Development of intelligent pad and application to analysis of pressure distribution on polishing pad in CMP process

Abstract

Most of polishing conditions are not consistent during the polishing process such as pressure, velocity, temperature, pad surface asperity and slurry flow which determine the CMP performance. Traditionally, these parameters are detected by various monitoring methods on CMP polisher. This study introduces a new concept of intelligent pad system with multiple sensors and peripheral devices such as memory, CPU, battery, transmitter and so on. The main functions of the intelligent pad are sensing the change of major parameters and data processing in real-time during the polishing process. The developed intelligent pad has nine points of embedded pressure sensor and makes data processing, saving, and transmitting in real-time. Experimentally, the intelligent pad system was evaluated to understand carrier behavior and pressure distribution. Finally, the analysis of pressure distribution using the intelligent pad turned out a useful method to understand the polishing head behavior and the polishing profile.