Apparatus and method for fabricating semiconductor devices

Abstract

Disclosed is apparatus and method for fabricating semiconductor devices, in particular comprising a wafer chuck for holding a semiconductor wafer on which a predetermined thin layer is deposited; a processing chamber for injecting etching gas toward the wafer to form a predetermined pattern; and a clamp or a shadow ring provided on an edge of the wafer being held by the wafer chuck and preventing the edge from being etched, and thereby forming a protective step around the edge. Therefore, during a subsequent CMP process, the pattern adjacent to the edge of the wafer can be prevented from being over-polished, and reliability as well as productivity of the semiconductor devices can be improved.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the invention [0002] The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for fabricating semiconductor devices, and more particularly for forming a protective step which can prevent an edge of a semiconductor wafer from being over-polished during a chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) process. [0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art [0004] In general, a CMP process has been applied as a planarization process for insulation layers as well as a damascene process for metallic layers. [0005] The CMP process is employed in polishing a semiconductor wafer surface by using the friction between slurry and a pad, in which various consumables, such as slurry, a pad, a backing film, a diamond conditioner, etc., are used. The polishing property of this process is dependant upon pressure distribution between the pad and the wafer while the wafer is polished in close contact with the pad. [0006] When the amount of polishing on one surface of a bla...

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Benefits of technology

[0017] Another additional object of the present invention is to provide a method for fabricating semiconductor devices, in which during a CMP process after formation of a protective step on an edge of a semiconductor wafer, over-polishing, which results in a height difference between the edge and a pattern of the wafer, is prevented.

[0018] In order to accomplish these objects, according to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for fabricating semiconductor devices, comprising: a wafer chuck for holding a semiconductor wafer on which various thin layers has been deposited; a processing chamber for injecting etching gas toward the wafer to form a predetermined pattern; and a clamp, attached to an edge of the wafer being held by the wafer chuck, for preventing the edge from being etched.

[0019] According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for fabricating semiconductor devices, comprising: a wafer chuck for holding a semiconductor wafer on which various thin layers has been deposited; a processing chamber for injecting etching gas toward the wafer to form a predetermined pattern; and a shadow ring, provided in the chamber upwardly spaced apart from the wafer being held by the wafer chuck, for preventing the edge from being etched.

Problems solved by technology

However, there is a problem in that it is difficult to control the level of polishing resulting from a chip layout, a pattern density, a pattern height and so forth.

To avoid this problem, a dummy chip has been used, but it acts as a factor which decreases the yield of semiconductor devices.

However, the wafer may not only be contaminated by the non-rinsed photoresist during transporting of the wafer.

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