Comparison of Polishing Pad Characteristics in Copper-interconnect Chemical Mechanical Polishing of 300 mm Wafer

A systematic study of Cu CMP for 300mm wafer in terms of the effect of polishing pad properties on the process characteristics has been performed. The properties of IC1000/Suba-IV and IC1010 polishing pads (hardness, compressibility, porosity, roughness and groove) were investigated by scanning electron microscope and stylus profile. The results show that there were significantly differences in the properties of the IC1000/Suba-IV and IC1010 pads. The IC1000/Suba-IV and IC1010 polishing pads were compared with regard to the material removal rate, non-uniformity, dishing and erosion of the CMP process for 300 mm wafer. Polishing with the IC1010 pad, a higher material removal rate, better uniformity and worse dishing were achieved. No differences in the pad influence on the erosion have been found.