Effect of Molecular Weight of Surfactant in Nano Ceria Slurry on Shallow Trench Isolation Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP)

摘要

We examined the effect of the molecular weight of surfactants in ceria slurry during chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) for shallow trench isolation (STI). We found that for a surfactant with a higher molecular weight, the oxide removal rale decreased drastically as the surfactant concentration increased, but in the case of a lower molecular weight, it only slightly decreased. In addition, slurries whose surfactants had lower molecular weights maintained a higher nitride removal rate with increasing surfactant concentration. The results showed that the molecular weight and surfactant concentration have complex effects on the oxide removal rate and the oxide-to-nitride removal selectivity.