EP1167585A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Method and apparatus for forming interconnects, and polishing liquid and polishing method
Assignee: Ebara Corp
•
Filing: 2001-06-29
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Granted: —
•
Expires: 2021-06-29
Abstract
Abstract There are provided a method and apparatus for forming interconnects by embedding a metal such as copper (Cu) into recesses for interconnects formed on the surface of a substrate such as a semiconductor substrate. The method of the present invention includes the steps of: providing a substrate having fine recesses formed in the surface; subjecting the surface of the substrate to plating in a plating liquid; and subjecting the plated film formed on the surface of the substrate to electrolytic etching in an etching liquid.
Inventors
- 👤 Akihisa Hongo
- 👤 Naoki Matsuda
- 👤 Kanji Ohno
- 👤 Ryoichi Kimizuka
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-04 14:38
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10D; H10D64/00; H10D64/01; H10D64/011; H10W; H10W20/00; H10W20/01; H10W20/031; H10W20/032; H10W20/033; C; C25; C25F; C25F3/00; C25F3/02; C25F7/00; H05; H05K; H05K3/00; H05K3/10; H05K3/107; H10P; H10P14/00; H10P14/40; H10P14/46; H10P14/47; H10P50/00; H10P50/60; H10P50/66; H10P50/663; H10P50/667; H10P52/00; H10P52/40; H10P52/403; H10P95/00; H10P95/04; H10W20/037; H10W20/052; H10W20/0526; H10W20/062; H05K2201/00; H05K2201/03; H05K2201/0332; H05K2201/0364; H05K2201/0376; H05K2201/09; H05K2201/09009; H05K2201/09036; H05K3/02; H05K3/06; H05K3/07; H05K3/108
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim
44 words
A method for forming interconnects, comprising: providing a substrate having fine recesses formed in a
surface thereof; plating the surface of the substrate in a plating liquid;
and electrolytic etching the plated film formed on the
surface of the substrate in an etching liquid.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
77 words
The method according to claim 1, wherein the etching
liquid contains at least one additive selected from the group
consisting of an additive which forms a complex compound or an
organic complex with the metal of the plated film and an
additive which can lower the corrosion potential of the metal
of the plated film, and/ or wherein preferably a waveform of
current flowing in said electrolytic etching is a pulse
waveform or a PR pulse waveform.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
55 words
An apparatus for forming interconnects, comprising: a plating section for holding a plating liquid and
plating a surface of a substrate having fine recesses formed
in the surface thereof in the plating liquid; and an etching section for holding an etching liquid and
electrolytic etching the plated film formed on the surface of
the substrate.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
146 words
The apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein said
etching section includes: a substrate holder for holding a substrate with its
surface downward; a cathode plate immersed in said etching liquid and
located facing the lower surface of the substrate held by said
substrate holder; and a relative movement mechanism for allowing the substrate
held by said substrate holder and said cathode plate to move
relatively, and/ or further preferably
comprising; a plurality of grooves extending over the full length of
said cathode plate in the surface thereof; and a plurality of etching liquid feed holes formed in said
cathode plate for feeding the etching liquid to said grooves,
said plurality of etching liquid feed holes communicating with
said grooves, and/ or wherein preferably said
substrate holder is constructed to hold the substrate in a
vacuum attraction manner or in an electrostatic chucking
manner.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
64 words
An apparatus for forming interconnects by forming a
copper film on a surface of a substrate to fill copper into
fine recesses formed in the surface of the substrate,
comprising: a housing; a transport route provided in said housing for
transporting the substrate; and a copper-plating section, an electrolytic or chemical
polishing section, and an annealing section which are disposed
along said transport route.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
119 words
The apparatus according to any of the preceding claims further
comprising a cleaning section provided in said housing for
cleaning the substrate, and/ or wherein preferably at least
two of said electrolytic or chemical polishing sections are
provided for carrying out a first-stage electrolytic or
chemical polishing and a second-stage electrolytic or chemical
polishing, and/ or wherein preferably said
electrolytic or chemical polishing section includes: a substrate holder for holding a substrate with its
surface downward; a cathode plate immersed in a polishing liquid and
located facing the lower surface of the substrate held by said
substrate holder; and a relative movement mechanism for allowing the substrate
held by said substrate holder and said cathode plate to move
relatively.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
159 words
The apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein said
relative movement mechanism comprises a substrate-rotating
mechanism for rotating the substrate and a cathode plate-moving
mechanism for rotating, reciprocating, eccentrically
rotating said cathode plate, or making a scroll motion of said
cathode plate, and/ or further preferably
comprising: a plurality of grooves extending over the full length of
said cathode plate in the surface thereof; and a plurality of polishing liquid feed holes formed in said
cathode plate for feeding the polishing liquid to said grooves,
said plurality of polishing liquid feed holes communicating
with said grooves, and/ or wherein preferably said
cathode plate is composed of a material having a poor adhesion
to copper, and/ or further preferably
comprising a cap-plating treatment section for forming a
protective film which selectively covers and protects the
exposed surface of copper interconnects, and/ or wherein preferably said
cap-plating treatment section includes a Pd-attaching
treatment section and an electroless CoWP-plating section.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
95 words
A method for forming interconnects by forming a
copper film on a surface of a substrate to fill copper into
fine recesses formed in the surface of the substrate,
comprising: plating the substrate with copper to form the copper film
on the surface and to fill copper into the fine recesses of
the substrate; electrolytic or chemical polishing the surface of the
substrate having the copper film thereon in a polishing
liquid; and annealing the substrate in such a state that the copper
film remains on the entire surface of the substrate, after
said polishing.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
54 words
The method according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising
applying a CMP process to the surface of the substrate, after
said annealing, and/ or further preferably comprising
applying a cap-plating treatment to the substrate to
selectively cover the exposed surface of the copper
interconnects with a protective film, after said CMP process.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
79 words
A method for forming interconnects by forming a
copper film on a surface of a substrate to fill copper into
fine recesses formed in the surface of the substrate,
comprising: plating the substrate with copper to form the copper film
on the surface and to fill copper into the fine recesses of
the substrate; annealing the substrate having the copper film thereon;
and electrolytic or chemical polishing the surface of the
substrate in a polishing liquid, after said annealing.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
35 words
The method according no any of the preceding claims, further comprising
applying a cap-plating treatment to the substrate to
selectively cover the exposed surface of the copper
interconnects with a protective film, after said polishing.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
72 words
A polishing liquid for use in electrolytic or
chemical polishing of copper by immersing therein a substrate
having fine recesses in a surface thereof which are filled
with copper by forming copper film, comprising: at least one inorganic acid and/or an organic acid
capable of dissolving copper; and at least one viscosity-increasing agent selected from the
group consisting of polyhydric alcohols, high-molecular weight
polyhydric alcohols and alkylene glycol alkyl or aryl ethers.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
85 words
The polishing liquid according to any of the preceding claims, having a
viscosity of 10 cP (0.1 Pa · s) or more and a conductivity of
20 mS/cm or lower, and/ or further preferably
comprising an additive which can adhere to the surface of
copper and electrically and/or chemically suppress the
dissolution of copper, and/ or further preferably
comprising a basic liquid or an additive which forms a strong
complex with copper or promotes the formation of a passivated
film on the surface of copper.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
89 words
A method for polishing a substrate having fine
recesses in a surface thereof which are filled with copper by
forming copper film, comprising: electrolytic or chemical polishing the surface of the
substrate, where only copper is exposed thereon, in a
polishing liquid in which the dissolution of copper is
suppressed; and electrolytic or chemical polishing the surface of the
substrate, where only copper is exposed, or copper and a
conductive material other than copper are exposed, in a
polishing liquid in which the dissolution of copper is further
suppressed.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
104 words
The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein copper
remaining on the surface of said other conductive material is
removed by electrolytic or chemical polishing, and/ or wherein preferably said other
conductive material remaining on the surface of the substrate
is removed, and/ or wherein preferably said copper
and/or said other conductive material remaining on the surface
of the substrate is removed either by passivating only the
surface of said copper and preferentially electrolytic or
chemical polishing said other conductive material, or by
passivating the entire surface including said copper and said
other conductive material, and composite electrolytic
polishing said entire surface.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
50 words
An apparatus for forming interconnects by forming a
copper film on a surface of a substrate to fill copper into
fine recesses formed in the surface of the substrate,
comprising: a loading/unloading section; a copper-plating section; an electrolytic or chemical polishing section; and a transporting device for transporting the substrate.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
56 words
An apparatus for forming interconnects by forming a
copper film on a surface of a substrate to fill copper into
fine recesses formed in the surface of the substrate,
comprising: a loading/unloading section; a copper-plating section; an electrolytic or chemical polishing section; an annealing section; a cleaning section; and a transporting device for transporting the substrate.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
61 words
An apparatus for forming interconnects by forming a
copper film on a surface of a substrate to fill copper into
fine recesses formed in the surface of the substrate,
comprising: a loading/unloading section; a copper-plating section; an electrolytic or chemical polishing section; an annealing section; a cleaning section; a chemical mechanical polishing section; and a transporting device for transporting the substrate.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
57 words
An apparatus for forming interconnects by forming a
copper film on a surface of a substrate to fill copper into
fine recesses formed in the surface of the substrate,
comprising: a loading/unloading section; a copper-plating section; an electrolytic or chemical polishing section; an annealing section; a cap-plating treatment section; and a transporting device for transporting the substrate.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
20 words
The apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said
cleaning section also carries out drying of the substrate.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
61 words
An apparatus for forming interconnects by forming a
copper film on a surface of a substrate to fill copper into
fine recesses formed in the surface of the substrate,
comprising: a loading/unloading section; a copper-plating section; a first electrolytic or chemical polishing section; a second electrolytic or chemical polishing section; an annealing section; and a transporting device for transporting the substrate.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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