Alex Tregub

IC manufacturing is a sophisticated multistep process where parameters need to be monitored and controlled very tightly. Chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) is an important step in IC manufacturing that is required to achieve global and local planarity for subsequent lithography processes. CMP has been one of the fastest-growing segments of the semiconductor industry for the past 20 years.

The CMP process is highly critical for achieving sustainable yields in IC manufacturing. This area is also one of the most difficult to control. Quality issues in the CMP process are extremely expensive and can have a significant impact to device yields and reliability. Tight control of the parameters of CMP consumables is critical to achieve the target performance in IC manufacturing processes. As such, reducing the variations in CMP consumables properties through standardized metrology tools and processes has become a high priority for advanced IC manufacturing nodes.

In this presentation we will focus on measuring and reporting critical parameters for CMP pads hardness and porosity.