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Diamonex^® PHOENIX™ Conditioner Case Study In-situ Tungsten Conditioning on AMAT Mirra

Introduction:
Morgan Advanced Ceramics, Inc. – Diamonex Products division worked with a well-known European semiconductor fab to establish an in-situ Tungsten CMP process to replace their existing 0.16 micron ex-situ process on an Applied Materials Mirra CMP tool. The fab established process goals of removal rate of 3900 A/min. for a 60-sec. polish, improved (reduced) defectivity, and reduced cost of ownership.

Process Conditions:
An Applied Materials Mirra Mesa system was set up as follows: head speed of 93 rpm, accelerator set to 50 rpm/sec., down force of 5 psi, slurry flow of 120 ml/min., and qualification time of 60 sec. A Diamonex PHOENIX conditioner was used in-situ with a conditioner down force of 5 lbs. Two conditioners were tested for defectivity and conditioner life.

Results:
The results are summarized in the attached figures, in which open squares, triangles and diamonds are data points obtained with the first conditioner, and the solid symbols are data points obtained from the test with the second conditioner. 

Removal Rate & Uniformity. Both conditioners gave consistent removal rate (squares) and uniformity (triangles) performance within the upper and lower control limits. 

Defectivity. All defectivity results (diamonds) were well below the target values set by the customer. The one value above the target, but still below the upper control limit was caused by a process issue not related to the conditioner.

Lifetime. Conditioner life for this study was over forty (30) hours of in-situ conditioning. Since this initial study, the customer has reported conditioner life between 30-50 hours.

Conclusion:
The new Diamonex PHOENIX CMP conditioners gave excellent performance in in-situ Tungsten CMP on an AMAT Mirra Mesa tool. The conditioners met the customer’s requirements of material removal rate, uniformity and reduced defectivity. In addition, the 30-50 hour life of the PHOENIX conditioner in aggressive in-situ conditioning significantly exceeded the life of the competitor’s conditioner that lasted only about 12 hours with less aggressive ex-situ conditioning. As the result of the longer conditioner life and improved defectivity, this new process with the Diamonex PHOENIX conditioner drastically improved the overall cost of ownership for the customer’s Tungsten CMP process.