MXP- A NEW DIELECTRIC ETCHER WITH ENABLING TECHNOLOGY, HIGH PRODUCTIVITY, AND LOW COST-OF-CONSUMABLES( )

Dielectric etch accounts for more than half of all the dry etches used in integrated circuit (IC) fabrication. and plays a very important ro le in fulfilling strict requirements of volume-manufacturing of IC cir cuits whose feature size is progressively decreasing. The challenge of meeting volume manufacture requirements is what MxP+ has achieved thr ough a series of hardware and process innovations. By Pareto analysis of the wet clean time of the MxP chamber, we were able to define six m ajor drivers to address three key issues: (1) reduce wet clean time, ( 2) eliminate system complexity, and (3) achieve technical excellence. Key components of the MxP+ that allow us to address them include a qua rtz gas distribution plate which prevents the aluminum particle format ion, and the electrostatic chuck which eliminates the mechanical clamp system while reducing the particle contamination and wafer edge exclu sion. The unique chamber liners of the MxP+ not only shield chamber wa lls, but also provided a wide process window. Process characterization s have been done for contact, via, nitride, mask open and self-aligned contact etches, and results show that the etcher is capable of etchin g dielectric films of 0.35 mu m features of either high or low aspect ratios. Extended runs proved the process window of the chamber was ver y wide, the stability and the uniformity of the process were superior, and particle addition was very low. The etch rates of BPSG and TEOS a re about 7500 and 4700 Angstrom/m, respectively, when running at 1000 W; on MxP+. which is about 30% to 40% higher than that of Mx P. Also, through hardware and process innovations, no periodic dry cleans are n eeded for the MxP+ to maintain excellent particle performance, Further more, the cost-of-consumables is dramatically; reduced and the new des ign of process kits extends its lifetime by a factor of 2 for a much r educed cost. (C) 1996 American Vacuum Society.