Tungsten CMP Process on a Dual Head Polishing

Platform: Effect of Slurry Abrasive Concentration

and Process Temperature

Zhefu Wang, Rixin Peng, Sherry Xia, Stan Tsai
Applied Materials, Inc.
Sunnyvale, CA, 94086

INTRODUCTION
Tungsten CMP process, extensively used to build via
and holes for front end of the line contact in current IC
fabrications, holds its own uniqueness in terms of
removal mechanism. According to Singh et al., unlike
copper CMP which requires longer passivation time and
the aid of passivation agents to form the surface layer,
tungsten surface can grow a complete thin surface layer in
very short time [1]. Lim et al. reported the effects of
oxidants on the tungsten CMP process and suggested that
fast and effective formation of oxide layer was critical for
high removal rate [2].

This work studied the effect of slurry abrasive
concentration and process temperature on tungsten CMP
using a dual head polishing platform. The removal rate
was observed to scale with the cubic root of the abrasive
concentration. The temperature controlled experiment
showed a linear relation between the tungsten removal
rate and the process temperature. Our data suggested that
a higher process temperature could lead to a thicker oxide
layer and in turn raised the total removal rate.

EXPERIMENTAL DATA
The dual head polisher used in this study was the Applied
Materials Reflexion GT. Instead of one-head-on-one-
platen configuration (single head polishing mode)
employed in the current industry, Reflexion GT has two
platens, each of which polishes two wafers
simultaneously (dual head polishing mode) to enhance the
productivity of CMP process. Figure 1 showed the
tungsten removal rate for different slurry abrasive
concentrations on blanket wafers with all the other
process conditions kept the same. An infrared temperature
sensor at the top of the polishing head was used to record
the process temperature.

In the process temperature study, one single wafer was
polished for each experiment split using the single head
polishing mode. An in situ heating device based on
mechanical friction was used to raise the process
temperature on the pad. The process temperature was
then tuned independently while the variance of the other
process conditions remains the minimal. Figure 2 showed
a linear relation between the tungsten removal rate and
the process temperature.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
The process temperature study in Figure 2 suggested a
linear relationship between the process temperature and
the removal rate. Since all the process parameters except
temperature were kept approximately unchanged and the
process temperature variance in this experiment was
assumed to cause no changes in the mechanical facets of
the polishing process, the higher temperature tended to
lead to stronger surface chemical reaction, then a thicker
oxidation layer, and finally a higher removal rate. A
simple mathematical derivation of the Arrhenius equation
shows that the process temperature difference would be
linearly proportional to the final removal rate.

The slurry abrasive concentration test results from Figure
1 was analyzed based on the study of Copper et al. [3].
Figure 3 re-ploted the same data as Figure 1 against the
cubic root of the abrasive concentration and showed good
agreement with Coppers model. Since the model was
purely derived from the relationship between the particle
concentration and the collision frequency, the good fitting
implied that the removal rate was determined only by
mechanical particle collision. Another fact that supported
our hypothesis about the oxide layer formation was that
the process temperature remained almost constant through
all the experimental splits in Figure 1.

In summary, the time constant of the tungsten oxide layer
formation tended to be short compared to the particle
collision time interval, at least in the process window of
our study. However, the effect of process temperature on
the tungsten removal might have a different mechanism.
Higher temperature led to a thicker oxide layer in the unit
time through faster surface reaction rate. Understanding
of the effects of these parameters will help tailor process
development to meet industry application demands, such
as higher throughput, lower cost, and better topography.
REFERENCES
1. Singh, Rajiv K. et al., MRS Bulletin, Oct. 2002
2. Lim, Geonja et al., Wear, Feb. 2004, Vol. 257
3. Copper, Kevin et al., Electrochemical and Solid-State
Letters, 5 (12), Oct. 2002,

Figure 1: Removal rate and process temperature as
function of slurry abrasive concentration.

Figure 2: Tungsten removal rate as a function of process
temperature.


Figure 3: Tungsten removal rate as function of (slurry
abrasive concentration)
1/3
.
Abstract #1971, 220th ECS Meeting, 2011 The Electrochemical Society
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