System and method for chemical mechanical polishing
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsChen-Hao WU, Yi Hsing Yu, Chia Jou LIU, Huang-Lin CHAO, Pinyen LIN
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure describes a system and a method for a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process on a substrate. The CMP process planarizes a portion of a material layer on the substrate and selectively polishes another portion of the material layer within a predetermined distance from a stop layer. The system includes a polishing pad on a rotating platen and a dispenser configured to dispense an abrasive solution and an additive solution onto the polishing pad. The abrasive solution and the additive solution blend on the polishing pad to form a slurry, which is used to perform the CMP process on the substrate.
Claims20
A method, comprising:
- blending an abrasive solution and an additive solution to form a slurry on a rotating polishing pad;
- contacting a substrate with the slurry on the polishing pad, wherein the substrate is held and rotated by a substrate carrier;
- polishing an exposed layer on the substrate using the slurry, the polishing comprising:
- monitoring a current, voltage, or torque measurement representing a material composition of the exposed layer;
- determining a change in the current, voltage, or torque measurement due to a change in the material composition of the exposed layer;
- and
- changing a first flow rate of the abrasive solution and a second flow rate of the additive solution based on the change in the current, voltage, or torque measurement;
- and
- cleaning the substrate after polishing.
A polishing method, comprising:
- chemical mechanical polishing a material layer on a substrate using a first slurry formed of an abrasive solution and an additive solution;
- determining a polished height of the material layer;
- in response to the polished height being within a predetermined distance from a stop layer on the substrate, switching from the first slurry to a second slurry formed of the abrasive solution and the additive solution, wherein the second slurry provides a higher material selectivity than the first slurry;
- chemical mechanical polishing the material layer using the second slurry.
A polishing system, comprising:
- a polishing pad configured to rotate on a platen;
- a carrier configured to hold a substrate over the polishing pad and in contact with the polishing pad;
- and
- a dispenser, comprising:
- a first nozzle configured to dispense an abrasive solution on the polishing pad;
- and
- a second nozzle configured to dispense an additive solution on the polishing pad to blend with the abrasive solution to form a slurry.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.