IP Library › Granted Patent US 7,323,416
Granted Patent B2
US 7,323,416 · App. 11/196,876 · Granted Jan 29, 2008

Method and composition for polishing a substrate

Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,323,416
App. No.
11/196,876
Granted
Jan 29, 2008
Kind
B2
Abstract

Polishing compositions and methods for removing conductive materials from a substrate surface are provided. In one aspect, a method is provided for processing a substrate to remove conductive material disposed over narrow feature definitions formed in a substrate at a higher removal rate than conductive material disposed over wide feature definitions formed in a substrate by an electrochemical mechanical polishing technique, and then polishing the substrate by at least a chemical mechanical polishing technique.

Claims (29)

1. A method of processing a substrate having a barrier material layer disposed over narrow feature definitions and wide feature definitions and the field areas between the feature definitions and a conductive material layer disposed on the barrier material layer, comprising:

forming a protrusion in residual conductive material disposed over wide feature definitions by a first electrochemical mechanical polishing process to remove bulk conductive material; and

removing the protrusion in the residual conductive material by at least a chemical mechanical polishing technique to expose the underlying barrier material layer on the field areas between the wide and the narrow feature definitions.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first electrochemical mechanical polishing process is performed on a first platen and the chemical mechanical polishing technique is performed on a second platen.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polishing the substrate by at least a chemical mechanical polishing process comprises a second electrochemical mechanical polishing process.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing at least a portion of the barrier material layer by at least a chemical mechanical polishing technique.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the removing the protrusion in the residual conductive material and removing at least a portion of the barrier material layer are performed using the same chemical mechanical polishing technique.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first electrochemical mechanical polishing process comprises a first composition having a first corrosion inhibitor concentration and the at least the chemical mechanical polishing technique comprises a second composition having a second corrosion inhibitor concentration less than the first corrosion inhibitor concentration.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first electrochemical mechanical polishing process comprises a first composition having a first pH level and the at least the chemical mechanical polishing technique comprises a second pH level more acidic than the first pH level.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first electrochemical mechanical polishing process comprises an abrasive containing composition and the at least the chemical mechanical polishing technique comprises an abrasive-free composition.

9. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first electrochemical mechanical polishing process comprises applying a pulse modulation first bias to form the protrusion and the second electrochemical mechanical polishing process comprises applying a second bias to form a protrusion.

10. The method of claim 3 , wherein the second electrochemical polishing process has a composition comprising:

an acid based electrolyte;

a polishing enhancing material selected from the group of a chelating agent, an inorganic or organic acid salt, or combinations thereof;

a corrosion inhibitor;

a solvent; and

a pH adjusting agent to provide a pH between about 3 and about 10.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing the barrier material layer by at least a chemical mechanical polishing technique.

12. A method of processing a substrate having a conductive material layer disposed thereon over narrow apertures and wide apertures, comprising:

removing conductive material disposed over narrow apertures at a higher removal rate than conductive material disposed over wide apertures by a first electrochemical mechanical polishing technique; and

removing conductive material disposed over wide apertures at a removal rate greater than or equal to the removal rate of conductive material disposed over narrow apertures by a second electrochemical mechanical polishing technique.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first electrochemical mechanical polishing technique comprises a first composition having a first concentration of corrosion inhibitor and the second electrochemical mechanical polishing technique comprises a second composition having a second concentration of corrosion inhibitor less than the first concentration of corrosion inhibitor.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first concentration of corrosion inhibitor comprises about 0.3 wt.% or greater of corrosion inhibitor and the second concentration of corrosion inhibitor comprises about less than about 0.3 wt.% of corrosion inhibitor.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first electrochemical mechanical polishing technique comprises a first composition having a first pH and the second electrochemical mechanical polishing technique comprises a second composition having a second pH more acidic than the first pH.

16. The method of claim 15 , the first electrochemical mechanical polishing technique comprises a first pulse modulation method and the second electrochemical mechanical polishing technique comprises applying bias by a second pulse modulation method.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first pulse modulation technique removes conductive material disposed over narrow apertures at a higher removal rate than conductive material disposed over wide apertures and the second pulse modulation technique removes conductive material disposed over narrow apertures at a lesser removal rate than conductive material disposed over wide apertures.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the pulse modulation technique forms a protrusion between 10% and about 60% of a thickness of the conductive material over the wide apertures.

19. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first electrochemical mechanical polishing process comprises an abrasive containing composition and the at least the chemical mechanical polishing technique comprises an abrasive-free composition.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the second electrochemical mechanical polishing technique and the removing the barrier material layer are performed on the same platen.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 20, 2005
From: LIU, FENG Q.; DU, TIANBAO; DUBOUST, ALAIN; WANG, YAN; HU, YONGQI; TSAI, STAN D.; CHEN, LIANG-YUH; TU, WEN-CHIANG; HSU, WEI-YUNG
To: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
Reel/Frame 016562/0245 →
Continuity (16)
Continuation In Part 1112327400 · May 5, 2005
Continuation In Part 1084575400 · May 14, 2004
Continuation In Part 1045622000 · Jun 6, 2003
Continuation In Part 1037809700 · Feb 26, 2003
Continuation In Part 1003806600 · Jan 3, 2002
Continuation In Part 1119687600
Continuation In Part 1107427400 · Mar 7, 2005
Continuation 1014145900 · May 7, 2002
Continuation In Part 1003227500 · Dec 21, 2001
Continuation In Part 1119687600
Continuation In Part 1060840400 · Jun 26, 2003
Continuation In Part 1003806600 · Jan 3, 2002
Continuation In Part 1003227500 · Dec 21, 2001
Provisional Application 6035974600 · Feb 26, 2002
Provisional Application 6027587400 · Mar 14, 2001
Related Publication 20060006074A1 · Jan 12, 2006