Granted Patent B2

US 7,829,464 · App. 11/551,390 · Granted Nov 9, 2010

Abstract

Claims (48)

1. A method of planarizing a semiconductor device including a substrate and first and second components provided on the surface of the substrate, the method comprising:

providing a gap filling material between and above the first and second components to cover upper surfaces of the first and second components, the first component having a height greater than a height of the second component with respect to the surface of the substrate;

performing a first polishing operation, with an oxide-based slurry, on the semiconductor device to remove the gap filling material and expose a top surface of the first component and to remove a portion of the gap filling material above a top surface of the second component without exposing the top surface of the second component;

selecting a polycrystalline silicon-based slurry based on a remaining amount of the top surfaces of the first and second components; and

performing a second polishing operation, with the polycrystalline silicon-based slurry, on the semiconductor device to remove a remaining portion of the gap filling material and expose the top surface of the second component and to remove a portion of the top surface of the first component to level the top surface of the first component with respect to the top surface of the second component;

where the oxide-based slurry is different than the polycrystalline silicon-based slurry.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

polishing the semiconductor device at a rate of less than or equal to about five-hundred Angstroms (Å) per minute using the polycrystalline silicon-based slurry.

3. The method of claim 1 , where the gap filling material comprises at least one of an oxide, a boro-phosphosilicate glass (BPSG) material, or a phosphosilicate glass (PSG) material.

4. The method of claim 1 , where performing the first polishing operation, with the oxide-based slurry, on the semiconductor device to remove the gap filling material above the top surface of the first component, further comprises:

providing a pad pressure for a polishing device ranging from about four pounds per square inch (psi) to about six psi.

5. The method of claim 4 , where performing the first polishing operation, with the oxide-based slurry, on the semiconductor device to remove the gap filling material above the top surface of the first component, further comprises:

providing a rotation rate for the polishing device ranging from about ninety revolutions per minute (rpm) to about one-hundred and twenty rpm.

6. The method of claim 1 , where performing the first polishing operation, with the oxide-based slurry, on the semiconductor device to remove the gap filling material above the top surface of the first component, further comprises:

providing a rotation rate for a polishing device ranging from about ninety revolutions per minute (rpm) to about one-hundred and twenty rpm.

7. The method of claim 1 , where performing the second polishing operation, with the polycrystalline silicon-based slurry, on the semiconductor device to remove the remaining portion of the gap filling material above the top surface of the second component, further comprises:

providing a pad pressure for a polishing device ranging from about 1.5 pounds per square inch (psi) to about four psi.

8. The method of claim 7 , where performing the second polishing operation, with the polycrystalline silicon-based slurry, on the semiconductor device to remove the remaining portion of the gap filling material above the top surface of the second component, further comprises:

providing a rotation rate for the polishing device ranging from about thirty revolutions per minute (rpm) to about ninety rpm.

9. The method of claim 1 , where performing the second polishing operation, with the polycrystalline silicon-based slurry, on the semiconductor device to remove the remaining portion of the gap filling material above the top surface of the second component, further comprises:

providing a rotation rate for a polishing device ranging from about thirty revolutions per minute (rpm) to about ninety rpm.

10. The method of claim 1 , where the second polishing operation planarizes the top surfaces of the first and second components, and comprises:

providing a pad pressure for a polishing device of about less than or equal to four pounds per square inch (psi).

11. The method of claim 10 , where the second polishing operation further comprises:

providing a rotation rate for the polishing device of about less than or equal to ninety revolutions per minute (rpm).

12. The method of claim 1 , where the second polishing operation planarizes the top surfaces of the first and second components, and comprises:

providing a rotation rate for a polishing device of about less than or equal to ninety revolutions per minute (rpm).

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

selecting a first polishing rate for the first polishing operation; and selecting a second polishing rate for the second polishing operation, where the selection of the first polishing rate is independent of the selection of the second polishing rate.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

adjusting at least one of the pad pressure or the rotation rate to planarize the top surfaces of the first and second components.

15. A method comprising:

providing first and second components on a substrate of a semiconductor device, where the first component has a height greater than a height of the second component with respect to a surface of the substrate;

providing a first material between and above the first and second components to cover upper surfaces of the first and second components;

performing a first polishing operation with an oxide type of slurry formulation, on the semiconductor device to remove the first material above a top surface of the first component, to remove the first material above a top surface of the second component, and to level the top surface of the first component;

selecting a polycrystalline silicon type of slurry formation based on a remaining amount of the top surfaces of the first and second components; and

performing a second polishing operation, with the polycrystalline silicon type of slurry formulation, on the semiconductor device to planarize the top surfaces of the first and second components, where the polycrystalline silicon type of slurry formulation is different than the oxide type of slurry formulation.

16. The method of claim 15 , where the first polishing operation comprises:

providing a pad pressure for a polishing device ranging from about four pounds per square inch (psi) to about six psi and a rotation rate ranging from about ninety revolutions per minute (rpm) to about one-hundred and twenty rpm to remove the first material above the top surface of the first component; and

providing a pad pressure for the polishing device ranging from about 1.5 psi to about four psi and a rotation rate ranging from about thirty rpm to about ninety rpm to remove the first material above the top surface of the second component and to level the top surface of the first component.

17. The method of claim 15 , where the second polishing operation comprises:

providing a pad pressure for the polishing device of less than or equal to about four pounds per square inch (psi); and

providing a rotation rate for the polishing device of less than or equal to about ninety revolutions per minute (rpm).

18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

forming the first component, the first component comprising a memory cell stack formed in a core area of a memory device; and

forming the second component in an area adjacent to the core area of the memory device.

19. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

adjusting at least one of the pad pressure or the rotation rate to optimize the removal of the first material above the top surface of the second component and the leveling of the top surface of the first component.

Assignments (10)