REAL-TIME IN-SITU PROCESS CONTROL FOR CHEMICAL-MECHANICAL POLISHING PLANARIZATION

PRODUCTION OF MICROELECTRONIC DEVICES WITH PATTERN FEATURES IN THE SUB-0.25 MICRON REGIME REQUIRE SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES IN MICROLITHOGRAPHIC AND MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES. CURRENT I-LINE STEPPER TOOLS ARE PATTERNING STATE-OF-THE-ART DEVICES WITH DEPTH OF FOCUS (DOF) BUDGETS OF 1 MICRON AND BELOW, A MANUFACTURING NIGHTMARE. RECENT RESEARCH HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT CHEMICAL-MECHANICAL POLISHING (CMP) PLANARIZATION SIGNIFICANTLY ALLEVIATES DOF PROBLEMS BY ACHIEVING SUPERIOR GLOBAL PLANARIZATION. CMP PLANARIZATION TECHNOLOGY HAS THE POTENTIAL TO EXTEND CURRENT MANUFACTURING TOOLS TO THE 0.25 MICRON REGIME AND BEYOND. HOWEVER, THE MAJOR PROBLEM WITH CMP IS THAT CURRENTLY, THERE IS NO EFFECTIVE, COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE MEANS OF MEASURING AND CONTROLLING THE THICKNESS OF THE LAYER BEING PLANARIZED IN A REAL-TIME, IN-SITU MANNER. RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING A NON-CONTACT TECHNOLOGY AND METHOD TO PROVIDE REAL-TIME, IN-SITU PROCESS CONTROL FOR CMP PLANARIZATION.