Performance of a Novel Slurry Injection System on an Ebara F-REX200 Polisher for a Silicon Dioxide CMP Application

We describe a new type of slurry injection system (SIS-100) along with data on removal rate, non-uniformity, wafer-level defects, and slurry savings obtained on an Ebara FREX200(r) polisher using SS25(TM) slurry on both k-groove and XY-perforated IC1000(TM) pads. The system tested is installed in parallel with the standard slurry applicator using existing polisher hardware and does not require power, software, or any process changes except for flow rate. The injector contacts the pad with a light load and applies slurry in a thin layer at the device trailing edge using single or multiple injection points. Used slurry, rinse water and pad debris are then removed from the pad by the leading edge. At each flow rate, the removal rate is enhanced sufficiently over the rate from the standard slurry applicator that the flow rate can be reduced by about 30% on the XY-perforated pad and 50% on the k-groove pad without sacrificing removal rate. Non-uniformity is found to be unchanged and defect levels are found to be the same or better compared with the standard applicator. Keywords: Chemical-mechanical Polishing, Slurry Application, Slurry Reduction, Defects, F-REX200(r)