Statistical Qualitative Analysis on Chemical Mechanical Polishing Process and Equipment Characterization

Abstract

Process characterization of the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process for undensified phosphosilicate glass (PSG) film is reported using design of experiments (DOE). DOE has been addressed to experimenters to understand the relationship between input variables and responses of interest in a simple and efficient way. It is typically beneficial for determining the adequate size of experiments with multiple process variables and making statistical inferences for the responses of interests. Equipment controllable parameters to operate the machine include the down force (DF) of the wafer carrier, pressure on the backside of the wafer, table and spindle speed (SS), slurry flow rate, and pad condition. None of them is independent; thus, the interaction between parameters also needs to be indicated to improve process characterization in CMP. In this paper, we have selected the five controllable equipment parameters, such as DF, back pressure (BP), table speed (TS), SS, and slurry flow (SF), most process engineers recommend to characterize the CMP process with respect to material removal rate (RR) and film uniformity as a percentage. The polished material is undensified PSG. PSG is widely used for the plananization in multi-layered metal interconnects. We identify the main effect of DF, BP, and TS on both RR and film uniformity, as expected, by the statistical modeling and analysis on the metrology data acquired from a series of <TEX>$2^{5-1}$</TEX> fractional factorial design with two center points. This revealed the film uniformity of the polished PSG film contains two and three-way interactions. Therefore, one can easily infer that the process control based on better understanding of the process is the key to success in semiconductor manufacturing, typically when the wafer size reaches 300 mm and is continuously scheduled to expand up to 450 mm in or little after 2012.