Chemical-mechanical polishing of low-dielectric-constant spin-on-glasses: film chemistries, slurry formulation and polish selectivity

Alkyl siloxane-based low-dielectric-constant (low-k) spin-on-glass (SOG) thin films with varying amounts of organic content were subjected to polishing experiments using silica-and ZrO2-based slurries with a variety of additives, As the amount of organic content in SOG increases, the chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) removal rate decreases with silica-based potassium hydroxide-added slurry. On the other hand, zirconia-based slurry resulted in higher removal rates for both SOG (>400 nm/min) and thermal oxide and an adjustment in polish selectivity (related to thermal oxide) ranging from 1.2 to 9.1 can be achieved by adding various amounts of tetra-alkyl substituted ammonium hydroxide. Post-CMP materials characterization by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) shows the chemical stability and CMP compatibility of SOG thin films. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.