Patent ID: 7977241
Filing Date: 2011-07-12
Classification: B24B,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A method for fabricating highly reliable interconnects, comprising: processing a wafer in a chemical-mechanical polishing apparatus, the chemical-mechanical polishing apparatus including a head cleaning load and unload (HCLU) module, a robotic arm, and a wafer carrier head, wherein the HCLU module includes a padded surface for receiving the wafer during loading and unloading operations, the padded surface including a plurality of orifices disposed in a given arrangement, wherein the processed wafer includes at least one of (i) metal interconnect features and (ii) a processed inter-level dielectric, the metal interconnect features being susceptible to metal corrosion defects and the processed inter-level dielectric being susceptible to arcing defects; transferring the processed wafer from the wafer carrier head to the HCLU module, wherein said transferring includes using vacuum supplied to the HCLU module for pulling the wafer away from the wafer carrier head to the HCLU module; and transferring the processed wafer from the HCLU module to the robotic arm, wherein said transferring includes using a variable pressure input DI water through the orifices of the HCLU module to detach the processed wafer from the padded surface of the HCLU sufficient for the robotic arm to retrieve the processed wafer, and wherein the use of variable pressure input DI water through the orifices of the HCLU module minimizes a build-up of static charge and substantially eliminates an occurrence of metal corrosion defects and arcing defects in the processed wafer, wherein the HCLU module receives a regulated gas supply input, a vacuum input, and a DI water input, wherein each of the regulated gas supply input, the vacuum input, and the DI water input are selectively coupled to the plurality of orifices through a manifold, further wherein the variable pressure input DI water is regulated inline to provide a constant flow DI water to the plurality orifices at least during a polished wafer unloading from the HCLU to the robotic arm, and further wherein inline regulating of the variable pressure input DI water comprises sharing a regulated supply of DI water with the chemical-mechanical polishing process and further using a flow restrictor on the regulated supply of DI water, the flow restrictor configured to provide a given constant DI water flow, which is less than the regulated supply of DI water.