EP0708160A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Chemical mechanical polishing slurry for metal layers
Assignee: CMC Materials LLC
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Filing: 1995-10-03
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Granted: —
•
Expires: 2015-10-03
Abstract
Abstract A slurry for use in chemical-mechanical polishing of a metal layer comprising high purity fine metal oxide particles uniformly dispersed in a stable aqueous medium.
Inventors
- 👤 David J. Fluch
- 👤 Cheng-Hung Hung
- 👤 Michael A. Lucarelli
- 👤 Matthew Neville
- 👤 Debra Lynn Scherber
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 16:19
CPC Classifications
B; B24; B24D; B24D3/00; C; C23; C23F; C23F3/00; C09; C09G; C09G1/00; C09G1/02; C09K; C09K3/00; C09K3/14; C09K3/1436; C09K3/1454; C09K3/1463; H; H10; H10P; H10P52/00; H10P52/40; H10P52/403
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 54
Claim 1
Independent Claim
75 words
A chemical-mechanical polishing slurry for polishing a metal layer comprising: high purity, fine metal oxide particles uniformly dispersed in an aqueous medium having a surface area ranging from about 40 m/g to about 430 m/g, an aggregate size distribution less than about 1.0 micron, a mean aggregate diameter less than about 0.4 micron and a force sufficient to repel and overcome the van der Waals forces between the particles, wherein said slurry is colloidally stable.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
21 words
The slurry of claim 1 wherein said particles are present in a range between about 0.5 % and 55% by weight.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
10 words
The slurry of claim 1 wherein said particles comprise alumina.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
32 words
The slurry of claim 3 wherein said particles have a surface area less than about 70 m/g and are present in said slurry in a range less than about 7% by weight.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
36 words
The slurry of claim 3 wherein said particles have a surface area ranging between about 70 m/g to about 170 m/g and are present within said slurry in a range less than about 12% by weight.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
19 words
The slurry of claims 3, 4 or 5 wherein said alumina is a precipitated alumina or a fumed alumina.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
11 words
The slurry of claim 1 wherein said particles comprise fumed silica.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
37 words
The slurry of claim 7 wherein said particles have a surface area ranging between about 40 m/g to about 250 m/g and are present within said slurry in a range from about .5% to 20% by weight.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
18 words
The slurry of claim 1 wherein said particles have a maximum zeta potential greater than about ±10 millivolts.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
13 words
The slurry of claim 1 wherein said slurry further comprises an oxidizing component.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
14 words
The slurry of claim 10 wherein said oxidizing component is an oxidizing metal salt.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
14 words
The slurry of claim 10 wherein said oxidizing component is an oxidizing metal complex.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
39 words
The slurry of claim 10 wherein said oxidizing component is selected from the group consisting of: iron salts, aluminum salts, sodium salts, potassium salts, ammonium salts, quaternary ammonium salts, phosphonium salts, peroxides, chlorates, perchlorates, permanganates, persulfates and mixtures thereof.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
12 words
The slurry of claim 1 wherein said slurry further comprises a surfactant.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
26 words
The slurry of claim 14 wherein the surfactant is selected from the group consisting of: nonionic surfactants, anionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants and mixtures thereof.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
26 words
The slurry of claim 14 wherein said surfactant is selected from the group consisting of: polyalkyl siloxanes, polyaryl siloxanes, polyoxyalkylene ethers, and mixtures and copolymers thereof.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
105 words
A method for chemical-mechanical polishing a metal layer of a substrate, the method which comprises the steps of: a) providing a chemical mechanical polishing slurry comprising high purity, fine metal oxide particles uniformly dispersed in an aqueous medium having a surface area ranging from about 40 m/g to about 430 m/g, an aggregate size distribution less than about 1.0 micron, a mean particle diameter less than about 0.4 micron and a force sufficient to repel and overcome the van der Waals forces between the particles, wherein said slurry is stable; and b) chemical mechanical polishing a metal layer on a semiconductor substrate with said slurry.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 17 wherein said metal layer is selected from the group consisting of: tungsten, aluminum, copper, titanium, and alloys thereof.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
11 words
The method of claim 18 wherein said metal layer is tungsten.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 19 wherein said tungsten layer further comprising at least one underlayer selected from the group consisting of: titanium, titanium nitride and titanium tungsten and mixtures thereof.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 17 wherein said particles are present in a range between about 0.5 % and 55 % by weight.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
10 words
The method of claim 17 wherein said particles comprise alumina.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 22 wherein said particles have a surface area less than about 70 m2/g and are present in said slurry in a range less than about 7% by weight.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 22 wherein said particles have a surface area ranging between about 70 m/g to about 170 m/g and are present within said slurry in a range less than about 12% by weight.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
19 words
The method of claims 22, 23 or 24 wherein said alumina is a precipitated alumina or a fumed alumina.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
11 words
The method of claim 17 wherein said particles comprise fumed silica.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 26 wherein said particles have a surface area ranging between about 40 m/g to about 250 m/g and are present within said slurry in a range from about .5% to 20 % by weight.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 17 wherein said particles have a maximum zeta potential greater than about ±10 millivolts.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 17 wherein said slurry further comprises an oxidizing component.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 29 wherein said oxidizing component is an oxidizing metal salt.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 29 wherein said oxidizing component is an oxidizing metal complex.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of claim 29 wherein said oxidizing component is selected from the group consisting of: iron salts, aluminum salts, sodium salts, potassium salts, ammonium salts, quaternary ammonium salts, phosphonium salts, peroxides, chlorates, perchlorates, permanganates, persulfates and mixtures thereof.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 17 wherein said slurry further comprises a surfactant.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 33 wherein the surfactant is selected from the group consisting of nonionic surfactants, anionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants and mixtures thereof.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 33 wherein said surfactant is selected from the group consisting of: polyalkyl siloxanes, polyaryl siloxanes, polyoxyalkylene ethers, and mixtures and copolymers thereof.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 17 wherein between 500KÅ and 10,000KÅ of the tungsten layer is removed during step (b).
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
79 words
A chemical-mechanical polishing slurry for polishing a metal layer comprising high purity, fine metal oxide particles uniformly dispersed in an aqueous medium having a surface area ranging from about 40 m/g to about 430 m2/g, an aggregate size distribution less than about 1.0 micron, a mean aggregate diameter less than about 0.4 micron and a force sufficient to repel and overcome the van der Waals forces between the particles and an oxidizing component, wherein said slurry is colloidally stable.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
20 words
The slurry of claim 37 wherein said particles are present in a range between about 0.5% and 55% by weight.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
10 words
The slurry of claim 37 wherein said particles comprise alumina.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
32 words
The slurry of claim 39 wherein said particles have a surface area less than about 70 m/g and are present in said slurry in a range less than about 7% by weight.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
36 words
The slurry of claim 39 wherein said particles have a surface area ranging between about 70 m/g to about 170 m/g and are present within said slurry in a range less than about 12% by weight.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
19 words
The slurry of claims 39, 40 or 41 wherein said alumina is a precipitated alumina or a fumed alumina.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
11 words
The slurry of claim 37 wherein said particles comprise fumed silica.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
37 words
The slurry of claim 43 wherein said particles have a surface area ranging between about 40 m/g to about 250 m/g and are present within said slurry in a range from about .5% to 20% by weight.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
18 words
The slurry of claim 37 wherein said particles have a maximum zeta potential greater than about ±10 millivolts.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
14 words
The slurry of claim 37 wherein said oxidizing component is an oxidizing metal salt.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
14 words
The slurry of claim 37 wherein said oxidizing component is an oxidizing metal complex.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
39 words
The slurry of claim 37 wherein said oxidizing component is selected from the group consisting of: iron salts, aluminum salts, sodium salts, potassium salts, ammonium salts, quaternary ammonium salts, phosphonium salts, peroxides, chlorates, perchlorates, permanganates, persulfates and mixture thereof.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
31 words
The slurry of claim 37 wherein said slurry further comprises an additive in an amount sufficient to prevent decomposition of the oxidizing component and maintain the colloidal stability of the slurry.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
11 words
The slurry of claim 49 wherein said additive is a surfactant.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
26 words
The slurry of claim 49 wherein the surfactant is selected from the group consisting of nonionic surfactants, anionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants and mixtures thereof.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
26 words
The slurry of claim 50 wherein said surfactant is selected from the group consisting of: polyalkyl siloxanes, polyaryl siloxanes, polyoxyalkylene ethers, and mixtures and copolymers thereof.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
20 words
The slurry of claim 37 wherein said metal oxide particle is fumed silica and said oxidizing component is iron nitrate.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
26 words
The slurry of claim 37 wherein said metal oxide particle is fumed alumina comprising at least 50% gamma phase and said oxidizing component is iron nitrate.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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