LOW-DOWN-FORCE PLANARIZATION TECHNOLOGIES GENERAL PRINCIPLE OF PLANARIZATION GOVERNING POLISH, ECP, ECMP, ETCHING ETC.

摘要

Cu interconnects and low k materials have been adopted in semi-conductor devices in order to decrease RC delay in accordance with the semiconductor device roadmap such as ITRS. However, it is noted that development of new low k materials have been remarkably delayed. Mechanical strength of low k .materials is decreased in accordance with decreasing k value. This has caused problems in device integration and has led to lower down force requirement for the Planarization process. Several low down force planarization technologies have been proposed such as soft CMP, ECP, ECMP, CE and others are currently under development. CMP is governed by Preston's law, ECP by Faraday's law, ECMP by Preston's and Faraday's laws and CE by dissolution law. In this paper, the general principle of planarization governing CMP, ECP, ECMP, CE and others are introduced.