Potassium sorbate as an inhibitor in copper chemical mechanical planarization slurries. Part II: Effects of sorbate on chemical mechanical planarization performance

This study reports on the effects of potassium sorbate (K[CH3(CH)4CO2]) on copper chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) performance and demonstrates how the performance can be controlled by the inhibitor concentration in the slurry. The study is a continuation of a recent report on the copper polishing mechanism in H2O2/glycine-based slurries using sorbate as an inhibitor. CMP performance with respect to the inhibitor concentration in the slurry is evaluated in terms of surface roughness, polishing uniformity and dishing values. CMP results obtained from blanket wafers show that an increased sorbate concentration provides lower roughness values. CMP data obtained from patterned wafers shows that an increased sorbate concentration provides better polishing uniformity and lower dishing values for copper lines. The high solubility of sorbate in water (up to 9 M) is a major advantage for CMP processing.