Proceedings Article | 13 March 2012
KEYWORDS: Chemical mechanical planarization, Deep ultraviolet, Reactive ion etching, Lithography, Semiconducting wafers, Photomasks, Back end of line, 193nm lithography, Immersion lithography, Etching
Process yield is a critical factor for a success of 300mm manufacturing. Typically, higher yield corresponds to lower
defect counts within the respective processing steps (lithography, etch, plating, and CMP). Within BEOL lithographic
processes, there are issues of defects within same lithographic technology and there are concerns of defects between the
generation of lithographic technologies, for example, immersion, 193nm "dry", and DUV (248nm). In order to have an
effective defect reduction strategy, defects have to be monitored, identified, and analyzed for points of origins. In this
paper, we explore three areas of interests in the BEOL: 1) defects occur between different processing steps, specifically,
after Immersion Lithography, after Reactive Ion Etch (RIE), and after Chemical Mechanical Polish (CMP), 2) defects
after CMP between lithographic technologies (Immersion, Dry, and DUV), and finally 3) defects between different
devices. We were able to find evidence of transferable processing defects.
