Ceria slurry solution for improved defect control of silicon dioxide chemical-mechanical polishing
AssigneesInfineon Technologies AG, Internation Business Machines Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
InventorsHaruki Nojo, Sumit Pandey, Jeremy Stephens, Ravikumar Ramachandran
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Abstract
An aqueous based ceria slurry system and method for chemical mechanical polishing of semiconductor wafers, the slurry comprising less than 5 wt % abrasive cerium oxide particles and up to about the critical micelle concentration of a cationic surfactant, absent other abrasives, in a neutral to alkaline pH solution is disclosed. Also disclosed is slurry comprising a blend of surfactants including a pre-existing amount of anionic surfactant and an added amount of cationic and/or non-ionic surfactant.
Claims15
An aqueous-based cerium oxide slurry composition useful for chemical-mechanical polishing semiconductor silicon wafers to reduce defect density, comprising less than about 5 wt % abrasive cerium oxide particles and up to about the critical micelle concentration of a cationic surfactant, absent other abrasives, in a neutral to alkaline pH solution.
A method for improved defect control of silicon dioxide chemical-mechanical polishing of a semiconductor silicon wafer through chemistry modification of the slurry solution, comprising:
- providing an aqueous slurry to a surface of the wafer to be polished, said slurry comprising less than about 5 wt % abrasive cerium oxide particles and up to about the critical micelle concentration of a cationic surfactant, absent other abrasives, in a neutral to alkaline pH solution;
- and
- polishing the surface of the wafer by causing said slurry to mechanically-chemically abrade a surface layer of the semiconductor silicon wafer thereby removing scratches and surface defects.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.