing pad. To restore the effectiveness of the polishing pads, they are typically ‘conditioned’ by using an abrasive disk to remove the waste matter. Such disks are generally embedded with diamond particles and are mounted so as to be independently moveable and rotatable.
The conditioning disks themselves may eventually lose their effectiveness by being worn down or by getting plugged up with particulate matter. If a change in effectiveness is not detected, preferably during the conditioning process itself, a sub-standard polishing pad may be inadvertently returned to service, with undesirable consequences. Thus, it is important to minimize the time required for the conditioning process, to maximize the useful life of each polishing pad, and to detect inadequate pads before they are restored to service.
Conventionally, monitoring of CMP pad conditioning processes is performed by trial-and-error wherein different control parameters are varied manually by an operator to achieve optimal conditioning. These control parameters include pressure of the conditioner on the polishing pad, translational and rotational speeds of the conditioner, platen rotation speed, and the number of sweeps over the pad surface made by the conditioner.
The manual adjustments referred to above are based solely on human experience, hence additional manpower is required. Furthermore, it is very difficult to achieve good repeatability for the conditioning process if the manual adjustment is performed by different operators. In view of this, there exists a need for an apparatus and method for monitoring the CMP pad conditioning process that help to extend the life of the polishing pads, reduce human intervention and improve the control of the conditioning process.
A routine search of the prior art was performed with the following references of interest being found:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,755,718, EP 1,063,056A2, WO 01/32,360A1, U.S. Pat. No. 5,708,506, U.S. Pat. No. 6,424,137, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,234 all aim to improve the CMP process as well as teaching in-situ monitoring of the pad conditioning process. U.S. Pat. No. 6,424,137 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,234 relate to the use of acoustic analysis for monitoring of CMP process. U.S. Pat. No. 6,424,137 teaches detection of wafer vibration characteristics to minimize wafer damage during polishing by placing a sensor directly on the wafer, while U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,234 discloses the use of acoustic waves generated in the polishing slurry to determine the end-point of the polishing process by placing a sensor in the slurry. Both of these prior art references seek to improve the CMP wafer polishing process rather than the pad conditioning process.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,708,506 the roughness of the pad is determined by employing a light source that impinges on the polishing pad and a light detector for detecting the light emanating from the polishing surface. In WO 01/3,2360A1, ultrasonic transducers are employed to measure the thickness of the layers on the polishing pad and the result used to control process variables. EP 1,063,056A2 relates to a method and apparatus whereby a contactless displacement sensor is used to generate the polishing pad profile and to monitor the pad wear uniformity. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,755,718, a force sensor is mounted on the conditioner to detect the frictional force imparted to the conditioning body by the planarizing medium whereby the detected force is fed back to a controller for monitoring of the conditioning process.
Although the final objectives of all the prior art cited above are similar, none of them mount their sensor on the conditioner support arm nor do they use the measurement and application of vibration signals from the pad conditioner for real-time monitoring and control of the conditioning process.
It has been an object of at least one embodiment of the present invention to a process for monitoring and controlling a CMP pad conditioning process.
Another object of at least one embodiment of the present invention has been to provide an apparatus for implementing said process.
Still another object of at least one embodiment of the present invention has been to make said process and apparatus easy to implement using any available CMP tool set.
A further object of at least one embodiment of the present invention has been to prolong the lives of both polishing pads and conditioner disks.
A still further object of at least one embodiment of the present invention has been to facilitate detection of abnormal conditioner disks thereby averting possible future damage to wafers by the CMP process.
These objects have been achieved by measuring the vibration of the pad conditioner. In the present invention, an accelerometer was mounted on the support arm of the pad conditioner to measure its vibration frequency. The time dependent signal obtained is analyzed by using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to convert it to the frequency domain. Abnormal frequency peaks, if detected, serve as guideline for optimization of the pad conditioning process. Real-time monitoring of the conditioning process is achieved by means of a negative feedback loop for controlling the number of sweeps and head pressure of the conditioning body in response to the changes detected through the vibration signature.
a and 3b show a vibration spectrum in its time domain representation and its equivalent frequency domain representation.
a and 8b are a flow chart representation of the process of the present invention.
The apparatus of the present invention is schematically illustrated in
Sensor 21 is mounted on support arm 14 of pad conditioner 13. The signal detected by the sensor 21 corresponds to vibrational velocity as a function of time, being therefore a time domain representation. It is amplified by signal conditioner 22 which may be either a Constant Current Line Drive (CCLD) or a charge amplifier. If the CCLD version is selected it may be built-in together with the Dynamic Spectrum Analyser (DSA) and a separate, external signal conditioner would not be required.
The time domain signal is then transformed into its frequency domain equivalent by the DSA (using a Fast Fourier Transform Algorithm).
The next step is the creation and display of a waterfall plot by cascading a succession of frequency domain spectra during one full sweep of the pad conditioning procedure. At this point (if the system is only partly automated) an operator will be able to determine if the process parameters used were optimum, by observing one or more frequency bands in the waterfall plot, particularly (in this example) the 200 Hz band. The operator can then adjust the appropriate pad conditioning control variables such as sweep rate, head pressure and head rotation rate until all abnormal peaks disappear from the 200 Hz and any other selected bands.
The 200 Hz value is dependent on the mechanical characteristics of the conditioning system. It will vary with the operating parameters of the CMP such as platen speed, polisher speed and number of sweeps i.e. dependent on the CMP operating parameters. It will also vary if different pad materials or different conditioning disk materials are used for conditioning.
In addition to the visual display shown in
Experiments were conducted to characterize the impact of the above process parameters in terms of vibration signals. Vibration amplitude was observed to correlate with pad conditioner downward force while increasing pad conditioner rotation speed was seen to result in lower vibration amplitude. Different sweep profiles of the pad conditioner were found to have an effect on the vibration signal. Specifically, increasing the number of sweeps resulted in a lower vibration amplitude. The lowest vibration amplitudes were observed at platen rotation speeds of about 65 rpm. This data allowed the characteristics of process parameters to be modeled and programmed into controller 67 for real-time monitoring and control of the pad conditioning process.
a and 8b together constitute a flow chart of the full process of the invention. Beginning at the box labeled “Start” in
If the measured amplitude was above the minimum value of the guard band, then the pad is in need of conditioning and we transfer to
In conclusion, we note the following advantages of the invention:
Easy to Implement
A real time monitoring system can be implemented using any available CMP tool set.
Reduced Operating Costs
Optimization of the pad conditioning process will prolong the lives of both the polishing pad and conditioner disk.
CMP Process Enhancement
Real time monitoring allows better control of pad conditioning throughout the pad's life, thereby maintaining good post CMP wafer uniformity. Real time monitoring facilitates detection of abnormal conditioner disks thereby averting any further damage from CMP induced scratches.