Patent Application
20150107619
During fabrication of a semiconductor wafer, chemical mechanical polishing is performed to smooth surfaces of the semiconductor wafer using chemical and mechanical forces. For example, the semiconductor wafer is polished to prepare the semiconductor wafer for a new layer of material. In an example of polishing, the semiconductor wafer is secured to a polishing head configured to polish the semiconductor wafer against a polishing pad. The polishing head applies force to the semiconductor wafer toward the polishing pad during polishing. The polishing head rotates the semiconductor wafer against the polishing pad, which is also rotated, to apply mechanical force to the semiconductor wafer to remove material or even out irregular topography of the semiconductor wafer. In an example, chemicals are applied to the polishing pad during polishing to apply corrosive chemical force to the semiconductor wafer to aid in polishing. If the semiconductor wafer is contaminated with particles before polishing, then such particles can cause defects, such as scratches, on the semiconductor wafer. After polishing, particles, such as polishing by-products or slurry residue, can cause defocusing during a lithography stage or other issues.
The claimed subject matter is now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are generally used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide an understanding of the claimed subject matter. It is evident, however, that the claimed subject matter can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, structures and devices are illustrated in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing the claimed subject matter.
One or more techniques or systems for particle removal from a semiconductor wafer are provided. During semiconductor processing, particles, such as leftover chemicals, metal, etch by-products, polishing by-products, or other material, contaminant a semiconductor wafer being processed. During polishing of the semiconductor wafer, such as during chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), the particles have the potential to cause scratches or other defects on the semiconductor wafer. After polishing, the semiconductor wafer becomes contaminated with particles, such as polishing by-products or slurry residue, which have the potential to cause defocusing during a lithography stage or other defects during subsequent processing stages. Accordingly, as provided herein, a mechanical particle cleaner component and a chemical particle cleaner component are used to remove particles from the semiconductor wafer.
A method 100 of removing particles from a semiconductor wafer is illustrated in
At 102, a mechanical force is applied to the edge region 210 of the semiconductor wafer 202 to detach a particle from the semiconductor wafer 202. In an embodiment, the particle is detached from a beveled edge portion of the edge region. In an embodiment, the mechanical force is applied by a mechanical particle cleaner component, such as one or more of a sliver brush roller component (e.g.,
At 104, a chemical force is applied to the edge region 210 of the semiconductor wafer 202. In an embodiment, a chemical particle cleaner component 800 is configured to apply the chemical force, as illustrated in
It is appreciated that any number or combination of mechanical particle cleaner components or chemical particle cleaner components are used during at least one of the pre-polish phase or the post-polish phase. In an embodiment, at least one of the sliver brush roller component, the pencil brush component, the tape polish component, the sonic jet component, the liquid spray component, or the chemical particle cleaner component is used during the pre-polish phase. Any number, such as one, two, three, four, five, or six, components are used during the pre-polish phase. In an embodiment, at least one of the sliver brush roller component, the pencil brush component, the tape polish component, the sonic jet component, the liquid spray component, or the chemical particle cleaner component is used during the post-polish phase, such as the same or different components used during the pre-polish phase. Any number, such as one, two, three, four, five, or six, components are used during the post-polish phase, which is the same or different as the number used during the pre-polish phase. Components used during the post-polish phase have the same or different locations when used during the pre-polish phase.
According to an aspect of the instant disclosure, a system for particle removal from a semiconductor wafer is provided. The system comprises a mechanical particle cleaner component. The mechanical particle cleaner component is configured to apply a mechanical force to an edge region of the semiconductor wafer to detach a particle from the edge region.
According to an aspect of the instant disclosure, a system for particle removal from a semiconductor wafer is provided. The system comprises a chemical particle cleaner component. The chemical particle cleaner component is configured to apply a chemical to an edge region of the semiconductor wafer to detach a particle.
According to an aspect of the instant disclosure, a method for particle removal from a semiconductor wafer is provided. The method comprises applying a mechanical force to an edge region of a semiconductor wafer to detach a first particle using at least one of a sliver brush roller component, a pencil brush component, a tape polish component, a sonic jet component, or a liquid spray component. The method also comprises applying a chemical force to the edge region to detach a second particle using a chemical particle cleaner component.
Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter of the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as embodiment forms of implementing at least some of the claims.
Various operations of embodiments are provided herein. The order in which some or all of the operations are described should not be construed to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent. Alternative ordering will be appreciated given the benefit of this description. Further, it will be understood that not all operations are necessarily present in each embodiment provided herein. Also, it will be understood that not all operations are necessary in some embodiments.
It will be appreciated that layers, features, elements, etc. depicted herein are illustrated with particular dimensions relative to one another, such as structural dimensions or orientations, for example, for purposes of simplicity and ease of understanding and that actual dimensions of the same differ substantially from that illustrated herein, in some embodiments. Additionally, a variety of techniques exist for forming the layers features, elements, etc. mentioned herein, such as etching techniques, implanting techniques, doping techniques, spin-on techniques, sputtering techniques such as magnetron or ion beam sputtering, growth techniques, such as thermal growth or deposition techniques such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), or atomic layer deposition (ALD), for example.
Further, unless specified otherwise, “first,” “second,” or the like are not intended to imply a temporal aspect, a spatial aspect, an ordering, etc. Rather, such terms are merely used as identifiers, names, etc. for features, elements, items, etc. For example, a first channel and a second channel generally correspond to channel A and channel B or two different or two identical channels or the same channel.
Moreover, “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, illustration, etc., and not necessarily as advantageous. As used in this application, “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or”. In addition, “a” and “an” as used in this application are generally to be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form. Also, at least one of A and B or the like generally means A or B or both A and B. Furthermore, to the extent that “includes”, “having”, “has”, “with”, or variants thereof are used, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to “comprising”.
Also, although the disclosure has been shown and described with respect to one or more implementations, equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art based upon a reading and understanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. The disclosure includes all such modifications and alterations and is limited only by the scope of the following claims. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described components (e.g., elements, resources, etc.), the terms used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component which performs the specified function of the described component (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure. In addition, while a particular feature of the disclosure may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.
