US20160229026A1 - Retainer ring, polishing apparatus, and manufacturing method of semiconductor device - Google Patents
Retainer ring, polishing apparatus, and manufacturing method of semiconductor device Download PDFInfo
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- US20160229026A1 US20160229026A1 US14/848,897 US201514848897A US2016229026A1 US 20160229026 A1 US20160229026 A1 US 20160229026A1 US 201514848897 A US201514848897 A US 201514848897A US 2016229026 A1 US2016229026 A1 US 2016229026A1
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- polishing
- retainer ring
- ceramic material
- fracture toughness
- semiconductor wafer
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B24—GRINDING; POLISHING
- B24B—MACHINES, DEVICES, OR PROCESSES FOR GRINDING OR POLISHING; DRESSING OR CONDITIONING OF ABRADING SURFACES; FEEDING OF GRINDING, POLISHING, OR LAPPING AGENTS
- B24B37/00—Lapping machines or devices; Accessories
- B24B37/27—Work carriers
- B24B37/30—Work carriers for single side lapping of plane surfaces
- B24B37/32—Retaining rings
Definitions
- Embodiments described herein relate generally to a retainer ring, a polishing apparatus, and a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device.
- CMP chemical mechanical polishing
- a CMP apparatus generally holds the rear surface (the surface opposite to a polishing surface) of the polishing object by a polishing head to press the surface (polishing surface) of the polishing object onto a polishing pad to which slurry is supplied, and relatively rotate the polishing head and the polishing pad, thereby flattening the insulating film, the metallic film, or polycrystalline silicon buried in the trench in the surface of the polishing object.
- the polishing head which holds the polishing object is provided with a mechanism which applies pressure to the rear surface of the polishing object, and a retainer ring which prevents the polishing object from protruding to outside of the polishing head during the relative rotation of the polishing head and the polishing pad.
- the retainer ring as well as the polishing object is pressed onto the polishing pad. Therefore, if the fracture toughness is low, wear rapidly progresses due to the repetition of polishing, and the frequency of replacement increases, so that the costs of consumable materials increase, and time loss caused by replacement work is a problem.
- FIG. 1 is an example of a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a polishing apparatus (CMP apparatus) according to one embodiment
- FIG. 2 is an example of a sectional view of a polishing pad provided in the polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 ;
- FIG. 3 is an example of a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a retainer ring according to one embodiment
- FIG. 4 is an example of a flowchart illustrating the outline of a manufacturing method of the retainer ring shown in FIG. 3 ;
- FIG. 5 is a table showing an example of an experimental result showing wear amounts of various ceramic materials
- FIG. 6 is an example of a diagram illustrating force which is applied to the retainer ring during polishing
- FIG. 7 is an example of a diagram illustrating a rebound from the polishing pad in an initial state of use
- FIG. 8 is an example of a diagram illustrating a rebound from the polishing pad after the partial wear of the retainer ring has progressed
- FIG. 9 is an example of a graph showing the relation between the polishing rate and the distance from the center of a polishing object by the comparison between the initial state and the state in which the partial wear has already progressed in the retainer ring;
- FIG. 10 is an example of a graph showing the relation between the fracture toughness of the retainer ring and the incidence of chipping
- FIG. 11 is an example of a diagram illustrating how the side surface of the polishing object is chipped by stress resulting from the collision with the retainer ring;
- FIG. 12 is an example of a graph showing the relation between the Young's modulus of the retainer ring and the incidence of chipping in the polishing object.
- FIG. 13 is an example of a table showing the fracture toughness and Young's modulus for each ceramic material.
- a polishing apparatus includes a polishing table and a polishing head.
- a retainer ring is attached to a surface of the polishing head.
- the surface of the polishing head faces the polishing table.
- the retainer ring includes a ceramic material,
- the fracture toughness of the ceramic material is 4 MPa ⁇ m 1/2 or more.
- FIG. 1 is an example of a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a polishing apparatus (CMP apparatus) according to the present embodiment.
- a polishing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a polishing table 2 , a polishing head 3 , a diamond dresser 4 , a polishing solution supply opening 5 , a pure water supply opening 6 , and a cleaning solution supply opening 7 .
- a polishing pad 8 is attached to the upper surface (the surface facing the polishing head 3 ) of the polishing table 2 .
- the polishing table 2 is configured to be rotatable and drivable by a driver (not shown) including a motor.
- the polishing head 3 is configured to be rotatable and drivable by a driver (not shown) including a motor. This polishing head 3 is configured to be able to press the upper surface (the surface facing the polishing head 3 ) of the polishing pad 8 with predetermined pressure while rotating, for example, a semiconductor wafer W (see FIG. 2 ) which is a polishing object.
- a driver not shown
- This polishing head 3 is configured to be able to press the upper surface (the surface facing the polishing head 3 ) of the polishing pad 8 with predetermined pressure while rotating, for example, a semiconductor wafer W (see FIG. 2 ) which is a polishing object.
- the detailed configuration of the polishing head 3 will be described later in detail.
- the diamond dresser 4 conditions the surface of the polishing pad 8 .
- the diamond dresser 4 is rotated and driven by a driver (not shown) including a motor, and is configured to be pressed by the polishing pad 8 .
- the polishing solution supply opening 5 , the pure water supply opening 6 , and the cleaning solution supply opening 7 are configured to be able to respectively supply a polishing solution (e.g. slurry), pure water, and a cleaning solution onto the polishing pad 8 at predetermined flow volumes.
- a polishing solution e.g. slurry
- pure water pure water
- a cleaning solution onto the polishing pad 8 at predetermined flow volumes.
- FIG. 2 is an example of a sectional view along the cutting-plane line A-A in FIG. 1 .
- the polishing head 3 includes circular-plate-shaped head body 10 , a membrane 12 , and a retainer ring 11 corresponding to one embodiment.
- the head body 10 is configured to be supported by an arm (not shown).
- the membrane 12 is held by the retainer ring 11 so as to contact the lower surface (the surface facing the polishing pad 8 ) of the head body 10 .
- the retainer ring 11 is attached to the lower surface of the head body 10 , and holds the semiconductor wafer W in such a manner that the surface of the semiconductor wafer W opposite to the polishing surface contacts the lower surface of the membrane 12 .
- the semiconductor wafer W thus held by the retainer ring 11 is pressed to the polishing pad 8 by the head body 10 and the membrane 12 .
- the retainer ring 11 is manufactured by the use of a ceramic material as a whole, and has a fracture toughness of 4 MPa ⁇ m 1/2 or more and a Young's modulus of 400 GPa or less.
- a ceramic is formed by the use of a cold isostatic press (CIP) method.
- a ceramic material is put into a rubber-state mold formed to adapt to the shape of a target retainer ring (step 1 ), and the mold is then inserted into a high-pressure container (step 2 ) and isotropically pressurized via a pressure medium (liquid) (step 3 ).
- the ceramic material for example, zirconia (ZrO 2 ), alumina (Al 2 O 3 ), silicon carbide (SiC), silicon nitride (SiN), yttria (Y 2 O 3 ), and cordierite (2MgO ⁇ 2Al 2 O 3 ⁇ 5SiO 2 ) can be used (see FIG. 13 ).
- a primary process to form a groove (not shown) of the retainer ring is then performed (step 4 ), and a sinter process is performed to eliminate holes in the ceramic material (step 5 ). Finally, a finish process is performed as a secondary process, and the retainer ring 11 is thereby obtained (step 6 ).
- FIG. 5 shows the wear amounts that are obtained by conducting experiments under the same experimental environment for each of the above-mentioned ceramic materials. As obvious from FIG. 5 , it is confirmed that the ceramic materials can reduce the wear amounts 50 times or more as compared to polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) which is a generally used retainer ring material.
- PPS polyphenylene sulfide
- the degree of fracture toughness is a problem in the manufacture of the retainer ring. This is because if the retainer ring is manufactured by the use of a material having a fracture toughness of less than 4 MPa ⁇ m 1/2 , the retainer ring may break due to insufficient pressure during the CIP formation or may break from a slight crack or the like occurring during mechanical processing for forming the grooves in the primary process.
- the polishing head 3 and the polishing pad 8 are relatively rotated to flatten the surface of the semiconductor wafer W. Therefore, force from the polishing pad 8 is applied to the retainer ring 11 as indicated by the arrow AR 1 in FIG. 6 , and force which causes the semiconductor wafer W to protrude to the outside of the polishing head 3 as indicated by the arrow AR 2 in FIG. 6 is also repeatedly applied to the retainer ring 11 for every polishing. As a result of the repetition of such impacts in a lateral direction (a direction level with the surface of the polishing pad 8 facing a processing surface of the semiconductor wafer W), the inner surface of the retainer ring 11 may be chipped as indicated by the sign CP 1 in FIG. 6 .
- FIG. 9 An example of this wafer edge excessive polishing state is shown in a graph of FIG. 9 . It is obvious from FIG. 9 that in the region of a wafer edge, due to the repetition of the polishing process, the polishing rate after the partial wear has progressed is significantly higher than the polishing rate in the initial state.
- FIG. 10 is an example of a graph showing the relation between the fracture toughness of the retainer ring and the incidence of chipping. From FIG. 10 it is confirmed that the incidence of chipping is 0 when the fracture toughness is 4 MPa ⁇ m 1/2 or more.
- the retainer ring 11 has a fracture toughness of 4 MPa ⁇ m 1/2 or more, thus chipping in the inner surface of the retainer ring 11 is inhibited. Consequently, the occurrence of the partial wear can be inhibited.
- the impact by the (lateral) force during polishing which causes the semiconductor wafer W to protrude to the outside of the polishing head 3 is not only applied to the retainer ring 11 but also applied to the side of the semiconductor wafer W, and stress is repeatedly generated by collision between the semiconductor wafer W and the retainer ring 11 . Therefore, if a retainer ring 11 manufactured by the use of a hard material is used, a chip CP 2 may occur in the side surface of the semiconductor wafer W by receiving repetitive stress in the direction of the arrow AR 3 , as shown in FIG. 11 .
- the degree of the elastic modulus is the Young's modulus (the physicality value [GPa] that indicates the difficulty of deformation). Stronger impact is applied to the semiconductor wafer W in the case of materials that are less deformable, so that the degree of the impact applied to the semiconductor wafer W can be judged by the degree of the Young's modulus of the retainer ring 11 .
- FIG. 12 is an example of a graph showing the relation between the Young's modulus of the retainer ring 11 and the incidence of chipping in the semiconductor wafer W. From FIG. 12 it is confirmed that desired buffering effect required to inhibit the chipping in the semiconductor wafer W can be obtained if the Young's modulus of the retainer ring 11 is 400 GPa or less.
- the fracture toughness and Young's modulus of respective selectable ceramic materials are shown in a table of FIG. 13 .
- a retainer ring 11 having a fracture toughness of 4 MPa ⁇ m 1/2 or more and a Young's modulus is 400 GPa or less by the use of SiN.
- the material is not limited to SIN, and it is also possible to manufacture a retainer ring having desired physicality by selecting purity and the kind of binder or by combining the ceramic materials when, for example, other ceramic materials shown in FIG. 13 are used.
- the retainer ring according to at least one embodiment described above includes the ceramic material, so that the progress of wear can be inhibited.
- the retainer ring according to at least one embodiment described above has a fracture toughness of 4 MPa ⁇ m 1/2 or more, so that the progress of partial wear can be inhibited.
- the retainer ring according to at least one embodiment described above has a Young's modulus is 400 GPa or less, so that it is possible to prevent the polishing object from being damaged.
- the polishing apparatus 1 includes the retainer ring including the ceramic material, so that the frequency of the replacement of the retainer ring decreases, the throughput of the polishing process improves, and the polishing object can be thus polished at low cost.
- the polishing apparatus 1 includes the retainer ring having a fracture toughness of 4 MPa ⁇ m 1/2 or more, so that the polishing object can be polished without uneven polishing and without the chipping in the retainer ring.
- the polishing apparatus 1 includes the retainer ring having a Young's modulus of 400 GPa or less, so that it is possible to inhibit the polishing object from being damaged.
- the manufacturing method according to the present embodiment includes a polishing process using the polishing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 .
- a semiconductor wafer W in which an insulating film, a metallic film, a polycrystalline silicon film, and others are formed by, for example, patterning is prepared.
- the semiconductor wafer W is then brought into contact with the polishing pad 8 in such a manner that the polishing surface of the semiconductor wafer W faces the polishing pad 8 while the semiconductor wafer W is held by the polishing head 3 .
- the polishing table is then rotated, for example, in the direction of the arrow AR 10 in FIG. 1 while a polishing solution such as slurry, pure water, and a cleaning solution are respectively supplied onto the polishing pad 8 at predetermined flow volumes via the polishing solution supply opening 5 , the pure water supply opening 6 , and the cleaning solution supply opening 7 .
- a polishing solution such as slurry, pure water, and a cleaning solution are respectively supplied onto the polishing pad 8 at predetermined flow volumes via the polishing solution supply opening 5 , the pure water supply opening 6 , and the cleaning solution supply opening 7 .
- the semiconductor wafer W is held by the retainer ring 11
- the semiconductor wafer W is pressed to the polishing pad 8 by the head body 10 and the membrane 12 and at the same time rotated, for example, in the direction of the arrow AR 20 in FIG.
- polishing targets such as the silicon film, the metallic film, and the insulating film formed on the semiconductor wafer W are polished by the relative rotation of the polishing pad 8 and the semiconductor wafer W.
- a semiconductor device is manufactured on the semiconductor wafer W by the repetition of the film formation process and the polishing process.
- the surface part of the semiconductor wafer W is returned to the initial state before polishing by the diamond dresser 4 in order to prevent the surface part of the polishing pad 8 from being worn or being clogged with abrasive grains included in an abrasive due to the polishing of the semiconductor wafer W.
- the polishing pad 8 and the polishing head 3 are preferably rotated and driven together, from the perspective of eliminating the unevenness of the polishing amount of the semiconductor wafer W.
- the rotation direction of the polishing pad 8 and the rotation direction of the polishing head 3 are preferably the same as shown in FIG. 1 .
- both the polishing pad 8 and the polishing head 3 respectively rotate in the directions of the arrows AR 10 and AR 20 in the case shown in FIG. 1 , it should be understood that these portions do not exclusively rotate in this direction, and may rotate in directions opposite to the above directions.
- the substrate is polished by the use of the polishing apparatus 1 provided with the retainer ring 11 including the ceramic material, so that the costs of consumable materials are reduced, and the manufacturing costs of the semiconductor device can be reduced.
- the substrate is polished by the use of the polishing apparatus 1 provided with the retainer ring 11 having a fracture toughness of 4 MPa ⁇ m 1/2 or more, so that it is possible to prevent the excessive polishing of a substrate edge region resulting from the partial wear of the retainer ring. Consequently, the substrate can be accurately polished, so that it is possible to improve the yield of the semiconductor device.
- the substrate is polished by the use of the polishing apparatus 1 provided with the retainer ring 11 having a, Young's modulus of 400 GPa or less, so that it is possible to prevent the substrate from being chipped, and improve the yield of the semiconductor device.
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Abstract
In accordance with an embodiment, a polishing apparatus includes a polishing table and a polishing head. A retainer ring is attached to a surface of the polishing head. The surface of the polishing head faces the polishing table. The retainer ring includes a ceramic material. The fracture toughness of the ceramic material is 4 MPa·m1/2 or more.
Description
- This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-020854, filed on Feb. 5, 2015, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
- Embodiments described herein relate generally to a retainer ring, a polishing apparatus, and a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device.
- In a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, chemical mechanical polishing (hereinafter referred to as “CMP”) is used to flatten, for example, an insulating film, a metallic film, or a polycrystalline silicon film buried in a trench which is provided in a surface of a polishing object by patterning. A CMP apparatus generally holds the rear surface (the surface opposite to a polishing surface) of the polishing object by a polishing head to press the surface (polishing surface) of the polishing object onto a polishing pad to which slurry is supplied, and relatively rotate the polishing head and the polishing pad, thereby flattening the insulating film, the metallic film, or polycrystalline silicon buried in the trench in the surface of the polishing object.
- The polishing head which holds the polishing object is provided with a mechanism which applies pressure to the rear surface of the polishing object, and a retainer ring which prevents the polishing object from protruding to outside of the polishing head during the relative rotation of the polishing head and the polishing pad.
- The retainer ring as well as the polishing object is pressed onto the polishing pad. Therefore, if the fracture toughness is low, wear rapidly progresses due to the repetition of polishing, and the frequency of replacement increases, so that the costs of consumable materials increase, and time loss caused by replacement work is a problem.
- Impact from the polishing object is also applied to the retainer ring. Therefore, partial wear occurs such that wear more significantly progresses on the side of the polishing object than on the side opposite to the polishing object. In this case, the outer peripheral part of the polishing object is excessively polished.
- In the accompanying drawings:
-
FIG. 1 is an example of a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a polishing apparatus (CMP apparatus) according to one embodiment; -
FIG. 2 is an example of a sectional view of a polishing pad provided in the polishing apparatus shown inFIG. 1 ; -
FIG. 3 is an example of a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a retainer ring according to one embodiment; -
FIG. 4 is an example of a flowchart illustrating the outline of a manufacturing method of the retainer ring shown inFIG. 3 ; -
FIG. 5 is a table showing an example of an experimental result showing wear amounts of various ceramic materials; -
FIG. 6 is an example of a diagram illustrating force which is applied to the retainer ring during polishing; -
FIG. 7 is an example of a diagram illustrating a rebound from the polishing pad in an initial state of use; -
FIG. 8 is an example of a diagram illustrating a rebound from the polishing pad after the partial wear of the retainer ring has progressed; -
FIG. 9 is an example of a graph showing the relation between the polishing rate and the distance from the center of a polishing object by the comparison between the initial state and the state in which the partial wear has already progressed in the retainer ring; -
FIG. 10 is an example of a graph showing the relation between the fracture toughness of the retainer ring and the incidence of chipping; -
FIG. 11 is an example of a diagram illustrating how the side surface of the polishing object is chipped by stress resulting from the collision with the retainer ring; -
FIG. 12 is an example of a graph showing the relation between the Young's modulus of the retainer ring and the incidence of chipping in the polishing object; and -
FIG. 13 is an example of a table showing the fracture toughness and Young's modulus for each ceramic material. - In accordance with an embodiment, a polishing apparatus includes a polishing table and a polishing head. A retainer ring is attached to a surface of the polishing head. The surface of the polishing head faces the polishing table. The retainer ring includes a ceramic material, The fracture toughness of the ceramic material is 4 MPa·m1/2 or more.
- Embodiments will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings, Like components are provided with like reference signs throughout the drawings and repeated descriptions thereof are appropriately omitted. It is to be noted that the accompanying drawings illustrate the invention and assist in the understanding of the illustration and that the shapes, dimensions, and ratios and so on in each of the drawings may be different in some parts from those in an actual apparatus.
- First, a polishing apparatus according to one embodiment is described with reference to
FIG. 1 toFIG. 3 . -
FIG. 1 is an example of a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a polishing apparatus (CMP apparatus) according to the present embodiment. - A
polishing apparatus 1 shown inFIG. 1 includes a polishing table 2, apolishing head 3, adiamond dresser 4, a polishing solution supply opening 5, a pure water supply opening 6, and a cleaningsolution supply opening 7. - A
polishing pad 8 is attached to the upper surface (the surface facing the polishing head 3) of the polishing table 2. The polishing table 2 is configured to be rotatable and drivable by a driver (not shown) including a motor. - The polishing
head 3 is configured to be rotatable and drivable by a driver (not shown) including a motor. This polishinghead 3 is configured to be able to press the upper surface (the surface facing the polishing head 3) of thepolishing pad 8 with predetermined pressure while rotating, for example, a semiconductor wafer W (seeFIG. 2 ) which is a polishing object. The detailed configuration of thepolishing head 3 will be described later in detail. - The diamond dresser 4 conditions the surface of the
polishing pad 8. Thediamond dresser 4 is rotated and driven by a driver (not shown) including a motor, and is configured to be pressed by thepolishing pad 8. - The polishing solution supply opening 5, the pure water supply opening 6, and the cleaning
solution supply opening 7 are configured to be able to respectively supply a polishing solution (e.g. slurry), pure water, and a cleaning solution onto thepolishing pad 8 at predetermined flow volumes. - The specific structure of the
polishing head 3 is described with reference toFIG. 2 ,FIG. 2 is an example of a sectional view along the cutting-plane line A-A inFIG. 1 . - The
polishing head 3 includes circular-plate-shaped head body 10, amembrane 12, and aretainer ring 11 corresponding to one embodiment. Thehead body 10 is configured to be supported by an arm (not shown). Themembrane 12 is held by theretainer ring 11 so as to contact the lower surface (the surface facing the polishing pad 8) of thehead body 10. Theretainer ring 11 is attached to the lower surface of thehead body 10, and holds the semiconductor wafer W in such a manner that the surface of the semiconductor wafer W opposite to the polishing surface contacts the lower surface of themembrane 12. - The semiconductor wafer W thus held by the
retainer ring 11 is pressed to thepolishing pad 8 by thehead body 10 and themembrane 12. - A schematic configuration of the
retainer ring 11 is shown in a perspective view inFIG. 3 , Theretainer ring 11 according to the present embodiment is manufactured by the use of a ceramic material as a whole, and has a fracture toughness of 4 MPa·m1/2 or more and a Young's modulus of 400 GPa or less. - The outline of a manufacturing method of this
retainer ring 11 is described with reference toFIG. 4 , In the present embodiment, a ceramic is formed by the use of a cold isostatic press (CIP) method. - Specifically, a ceramic material (powder) is put into a rubber-state mold formed to adapt to the shape of a target retainer ring (step 1), and the mold is then inserted into a high-pressure container (step 2) and isotropically pressurized via a pressure medium (liquid) (step 3). As the ceramic material, for example, zirconia (ZrO2), alumina (Al2O3), silicon carbide (SiC), silicon nitride (SiN), yttria (Y2O3), and cordierite (2MgO·2Al2O3·5SiO2) can be used (see
FIG. 13 ). - A primary process to form a groove (not shown) of the retainer ring is then performed (step 4), and a sinter process is performed to eliminate holes in the ceramic material (step 5). Finally, a finish process is performed as a secondary process, and the
retainer ring 11 is thereby obtained (step 6). -
FIG. 5 shows the wear amounts that are obtained by conducting experiments under the same experimental environment for each of the above-mentioned ceramic materials. As obvious fromFIG. 5 , it is confirmed that the ceramic materials can reduce thewear amounts 50 times or more as compared to polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) which is a generally used retainer ring material. - The degree of fracture toughness is a problem in the manufacture of the retainer ring. This is because if the retainer ring is manufactured by the use of a material having a fracture toughness of less than 4 MPa·m1/2, the retainer ring may break due to insufficient pressure during the CIP formation or may break from a slight crack or the like occurring during mechanical processing for forming the grooves in the primary process.
- In contrast, when a material having a fracture toughness of 4 MPa·m1/2 or more is used to manufacture the retainer ring by the CIP formation method, it was confirmed that the retainer ring can be satisfactorily manufactured without breakage or the like.
- In CMP, the polishing
head 3 and thepolishing pad 8 are relatively rotated to flatten the surface of the semiconductor wafer W. Therefore, force from thepolishing pad 8 is applied to theretainer ring 11 as indicated by the arrow AR1 inFIG. 6 , and force which causes the semiconductor wafer W to protrude to the outside of the polishinghead 3 as indicated by the arrow AR2 inFIG. 6 is also repeatedly applied to theretainer ring 11 for every polishing. As a result of the repetition of such impacts in a lateral direction (a direction level with the surface of thepolishing pad 8 facing a processing surface of the semiconductor wafer W), the inner surface of theretainer ring 11 may be chipped as indicated by the sign CP1 inFIG. 6 . - In an initial state of use of the
retainer ring 11, rebounds from thepolishing pad 8 equally occur inside and outside theretainer ring 11 as shown inFIG. 7 . However, if a chip CP1 occurs in the inner surface of theretainer ring 11, wear progresses from the crack, and partial wear progresses accordingly. The progress of the partial wear affects the state of a rebound from the polishing pad. For example, as shown inFIG. 8 , rebounds from thepolishing pad 8 concentrate inside theretainer ring 11, and a polishing rate is enhanced at a wafer edge, thus resulting in a wafer edge excessive polishing state. - An example of this wafer edge excessive polishing state is shown in a graph of
FIG. 9 . It is obvious fromFIG. 9 that in the region of a wafer edge, due to the repetition of the polishing process, the polishing rate after the partial wear has progressed is significantly higher than the polishing rate in the initial state. -
FIG. 10 is an example of a graph showing the relation between the fracture toughness of the retainer ring and the incidence of chipping. FromFIG. 10 it is confirmed that the incidence of chipping is 0 when the fracture toughness is 4 MPa·m1/2 or more. - The
retainer ring 11 according to the present embodiment has a fracture toughness of 4 MPa·m1/2 or more, thus chipping in the inner surface of theretainer ring 11 is inhibited. Consequently, the occurrence of the partial wear can be inhibited. - Meanwhile, the impact by the (lateral) force during polishing which causes the semiconductor wafer W to protrude to the outside of the polishing
head 3 is not only applied to theretainer ring 11 but also applied to the side of the semiconductor wafer W, and stress is repeatedly generated by collision between the semiconductor wafer W and theretainer ring 11. Therefore, if aretainer ring 11 manufactured by the use of a hard material is used, a chip CP2 may occur in the side surface of the semiconductor wafer W by receiving repetitive stress in the direction of the arrow AR3, as shown inFIG. 11 . - One index that indicates the hardness (the degree of the elastic modulus) of a material is the Young's modulus (the physicality value [GPa] that indicates the difficulty of deformation). Stronger impact is applied to the semiconductor wafer W in the case of materials that are less deformable, so that the degree of the impact applied to the semiconductor wafer W can be judged by the degree of the Young's modulus of the
retainer ring 11. -
FIG. 12 is an example of a graph showing the relation between the Young's modulus of theretainer ring 11 and the incidence of chipping in the semiconductor wafer W. FromFIG. 12 it is confirmed that desired buffering effect required to inhibit the chipping in the semiconductor wafer W can be obtained if the Young's modulus of theretainer ring 11 is 400 GPa or less. - The fracture toughness and Young's modulus of respective selectable ceramic materials are shown in a table of
FIG. 13 . As obvious fromFIG. 13 , it is possible to manufacture aretainer ring 11 having a fracture toughness of 4 MPa·m1/2 or more and a Young's modulus is 400 GPa or less by the use of SiN. However, the material is not limited to SIN, and it is also possible to manufacture a retainer ring having desired physicality by selecting purity and the kind of binder or by combining the ceramic materials when, for example, other ceramic materials shown inFIG. 13 are used. - The retainer ring according to at least one embodiment described above includes the ceramic material, so that the progress of wear can be inhibited.
- In addition, the retainer ring according to at least one embodiment described above has a fracture toughness of 4 MPa·m1/2 or more, so that the progress of partial wear can be inhibited.
- Furthermore, the retainer ring according to at least one embodiment described above has a Young's modulus is 400 GPa or less, so that it is possible to prevent the polishing object from being damaged.
- The polishing
apparatus 1 according to at least one embodiment described above includes the retainer ring including the ceramic material, so that the frequency of the replacement of the retainer ring decreases, the throughput of the polishing process improves, and the polishing object can be thus polished at low cost. - In addition, the polishing
apparatus 1 according to at least one embodiment described above includes the retainer ring having a fracture toughness of 4 MPa·m1/2 or more, so that the polishing object can be polished without uneven polishing and without the chipping in the retainer ring. - Furthermore, the polishing
apparatus 1 according to at least one embodiment described above includes the retainer ring having a Young's modulus of 400 GPa or less, so that it is possible to inhibit the polishing object from being damaged. - Next, a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device according to one embodiment is described. The manufacturing method according to the present embodiment includes a polishing process using the
polishing apparatus 1 shown inFIG. 1 . - First, a semiconductor wafer W in which an insulating film, a metallic film, a polycrystalline silicon film, and others are formed by, for example, patterning is prepared.
- The semiconductor wafer W is then brought into contact with the
polishing pad 8 in such a manner that the polishing surface of the semiconductor wafer W faces thepolishing pad 8 while the semiconductor wafer W is held by the polishinghead 3. - The polishing table is then rotated, for example, in the direction of the arrow AR10 in
FIG. 1 while a polishing solution such as slurry, pure water, and a cleaning solution are respectively supplied onto thepolishing pad 8 at predetermined flow volumes via the polishingsolution supply opening 5, the purewater supply opening 6, and the cleaningsolution supply opening 7. Moreover, while the semiconductor wafer W is held by theretainer ring 11, the semiconductor wafer W is pressed to thepolishing pad 8 by thehead body 10 and themembrane 12 and at the same time rotated, for example, in the direction of the arrow AR20 inFIG. 1 , Thus, polishing targets such as the silicon film, the metallic film, and the insulating film formed on the semiconductor wafer W are polished by the relative rotation of thepolishing pad 8 and the semiconductor wafer W. A semiconductor device is manufactured on the semiconductor wafer W by the repetition of the film formation process and the polishing process. - During polishing, the surface part of the semiconductor wafer W is returned to the initial state before polishing by the
diamond dresser 4 in order to prevent the surface part of thepolishing pad 8 from being worn or being clogged with abrasive grains included in an abrasive due to the polishing of the semiconductor wafer W. - The
polishing pad 8 and the polishinghead 3 are preferably rotated and driven together, from the perspective of eliminating the unevenness of the polishing amount of the semiconductor wafer W. When these portions are rotated and driven, the rotation direction of thepolishing pad 8 and the rotation direction of the polishinghead 3 are preferably the same as shown inFIG. 1 . Although both thepolishing pad 8 and the polishinghead 3 respectively rotate in the directions of the arrows AR10 and AR20 in the case shown inFIG. 1 , it should be understood that these portions do not exclusively rotate in this direction, and may rotate in directions opposite to the above directions. - According to the manufacturing method of the semiconductor device in at least one embodiment described above, the substrate is polished by the use of the
polishing apparatus 1 provided with theretainer ring 11 including the ceramic material, so that the costs of consumable materials are reduced, and the manufacturing costs of the semiconductor device can be reduced. - In addition, according to the manufacturing method of the semiconductor device in at least one embodiment described above, the substrate is polished by the use of the
polishing apparatus 1 provided with theretainer ring 11 having a fracture toughness of 4 MPa·m1/2 or more, so that it is possible to prevent the excessive polishing of a substrate edge region resulting from the partial wear of the retainer ring. Consequently, the substrate can be accurately polished, so that it is possible to improve the yield of the semiconductor device. - Furthermore, according to the manufacturing method of the semiconductor device in at least one embodiment described above, the substrate is polished by the use of the
polishing apparatus 1 provided with theretainer ring 11 having a, Young's modulus of 400 GPa or less, so that it is possible to prevent the substrate from being chipped, and improve the yield of the semiconductor device. - While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to emit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions, The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
Claims (9)
1. A retainer ring comprising:
a ceramic material, the fracture toughness of the ceramic material being 4 MPa·m1/2 or more.
2. The retainer ring of claim 1 ,
wherein the Young's modulus of the ceramic material is 400 GPa or less.
3. The retainer ring of claim 1 ,
wherein the ceramic material comprises at least one of substances selected from the group consisting of zirconia (ZrO2), alumina (Al2O3), silicon carbide (SiC), silicon nitride (SiN), yttria (Y2O3), and cordierite (2MgO·2Al2O3·5SiO2).
4. A polishing apparatus comprising:
a polishing table; and
a polishing head with a retainer ring attached to a surface of the polishing head facing the polishing table,
wherein the retainer ring comprises a ceramic material, and
the fracture toughness of the ceramic material is 4 MPa,m1/2 or more.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 ,
wherein the Young's modulus of the ceramic material is 400 GPa or less.
6. The apparatus of claim 4 ,
wherein the ceramic material comprises at least one of substances selected from the group consisting of zirconia (ZrO2), alumina (Al2O3), silicon carbide (SiC), silicon nitride (SiN), yttria (Y2O3), and cordierite (2MgO·2Al2O35SiO2).
7. A manufacturing method of a semiconductor device, the method comprising
rotating a polishing table to which a polishing pad is attached, and rotating a substrate held by a retainer ring attached to a polishing head while pressing the substrate to the polishing pad, thereby polishing the substrate,
wherein the retainer ring comprises a ceramic material, and
the fracture toughness of the ceramic material is 4 MPa·m1/2 or more.
8. The apparatus of claim 4 ,
wherein the Young's modulus of the ceramic material is 400 GPa or less.
9. The apparatus of claim 4 ,
wherein the ceramic material comprises at least one of substances selected from the group consisting of zirconia (ZrO2), alumina (Al2O3), silicon carbide (SiC), silicon nitride (SiN), yttria (Y2O3), and cordierite (2MgO·2Al2O3·5SiO2).
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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JP2015020854A JP2016140970A (en) | 2015-02-05 | 2015-02-05 | Retainer ring, polishing device, and semiconductor device manufacturing method |
JP2015-020854 | 2015-09-18 |
Publications (1)
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US20160229026A1 true US20160229026A1 (en) | 2016-08-11 |
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Family Applications (1)
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US14/848,897 Abandoned US20160229026A1 (en) | 2015-02-05 | 2015-09-09 | Retainer ring, polishing apparatus, and manufacturing method of semiconductor device |
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US (1) | US20160229026A1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP2016140970A (en) |
Cited By (1)
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US20190283209A1 (en) * | 2018-03-13 | 2019-09-19 | Applied Materials, Inc. | Consumable Part Monitoring in Chemical Mechanical Polisher |
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US6468136B1 (en) * | 2000-06-30 | 2002-10-22 | Applied Materials, Inc. | Tungsten CMP with improved alignment mark integrity, reduced edge residue, and reduced retainer ring notching |
US20070224864A1 (en) * | 2005-05-24 | 2007-09-27 | John Burns | CMP retaining ring |
US20140154956A1 (en) * | 2012-11-30 | 2014-06-05 | Ehwa Diamond Industrial Co., Ltd. | Pad Conditioning and Wafer Retaining Ring and Manufacturing Method Thereof |
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JPH08187657A (en) * | 1994-11-04 | 1996-07-23 | Sumitomo Metal Ind Ltd | Polishing device for plate-shaped member |
JP2001096458A (en) * | 1999-09-29 | 2001-04-10 | Kyocera Corp | Head for polishing device |
JP2003039306A (en) * | 2001-07-27 | 2003-02-13 | Tokyo Seimitsu Co Ltd | Wafer polishing device |
JP2003212652A (en) * | 2002-01-18 | 2003-07-30 | Ngk Spark Plug Co Ltd | Zirconia sintered compact manufacturing method and zirconia sintered compact |
JP2004292588A (en) * | 2003-03-26 | 2004-10-21 | Kyocera Corp | Afterglow-natured zirconia ceramic and method for producing the same |
JP5100201B2 (en) * | 2007-05-16 | 2012-12-19 | 株式会社東芝 | Silicon nitride sintered body and sliding member using the same |
JP5989602B2 (en) * | 2013-05-29 | 2016-09-07 | 日本特殊陶業株式会社 | Silicon nitride sintered body, manufacturing method thereof, and rolling element for bearing |
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2015
- 2015-02-05 JP JP2015020854A patent/JP2016140970A/en active Pending
- 2015-09-09 US US14/848,897 patent/US20160229026A1/en not_active Abandoned
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US6468136B1 (en) * | 2000-06-30 | 2002-10-22 | Applied Materials, Inc. | Tungsten CMP with improved alignment mark integrity, reduced edge residue, and reduced retainer ring notching |
US20070224864A1 (en) * | 2005-05-24 | 2007-09-27 | John Burns | CMP retaining ring |
US20140154956A1 (en) * | 2012-11-30 | 2014-06-05 | Ehwa Diamond Industrial Co., Ltd. | Pad Conditioning and Wafer Retaining Ring and Manufacturing Method Thereof |
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US20190283209A1 (en) * | 2018-03-13 | 2019-09-19 | Applied Materials, Inc. | Consumable Part Monitoring in Chemical Mechanical Polisher |
US11571786B2 (en) * | 2018-03-13 | 2023-02-07 | Applied Materials, Inc. | Consumable part monitoring in chemical mechanical polisher |
US11931860B2 (en) | 2018-03-13 | 2024-03-19 | Applied Materials, Inc. | Consumable part monitoring in chemical mechanical polisher |
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JP2016140970A (en) | 2016-08-08 |
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