Thought you might find this interesting re CCMP...this could really kill them in near future: (from Tom Hua on Amatuer Traders):
CMP breakthrough unveiled by Thomas West
6/6/2001 CMP slurry consumption cut 50%; defects cut by 10X.
In a move argued to be one of the biggest technical breakthroughs for suppliers and users
of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) equipment in several generations, Thomas West,
Inc. (TWI) announced the commercial availability of a new generation of CMP pads. The
Right Pad 711™ breaks all current productivity and performance barriers by cutting slurry
consumption by more than 40%, demonstrating high removal rates using industry standard
slurries and extending CMP pad life, allowing customers to process twice as many wafers
per pad as existing technology.
CMP is one of the fastest growing chip equipment markets and a critical process step
used in the fabrication of advanced semiconductors. The introduction of a new generation
of CMP pads will afford TWI the opportunity to achieve CMP pad technology leadership,
especially for all types of metal polishing.
Combining the hardness of solid polyurethane with the porosity of non-woven polyester,
TWI’s proprietary pad technology surpasses all current performance standards. The net
value for customers is a pad that yields lower wafer-to-wafer non-uniformity, while using up
to 40% less slurry. Overall cost of ownership (CoO) is significantly reduced. Customers
will enjoy increased overall equipment efficiency, higher removal rates than with traditional
technology, and a major reduction in consumable costs.
According to Dr. Karey Holland, a leading CMP expert and vice president of technology at
TWI, “The combination of technical and financial leverage that this new pad offers our
customers will greatly exceed industry expectations. The Right Pad 711 addresses CMP
technologists’ needs by achieving superior planarization with higher removal rates and far
less defectivity than current products. It also enables our customers to reduce their cost of
ownership of CMP through extending pad life and lowering slurry usage.”
The breakthrough that TWI has achieved in slashing defectivity is best demonstrated in a
recent study utilizing an Applied Materials Mirra™ at a major Southwestern U.S.
chipmaker. In this study on the Mirra, defects were reduced by as much as 10X. It is
commonly accepted to record defects on the wafer before polishing. Using the Right Pad
711, defects were removed from the wafer surface by polishing, with as few as 1/10th as
many defects detected after polishing.
“Adding value for our customers has been our ongoing goal since the company’s inception
in 1981,” explained TWI founder and CEO Thomas West. “This new technology is a
crowning achievement and one of the biggest breakthroughs in the company’s long history.
Value translates into performance and the performance improvement achieved through the
optimization of slurry transport in and through the pad is revolutionary.”
Traditionally, hard pads have been effective for planarization and minimizing dishing
problems, but have presented awesome challenges in attaining and maintaining slurry at
the wafer/pad interface as well as maintaining low defect levels. A soft pad can present a
challenge in achieving acceptable planarization. TWI’s Right Pad 711 has been optimized
to achieve the best of both worlds by utilizing the favorable characteristics of both pad
types.
“By leveraging our unique manufacturing process, in which pads are made in sheets rather
than the typical cast polyurethane cakes, we have greatly improved pad to pad uniformity,”
noted Holland. “With our process each pad is virtually identical allowing our customers to
achieve reduced set up times and overcome the challenge of recalibration due to
pad-to-pad variability.”
Like Holland, Thomas West is firm in his belief that this new generation pad will surpass
current CoO and performance standards. “The potential for Thomas West and its
customers, as a result of this new generation pad, are great,” stated West. “Customers
will achieve major performance and productivity gains and TWI will increase global market
share as the new technology becomes accepted and implemented. The immediate
feedback from our customers worldwide is very promising.”
About Thomas West
Thomas West, incorporated in 1981, is the number two supplier of CMP polishing pads
and carrier films to the integrated circuit industry. The company’s newest product, The
Right PadTM 711 provides semiconductor manufacturers with a low cost of ownership pad,
one of the most critical needs in the polishing process. This new generation of pads
provides improved wafer-to-wafer-uniformity and lowers defects. The pads are particularly
effective for tungsten and copper polishing. Thomas West’s proprietary Surface Texturing
Technology™ (STT) enhances CMP process parameters by ensuring maximum polishing
uniformity. For more information please contact kponder@thomaswest.com.
Source: Thomas West, Inc. |
