Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US8137159?dq=6,712,702
Timestamp: 2017-12-12 22:17:48
Document Index: 118005402

Matched Legal Cases: ['§371', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 2001', 'Application No. 2001', 'Application No. 10', 'Application No. 10']

Patent US8137159 - Abrasive, method of polishing target member and process for producing ... - Google Patents
To polish polishing target surfaces of SiO2 insulating films or the like at a high rate without scratching the surface, the present invention provides an abrasive comprising a slurry comprising a medium and dispersed therein at least one of i) cerium oxide particles constituted of at least two crystallites...http://www.google.com/patents/US8137159?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US8137159 - Abrasive, method of polishing target member and process for producing semiconductor device
Publication number US8137159 B2
Application number US 13/217,447
Filing date Aug 25, 2011
Also published as CA2315057A1, CA2605696A1, CN1128195C, CN1282362A, CN1321166C, CN1480503A, CN1821339A, CN100567441C, CN101423747A, CN101423747B, EP1043379A1, EP1043379A4, US6343976, US7115021, US7871308, US7963825, US8162725, US8616936, US20020090895, US20060248804, US20070266642, US20080271383, US20110312251, US20120227331, WO1999031195A1
Publication number 13217447, 217447, US 8137159 B2, US 8137159B2, US-B2-8137159, US8137159 B2, US8137159B2
Inventors Masato Yoshida, Toranosuke Ashizawa, Hiroki Terazaki, Yuuto Ootuki, Yasushi Kurata, Jun Matsuzawa, Kiyohito Tanno
Patent Citations (70), Non-Patent Citations (19), Referenced by (1), Classifications (18), Legal Events (1)
Abrasive, method of polishing target member and process for producing semiconductor device
US 8137159 B2
1. A method of polishing a target member, comprising polishing said target member by the use of an abrasive comprising a slurry including a medium, a dispersant, and cerium oxide particles dispersed in said medium, wherein:
said medium includes water,
said dispersant includes an acrylic acid polymer, and
said cerium oxide particles include cerium oxide particles constituted of at least two crystallites and having crystal grain boundaries.
2. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein said cerium oxide particles constituted of at least two crystallites and having crystal grain boundaries have a property of polishing a target member while forming new surfaces of said cerium oxide particles not coming into contact with any of said medium.
3. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein said acrylic acid polymer is selected from the group consisting of a polymer of acrylic acid and ammonium salts thereof, a polymer of methacrylic acid and ammonium salts thereof, and a copolymer of ammonium polyacrylate with alkyl acrylate.
4. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein said slurry has a pH of from 7 to 10.
5. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein said slurry has a pH of from 8 to 9.
6. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein said cerium oxide particles constituted of at least two crystallites and having crystal grain boundaries have diameters with a middle value of from 60 nm to 1,500 nm.
7. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein said cerium oxide particles constituted of at least two crystallites and having crystal grain boundaries have diameters with a middle value of from 100 nm to 1,200 nm.
8. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein said cerium oxide particles constituted of at least two crystallites and having crystal grain boundaries have diameters with a middle value of from 300 nm to 1,000 nm.
9. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein cerium oxide particles with a diameter not smaller than 1 μm occupy at least 0.1% by weight of the total weight of the cerium oxide particles.
10. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein said cerium oxide particles constituted of at least two crystallites and having crystal grain boundaries have a maximum diameter not larger than 3,000 nm.
11. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein a content of cerium oxide particles having a particle diameter not smaller than 0.5 μm after polishing, measured by centrifugal sedimentation after a target member has been polished, is in a ratio of not less than 0.001 with respect to the content of that before polishing.
12. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein cerium oxide particle diameter at D99% by volume measured by laser diffraction after a target member has been polished is in a ratio of from 0.4 to 0.9 with respect to that particle diameter before polishing.
13. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein cerium oxide particle diameter at D90% by volume measured by laser diffraction after a target member has been polished is in a ratio of from 0.7 to 0.95 with respect to that particle diameter before polishing.
14. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein a content of cerium oxide particles having a particle diameter not smaller than 0.5 μm after polishing, measured by centrifugal sedimentation after a target member has been polished, is in a ratio of not more than 0.8 with respect to that content before polishing.
15. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein said crystallites have a maximum diameter not larger than 600 nm.
16. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein said crystallites have diameters with a middle value of from 5 nm to 250 nm.
17. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein said crystallites have diameters with a middle value of from 5 nm to 150 nm.
18. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein said crystallites have diameters with a middle value of from 50 nm to 200 nm.
19. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein said crystallites have diameters with a middle value of from 10 nm to 50 nm.
20. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein the cerium oxide particles are prepared by a process comprising firing cerium carbonate at a temperature of from 400° C. to 900° C. for 5 to 300 minutes.
21. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein the cerium oxide particles are prepared by a process comprising firing cerium carbonate at a temperature of from 400° C. to 900° C.
22. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein the cerium oxide particles are prepared by a process comprising firing cerium carbonate in an atmosphere of oxygen gas.
23. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein said acrylic acid polymer has a weight-average molecular weight of from 1,000 to 20,000.
24. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein content of the dispersant is 0.01 to 5 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the cerium oxide particles.
25. The method of polishing a target member according to claim 1, wherein the target member comprises a semiconductor wafer on which a silica film has been formed.
This application is a Divisional application of application Ser. No. 11/878,504, filed Jul. 25, 2007, which is a Divisional application of application Ser. No. 11/484,611, filed Jul. 12, 2006now U.S. Pat. No. 7,871,308, which is a Continuation Application of application Ser. No. 10/042,271, filed Jan. 11, 2002now U.S. Pat. No. 7,115,021, which is a Continuation Application of application Ser. No. 09/581,814, submitted on Jun. 19, 2000, and having a 371(c) date of Sep. 8, 2000 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,343,973. The contents of Ser. No. 09/581,814 are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Ser. No. 09/581,814 is a National Stage Application filed under 35 U.S.C. §371of International (PCT) Application No. PCT/JP98/05736, filed Dec. 18, 1998.
Conventionally, in the steps of fabricating semiconductor devices, studies are commonly made on colloidal silica type abrasives used as chemical mechanical abrasives for smoothing inorganic insulating film layers such as SiO2 insulating films formed by processes such as plasma-assisted CVD (chemical vapor deposition) and low-pressure CVD. The colloidal silica type abrasives are produced by growing silica particles into grains by a method of, e.g., thermal decomposition of tetrachiorosilicic acid, and making pH adjustment with an alkali solution containing no alkali metal, such as ammonia. Such abrasives, however, can not provide any sufficient rate of polishing for the polishing of inorganic insulating films, and have a technical problem of low polishing rate for their practical utilization.
2 kg of cerium carbonate hydrate was put in a container made of platinum, and was fired in the air at 600° C. for 2 hours to obtain about 1 kg of yellowish white powder. This powder was phase-determined by X-ray diffraction and was continued to be cerium oxide. The fired powder obtained had particle diameters of 30 to 100 μm.
US4475981 Oct 28, 1983 Oct 9, 1984 Ampex Corporation Metal polishing composition and process
US5011671 Jun 29, 1988 Apr 30, 1991 Rhone-Poulenc Chimie Ceric oxide with new morphological characteristics and method for obtaining same
US5026421 Dec 27, 1989 Jun 25, 1991 Rhone-Poulenc Chimie Polishing compositions based on cerium and process for the preparation thereof
US5260249 Apr 3, 1992 Nov 9, 1993 Nippon Shokubai, Co., Ltd. Catalyst for purifying automotive exhaust gas
US5525559 Apr 24, 1995 Jun 11, 1996 Tioxide Specialties Limited Preparation of mixed powders
US5766279 Sep 25, 1996 Jun 16, 1998 Mitsui Mining And Smelting Co., Ltd. Polishing agent, method for producing the same and method for polishing
US5775980 Nov 4, 1996 Jul 7, 1998 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba Polishing method and polishing apparatus
US6039631 Apr 24, 1998 Mar 21, 2000 Sony Corporation Polishing method, abrasive material, and polishing apparatus
US6120571 Apr 16, 1998 Sep 19, 2000 Seimi Chemical Co., Ltd. Polishing agent for semiconductor and method for its production
US6863700 Feb 13, 2001 Mar 8, 2005 Hitachi Chemical Company, Ltd. Cerium oxide abrasive and method of polishing substrates
US7192461 Nov 24, 2003 Mar 20, 2007 Nippon Aerosil Co., Ltd. High concentration silica slurry
US20020016060 * Feb 7, 1997 Feb 7, 2002 Jun Matsuzawa Cerium oxide abrasive for polishing insulating films formed on substrate and methods for using the same
CA2263241A1 Sep 30, 1997 Apr 9, 1998 Masato Yoshida Cerium oxide abrasive and method of abrading substrates
FR2583034A1 Title not available
JP2592401A Title not available
JPH054868A Title not available
JPH083541A Title not available
JPH101376A Title not available
JPH0297424A Title not available
JPH0770553A Title not available
JPH0822970A Title not available
JPH0881218A Title not available
JPH0948672A Title not available
JPH1112561A Title not available
JPH01266183A Title not available
JPH04202069A Title not available
JPH06216096A Title not available
JPH06330025A Title not available
JPH07172826A Title not available
JPH07172933A Title not available
JPH07502778A Title not available
JPH08134435A Title not available
JPH08153696A Title not available
JPH08168954A Title not available
JPH08181218A Title not available
JPH08197414A Title not available
JPH08333157A Title not available
JPH10106992A Title not available
JPS536756A Title not available
JPS6345125A Title not available
JPS6440267A Title not available
JPS60108489A Title not available
KR0013577B1 Title not available
WO1993022103A1 Jan 5, 1993 Nov 11, 1993 Rodel, Inc. Compositions and methods for polishing and planarizing surfaces
WO1997029510A1 Feb 7, 1997 Aug 14, 1997 Hitachi Chemical Company, Ltd. Cerium oxide abrasive, semiconductor chip, semiconductor device, process for the production of them, and method for the polishing of substrates
WO1998014987A1 Sep 30, 1997 Apr 9, 1998 Hitachi Chemical Company, Ltd. Cerium oxide abrasive and method of abrading substrates
WO2001013417A1 Aug 17, 2000 Feb 22, 2001 Hitachi Chemical Company, Ltd. Polishing compound for chemimechanical polishing and method for polishing substrate
1 "Particle Size Distributions from Angular Variation of Intensity of Forward-Scattered Light at Very Small Angles" J. Chem. Phys., vol. 59, pp. 841-844 (1955).
2 "The Determination of Pore Volume and Area Distribution in Porous Substances. I. Computations from Nitrogen Isotherms" J. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 73, pp. 373-380.
3 "The Rietveld Method", Oxford University Press (1993).
4 1996 Proceedings First International Chemical-Mechanical Polish (C.M.P.) for VLSI/ULSI Multilevel Interconnection Conference (CMP-MIC) "Selective CMP of Organic Sog for Low Parasitic Capacitance Quarter-Micron Multilevel Interconnections", By: Yoshio Homa, et al. Feb. 22-23, 1996.
5 Canadian Office Action, for Application No. 2,315,057, dated Aug. 15, 2005.
6 Canadian Office Action, for Application No. 2,315,057, dated Jul. 7, 2004.
7 Canadian Office Action, for Application No. 2,315,057, dated May 9, 2003.
8 Communication and European Search Report mailed Jun. 18, 2004, for No. EP 98 96 1410.
9 Extended European Search Report dated Oct. 31, 2008, for Application No. EP 07 10 9339.
10 Japanese Office Action for corresponding Application No. JP 2000-539103, dated May 25, 2004 with English-language translation.
11 Japanese Official Action issued on Mar. 10, 2009, in Application No. 2008-3672.
12 Japanese Official Action issued Sep. 24, 2008, for Application No. 2001-103923.
13 Japanese Official Action issued Sep. 24, 2008, for Application No. 2001-275530.
14 Judicial Decision in connection with JP (Laid-open 9-14371, delivered on Jun. 20, 2006.
15 McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms (5th Ed.) (1994) p. 388.
16 Official Action, for Application No. EP 98 961 410.2, dated Feb. 21, 2007.
17 Official Action, for Korean Application No. 10-2006-7024950, mailed Jan. 30, 2007.
18 Official Action, for Korean Application No. 10-2006-7024951, mailed Jan. 30, 2007.
19 Trial Decision (Decision on Appeal) issued on Mar. 31, 2009, in Appeal No. 2007-31006.
US9022834 Jun 10, 2011 May 5, 2015 Hitachi Chemical Company, Ltd. Polishing solution for CMP and polishing method using the polishing solution
U.S. Classification 451/41, 51/301, 51/308, 51/309
International Classification B24B37/00, H01L21/3105, B24B1/00, C01F17/00, C09K3/14, H01L21/304
Cooperative Classification C09K3/1463, H01L21/31053, C09G1/02, C09K3/1409
European Classification C09G1/02, C09K3/14D2, H01L21/3105B2, C09K3/14B