In-Situ Optical Monitoring of Electrochemical Copper Deposition Process for Semiconductor Interconnection Technology

An in-situ optical monitoring method for real-time process monitoring of electrochemical copper deposition (CED) is presented. Process variables to be controlled in achieving desired process results are numerous in the CED process, and the importance of the chemical bath conditions cannot be overemphasized for a successful process. Conventional monitoring of the chemical solution for CED relies on the pH value of the solution, electrical voltage level for the reduction of metal cations, and gravity measurement by immersing sensors into a plating bath. We propose a nonintrusive optical monitoring technique using three types of optical sensors such as chromatic sensors and UV/VIS spectroscopy sensors as potential candidates as a feasible optical monitoring method. By monitoring the color of the plating solution in the bath, we revealed that optically acquired information is strongly related to the thickness of the deposited copper on the wafers, and that the chromatic information is inversely proportional to the ratio of Cu (111) and {Cu (111)+ Cu (200)}, which can used to measure the quality of the chemical solution for electrochemical copper deposition in advanced interconnection technology.