The Effect of Pad Surface Characteristics on Within Wafer Non-uniformity in CMP

연마불균일도에 영향을 미치는 패드 표면특성에 관한 연구

We have investigated the effect of the pad surface characteristics such as roughness, groove density and wear of pad on within wafer non-uniformity(WIWNU) in chemical mechanical polishing(CMP). We found that WIWNU increases as pad surface roughness($R_{pk}$; Reduced peak height) increases in an early stage of polishing. But after polishing time goes to a certain extent, WIWNU decreases as uniformity of pad surface roughness. Also, groove of pad has effect on relative pad stiffness although original mechanical properties of pad are unchanged by grooving. WIWNU decreases as relative pad stiffness decreases. In addition, conditioning process causes non-uniform wear of pad during in CMP. The profile of pad wear has a significant effect on WIWNU.