A Study of Wafer Center Via Etch Arcing Mechanism and Solution

In 40nm and sub-40nm manufacturing process, inter metal dielectric thickness shrink for process requirement, as a result, arcing defect on wafer during plasma etch start attract interests of researchers. Arcing defect, result from violent charge release process, occur on wafer edge usually. However, wafer center arcing is not a common phenomenon. In this paper, we report an arcing defect occur on wafer center and proposed a possible formation mechanism. Furthermore, a solution is also proposed and proven in both yield and reliability.