Thermal, Tribological, and Removal Rate Characteristics of Pad Conditioning in Copper CMP

High Pressure Micro Jet (HPMJ) pad conditioning system was investigated as an alternative to diamond disc conditioning in copper CMP. A series of comparative 50-wafer marathon runs were conducted at constant wafer pressure and sliding velocity using Rohm & Haas IC1000 and Asahi-Kasei EMD Corporation (UNIPAD) concentrically grooved pads under ex situ diamond conditioning or HPMJ conditioning. SEM images indicated that fibrous surface was restored using UNIPAD pads under both diamond and HPMJ conditioning. With IC1000 pads, asperities on the surface were significantly collapsed. This was believed to be due to differences in pad wear rates for the two conditioning methods. COF and removal rate were stable from wafer to wafer using both diamond and HPMJ conditioning when UNIPAD pads were used. Also, HPMJ conditioning showed higher COF and removal rate when compared to diamond conditioning for UNIPAD. On the other hand, COF and removal rates for IC1000 pads decreased significantly under HPMJ conditioning. Regardless of pad conditioning method adopted and the type of pad used, linear correlation was observed between temperature and COF, and removal rate and COF.