Full profile inter-layer dielectric CMP analysis

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is currently being used in the fabrication of state-of-the-art integrated circuits, and has been identified as an enabling technology for the semiconductor industry in its drive toward gigabit chips and sub-130 nm feature sizes. We present the application of a library-based specular spectroscopic scatterometry method, which is capable of getting a clear view of the profile evolution due to the oxide CMP process. This level of analysis will be crucial in building a rigorous CMP model in the near future.