Slurry for use with fixed-abrasive polishing pads in polishing semiconductor device conductive structures that include copper and tungsten and polishing methods
First Claim
1. A system for polishing a conductive structure of a semiconductor device, the conductive structure including a conductive region comprising copper and an adjacent barrier layer, said system comprising:
- a fixed-abrasive polishing pad; and
a slurry to be used with said fixed-abrasive polishing pad, said slurry being substantially free of abrasives and formulated to substantially concurrently polish the conductive region and the barrier layer so as to remove a material of said barrier layer at substantially the same rate as or at a slower rate than copper is removed.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for substantially simultaneously polishing a copper conductive structure of a semiconductor device structure and an adjacent barrier layer. The method includes use of a fixed-abrasive type polishing pad with a substantially abrasive-free slurry in which copper is removed at a rate that is substantially the same as or faster than a rate at which a material, such as tungsten, of the barrier layer is removed. The slurry is formulated so as to oxidize copper at substantially the same rate as or at a faster rate than a material of the barrier layer is oxidized. Thus, copper and the barrier layer material have substantially the same oxidation energies in the slurry or the oxidation energy of the barrier layer material in the slurry may be greater than that of copper. Systems for substantially polishing copper conductive structures and adjacent barrier structures on semiconductor device structures are also disclosed.
84 Citations
76 Claims
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1. A system for polishing a conductive structure of a semiconductor device, the conductive structure including a conductive region comprising copper and an adjacent barrier layer, said system comprising:
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a fixed-abrasive polishing pad; and
a slurry to be used with said fixed-abrasive polishing pad, said slurry being substantially free of abrasives and formulated to substantially concurrently polish the conductive region and the barrier layer so as to remove a material of said barrier layer at substantially the same rate as or at a slower rate than copper is removed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
about 0.1% to 20% of said at least one oxidizer, by weight of said slurry; and
about 0.05% to about 2% of said at least one inhibitor, by weight of said slurry.
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26. The system of claim 12, wherein said slurry includes:
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about 0.1% to about 5% of said at least one oxidizer, by weight of said slurry; and
about 0.05% to about 0.2% of said at least one inhibitor, by weight of said slurry.
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27. The system of claim 1, wherein said slurry has a pH of about 2 to about 6.
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28. The system of claim 1, wherein said slurry has a pH of about 3 to about 5.
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29. The system of claim 1, wherein said fixed-abrasive polishing pad comprises one of a round polishing pad, a belt format polishing pad, and a web format polishing pad.
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30. The system of claim 1, wherein said fixed-abrasive polishing pad is configured to be moved incrementally following use thereof to polish a semiconductor device structure.
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31. The system of claim 30, wherein said fixed-abrasive polishing pad is configured to be laterally moved in increments that are equal to about 1% or less of a distance across a semiconductor device structure to be polished therewith.
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32. The system of claim 1, wherein said slurry removes copper at a temperature of about 27°
- C. or cooler.
- 33. A slurry for use in chemical-mechanical polishing processes, comprising at least one oxidizer, at least one pH control agent, and at least one inhibitor, said slurry being formulated with relative amounts of said at least one oxidizer, said at least one pH control agent, and said at least one inhibitor balanced so as to facilitate substantially concurrent polishing of a first structure comprising copper and a second structure comprising tungsten with said tungsten being removed at substantially the same rate as or at a slower rate than said copper is removed.
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62. A method for formulating a slurry to be used with a fixed-abrasive polishing pad, comprising:
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selecting at least one oxidizer, at least one pH control agent, and at least one inhibitor; and
determining concentrations of said at least one oxidizer, said at least one pH control agent, and said at least one inhibitor that form a slurry in which oxidation energies of copper and tungsten will be substantially the same. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74)
determining a concentration of said at least one oxidizer within a range of about 0.1% to about 20% of the weight of said slurry; and
determining a concentration of said at least one inhibitor within a range of about 0.05% to about 2% of the weight of said slurry.
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72. The method of claim 71, wherein said determining said concentration of said at least one oxidizer comprises determining said concentration within a range of about 0.1% to about 5% of the weight of said slurry.
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73. The method of claim 71, wherein said determining said concentration of said at least one inhibitor comprises determining said concentration of said at least one inhibitor within a range of about 0.05% to about 0.2% of the weight of said slurry.
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74. The method of claim 62, wherein said determining said concentrations comprises determining at least one set of concentrations at which the slurry will oxidize copper at substantially the same rate as or at a faster rate than tungsten is oxidized.
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75. A method for formulating a slurry to be used with a fixed-abrasive polishing pad, comprising:
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selecting at least one oxidizer, at least one pH control agent, and at least one inhibitor; and
determining concentrations of said at least one oxidizer, said at least one pH control agent, and said at least one inhibitor that form a slurry which is substantially free of abrasives and in which copper will oxidize at substantially the same rate as or at a faster rate than tungsten is oxidized.
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76. A method for formulating a slurry to be used with a fixed-abrasive polishing pad, comprising:
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selecting at least one oxidizer, at least one pH control agent, and at least one inhibitor; and
determining concentrations of said at least one oxidizer, said at least one pH control agent, and said at least one inhibitor that form a slurry in which tungsten will be removed at substantially the same rate or a slower rate than copper will be removed.
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Specification