Patent · US Expired

Optimized underlayer structures for maintaining chemical mechanical polishing removal rates

US5783488A · kind A · utility

10Cited by
16References
19Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJan 31, 1996
Grant dateJul 21, 1998
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 31, 2016

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01L2924/0002
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method of forming sharp oxide peaks on the surface of a semiconductor wafer for the purpose of conditioning polishing pads used during a Chemical Mechanical Polishing process is disclosed. In order to create oxide peaks on the surface of a wafer, additional elements are added to a trace layer of the wafer. An oxide layer is deposited over the additional elements using an Electron Cyclotron Resonance Chemical Vapor Deposition process, which includes a sputtering step, in order to create sharp peaks in the oxide layer over the additional lines. In some embodiments, the additional elements may be formed from a multiplicity of rectangular blocks over which pyramid-like oxide peaks are created. In others, they may be formed from a multiplicity of rectangular blocks connected by narrow lines over which pyramid-like oxide peaks and knife-edged peaks, respectively, are created.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.