Apr 12 2013
Vantage Technology today announced that major IC production facilities are seeking more slurry analysis data during wafer processing to correlate large particle counts (LPCs) with damaging wafer scratches.
The company confirmed that managers responsible for nanometer-node wafer processing are now looking to both CMP and slurry delivery system (SDS) vendors to integrate advanced slurry metrology tools into their products.
“Maintaining high yields while keeping up with process shrinks poses many challenges, not the least of which is managing the delivery and quality of various slurry recipes used during wafer polishing,” said Paul Magliocco, Vantage CEO. “To minimize wafer scratches caused by LPCs, production strength slurry must be continuously analyzed so that timely corrective actions can be taken before defects occur.”
Magliocco confirmed that the SlurryScope data being generated at IC fabs around the globe has elevated the dialogue between process and materials teams. “While our metrology tool is enabling improvements in both slurry delivery and polished wafer quality across multiple recipes, the importance of slurry analysis at more points is becoming critical.” He cautioned that even when slurry is judged to be of good quality upon leaving the sub-fab supply tank, continuous pumping to multiple CMP processing points (via the global loop) can create harmful slurry agglomerations.
As demand for slurry analysis data grows, Vantage continues to demonstrate the unrivaled effectiveness of its metrology tool to detect LPC changes that correlate with wafer scratching at customer facilities. Customers working with Vantage on slurry data collection are working on the Ebara CMP systems platform; all parties are collaborating to analyze the data.
Source: http://www.vantagetechcorp.com