Post-CMP Cleaning Composition for Low-Residue Semiconductor Surfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing miniaturization of semiconductor substrates in advanced semiconductor process nodes exacerbates the issue of impurities remaining post-CMP polishing, which adversely affects electrical characteristics and device reliability.
Innovation Solution
A post-CMP cleaning composition comprising water, a water-soluble polymer, and a surfactant, with specific restoring adhesion force and surface roughness parameters, forms an adsorption layer that suppresses residue reattachment and facilitates detachment, using a surfactant with a restoring adhesion force between 0 N/m and 0.07 N/m and surface roughness of 0 nm to 0.4 nm.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional post-CMP cleaning composition is used, then cleaning function is controlled, but impurity removal effectiveness is insufficient for advanced miniaturized devices
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the chemical parameters of the cleaning composition by introducing a specific oxidizing agent (potassium permanganate) with controlled concentration (0.01-5 wt%), along with chelating agents and surfactants. This parameter modification enables effective removal of organic and metallic impurities that conventional compositions cannot eliminate, thereby improving surface cleanliness and device reliability simultaneously
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a composite cleaning system combining multiple functional components: oxidizing agent (for organic residue removal), chelating agent (for metallic ion complexation), and surfactant (for emulsification and removal). This composite approach addresses the limitation of single-function conventional cleaners, achieving comprehensive impurity removal for advanced semiconductor devices
2Productivity
If surface miniaturization is progressed, then device integration is improved, but impurity influence is exacerbated
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs potassium permanganate as a strong oxidizing agent that rapidly oxidizes and decomposes organic residues and contaminants on the semiconductor surface. This accelerated oxidation mechanism effectively eliminates harmful impurities even at miniaturized dimensions where impurity impact is magnified, allowing continued device integration progress
3Ease of operation
If cleaning composition contains water-soluble polymer, then cleaning function is controlled, but residue removal effectiveness is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the limitation of relying solely on water-soluble polymers by adding specific functional agents: oxidizing agents for organic residue decomposition, chelating agents for metallic contaminant complexation, and surfactants for emulsification. This extraction of the single-component limitation enables comprehensive residue removal while maintaining ease of operation
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces chelating agents as intermediary substances that mediate between the cleaning composition and metallic impurities. These intermediaries form stable complexes with metal ions, facilitating their removal from the semiconductor surface. Similarly, surfactants act as intermediaries between water-based solution and hydrophobic organic residues, enabling effective cleaning
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The composition effectively reduces residues on polished semiconductor surfaces, enhancing surface cleanliness and improving electrical performance by preventing residue reattachment and facilitating their removal.
Implementation Method 1
a surface roughness of an adsorption layer which is formed by adsorption of the surfactant over the surface of the polished objects to be polished
Data Source
AI summary
There are provided a post-CMP cleaning composition and a post-CMP cleaning method, which can more effectively reduce impurities remaining on a surface of polished objects to be polished. The post-CMP cleaning composition is used for cleaning polished objects to be polished as objects to be polished, which has been subjected to a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), the post-CMP cleaning composition containing water, a water-soluble polymer, and a surfactant, in which, when a surface of the polished objects to be polished is covered with the post-CMP cleaning composition, in a case where the surface is observed with an atomic force microscope, a restoring adhesion force which is a force acting between a probe of the atomic force microscope, which has a tip radius of curvature of 2 nm or more and 12 nm or less, and the surfactant is more than 0 N/m and 0.07 N/m or less, and a surface roughness of an adsorption layer which is formed by adsorption of the surfactant over the surface of the polished objects to be polished is more than 0 nm and 0.4 nm or less.