Essential aspects of chemical mechanical planarization for oxide semiconductor

Chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) has emerged recently as a new indis pensable processing technique for higher degree of planarization in submicr on multilevel VLSI. The urgent demand from industry has been answered by ex tensive empirical approach, while analytical models for the process are har dly proportionally matched. The fundamental aspects of the material removal , kinematic manipulation and in-situ monitoring are essential for the advan cement of this key technology for semiconductor material. The current paper critically reviews the existing material removal theories with the emphasi s on the new bear-and-shear model. Modification of the classical Preston eq uation is derived. The effects of the kinematic parameters in CMP are thoro ughly investigated. The analytical results well explain the industry practi ce of the process recipe. The in-situ monitoring is vital for volume produc tion of high value-added semiconductor manufacturing. The summary of availa ble technology is provided and a novel concept for endpoint detection is de monstrated.