Method for post chemical-mechanical planarization cleaning of semiconductor wafers
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorsDavid Gonzales, Guy F. Hudson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The inventive method cleans residual titanium accumulations and other undesirable materials from a planarized surface of a wafer to produce a planarized surface with less than about fifty defects per wafer. After a metallic layer of material has been planarized using a CMP process, loose residual particles of undesirable material are removed from the planarized surface. The residual titanium accumulations remaining on the planarized surface are then detached from the planarized surface, which produces additional, new particles on the surface of the wafer. The additional particles produced by the detaching step are then scrubbed from the planarized surface until the planarized surface has less than approximately 50 defects per wafer.
Claims22
In the manufacturing of microelectronic devices, a method of forming a feature on a workpiece, comprising:
- forming a plurality of recesses in a dielectric layer on the workpiece, each recess extending from a top surface of the dielectric layer through at least a portion of the dielectric layer;
- disposing a first layer on the dielectric layer to have a plurality of first sections at least partially filling the recesses and a second section covering the top surface of the dielectric layer;
- depositing a second layer on the first layer to have a first portion filling the recesses and a second portion on the second section of the first layer over the top surface of the dielectric layer;
- abrasively planarizing the workpiece to remove the second portion of the first layer over the top surface of the dielectric layer, the planarizing procedure forming a planarized surface on the workpiece in which the first sections of first layer are isolated in the recesses;
- removing residual particles from the planarized surface;
- detaching remaining material of the second section of the first layer from the top surface of the dielectric layer, wherein detaching the remaining material of the second section of the first layer liberates particles in the planarized surface that were embedded into the planarized surface during the abrasive planarizing procedure;
- and
- scrubbing the particles from the planarized surface after removing the residual particles and detaching the remaining materials from the second section.
A method of processing a microelectronic workpiece, comprising:
- abrasively planarizing a surface of the workpiece with abrasive particles, the abrasive planarizing procedure producing on the planarized surface loose residual particles and residual accumulations of a material different than the loose residual particles, and the planarizing procedure embedding abrasive particles in the workpiece;
- removing the loose residual particles from the planarized surface;
- etching the workpiece at the planarized surface to detach the residual accumulations from the planarized surface and to liberate embedded abrasive particles;
- and
- removing the liberated abrasive particles from the planarized surface.
A method of processing a microelectronic workpiece, comprising:
- abrasively planarizing a surface of the workpiece with abrasive particles, the abrasive planarizing procedure producing on the planarized surface loose residual particles and residual accumulations of a material different than the loose residual particles, and the planarizing procedure embedding abrasive particles in the workpiece;
- removing the loose residual particles from the planarized surface;
- detaching the residual accumulations from the planarized surface in a manner that also liberates abrasive particles that were embedded in the workpiece during the planarizing procedure;
- and
- scrubbing the liberated abrasive particles from the planarized surface after removing the loose residual particles and detaching the residual accumulation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.