Abstract:
An aqueous metal oxide sol slurry has been developed for removal of low dielectric constant materials. The slurry is formed directly in solution utilizing non-dehydrated chemically active metal oxide sols which are formed in a colloidal suspension or dispersion. The oxide sols have not undergone any subsequent drying and the particles are believed to be substantially spherical in structure, dimensionally stable and do not change shape over time. The sol particles are mechanically soft and heavily hydrated which reduces surface damage even in the case where soft polymer or porous dielectric films are polished. The sol particles are formed of a chemically active metal oxide material, or combinations thereof, or can be coated on chemically inactive oxide material such as silicon dioxide or can be coformed therewith. The oxide sols can include a bi-modal particle distribution. The slurry can be utilized in CMP processes, with or without conditioning.
Abstract:
The present invention relates to the use of ozone (O3) as a reagent in chemical mechanical planarization either in aqueous solution or as a gas directly impinging on the surface to be planarized. An aqueous solution containing ozone may optionally contain abrasive particles and/or additional CMP reagents co-dissolved with the ozone including carbonate and bicarbonate anions, and organic acids such as formic, oxalic, acetic and glycol. Abrasives that may be added include alumina, silica, spinel, ceria, and zirconia. Typical concentrations of ozone in aqueous solution are in the range from approximately 1 part-per-million up to saturation. Ammonium salts, particularly ammonium carbonate, facilitate planarization in cooperation with the ozone-containing aqueous solution. Low k dielectric materials, organic as well as inorganic, and difficult to oxidize metals can be planarized with ozone reagents pursuant to the present invention.
Abstract:
A method for curing low k dielectric materials uses very short, relatively high temperature cycles instead of the conventionally used (lower temperature/longer time) thermal cycles. A substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, coated with a layer of coating material is heated to an elevated temperature at a heating rate of greater than about 20°C per second. Once the coating material has been converted to a low dielectric constant material with desired properties, the coated substrate is cooled. Alternatively, spike heating raises and promptly lowers the temperature of the coated substrate to effect curing in one or a series of spikes heating steps. The method allows for a thinner refractory barrier metal layer thickness to prevent copper diffusion, and uses shorter curing times resulting in higher throughput.
Abstract:
A method for chemical-mechanical polishing of a low dielectric constant polymeric layer wherein a slurry comprising high purity fine metal oxide particles uniformly dispersed in a stable aqueous medium is used.
Abstract:
Electron beam cured siloxane dielectric films and a process for their manufacture which are useful in the production of integrated circuits. A siloxane polymer having in one aspect less than 40 Mole percent carbon containing substituents, and in another aspect at least approximately 40 Mole percent carbon containing substituents is cured by a wide beam electron beam exposure.
Abstract:
A process for producing insulating films while obviating the problem accompanying the use of a fluorocarbon film as an interlaminar insulating film for semiconductor devices such that the film is heated to, e.g., around 400 to 450 DEG C upon formation of a tungsten wiring and the heated film not only releases fluorine gas to cause wiring corrosion but also poses various troubles due to the resultant decrease in film thickness. The process comprises converting a fluorocarbon gas and a hydrocarbon gas as the film-forming gas into a plasma to deposit a fluorocarbon film on a semiconductor wafer by means of the resultant active species and subsequently annealing the coated wafer, before wiring formation, in N2, H2, or F2 gas as a treatment gas flowing at a rate of 50 sccm to 1 slm and a pressure of 0.1 Pa to 1 MPa (0.1 Pa to 100 kPa for H2 gas), e.g., at 425 DEG C for 10 minutes to 2 hours to cause the fluorocarbon film to release F, CF, CF2, CF3, etc. and to cause the resultant free bonds to link to each other to thereby improve thermal stability.
Abstract:
A photoresist (18) is exposed through a design-independent high resolution reticle (20), producing a high resolution image of exposed resist (18A). Photoresist (18) is exposed for the second time through a design-specific low-resolution reticle (24), exposing selected portions (18D) of previously unexposed resist. The remaining portions (18B) of previously unexposed resist form a design-dependent high resolution image. After development of photoresist (18), its unexposed portions (18B) are removed, producing openings (26) in photoresist (18), that can be transferred to underlying material (36), for example by etching openings in that underlying material (36), thereby transfering the design-dependent high resolution to it. Since the design-independent high resolution reticle (20) can be prefabricated ahead of time and used to produce many designs with different functions, the above double-exposure method is suitable for fabricating design-specific high resolution features, e.g., contacts (vias) between conducting layers, within time and at the approximate cost required to fabricate and process a low resolution image. Several variants of the basic method are possible.
Abstract:
Methods of curing polyimide to tune the coefficient of thermal expansion are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method of curing a polymer layer on a substrate, includes: (a) applying a variable frequency microwave energy to the substrate to heat the polymer layer and the substrate to a first temperature; and (b) adjusting the variable frequency microwave energy to increase a temperature of the polymer layer and the substrate to a second temperature to cure the polymer layer.