Evolution of CMP Pad Conditioners

& Abrasive Technology’s

Leadership Role

Northern California Chapter of the American Vacuum

Society

June 1, 2005

2

Historical Perspective

1990s• Early diamond pad conditioning

disks were manufactured using electroplating technology to bond diamond to the substrate.

• EP disks often caused high down time & wafer defects.

Diamond Nickel Where is Waldo?

Electroplated - circa 1990

3

AT’s Entry Into the Market

• AT began manufacturing CMP pad conditioner disks in late 1995.

• AT was approached by an end user seeking to “cut”polyurethane materials.

Brazed - circa 1995

4

AT’s Entry Into the Market

• P.B.S.® brazing process was selected based on its superior crystal retention.

• AT was the FIRST to manufacture a brazed CMP pad conditioner.

5

AT: A Natural Leader

• AT has a deep knowledge of diamond and grinding, which are fundamental to CMP pad conditioning today.

• While CMP pad conditioners have been around since the 1990s, AT has been involved in superabrasives since 1971.

AT was a natural to take the leadership position in the evolution of CMP pad conditioners

6

AT Overview

• Founded in 1971 in Columbus, Ohio• Globally integrated leader in super-

abrasive grinding products.• Process-centered organizational

structure to facilitate excellent communications and service to customers.

7

AT Markets Served

• Automotive• Bearings• Ceramics• Composites• Oil & Gas• Textiles• Tires• Tool & Die• Toolroom• Medical • Stone

•General Industrial• Ferrite• Friction•CV Joint•Glass Fabrication•Refractory•CMP / Electronics•Aerospace•Glass• Lapidary •Ophthalmics

8

AT’s Global Presence

Headquarters: Lewis Center, Ohio, USA• Elgin, Illinois, USA• Johnson City, Tennessee, USA•Montreal, Quebec, Canada•Barcelona, Spain • London, UK•Colwyn Bay, UK

• Lichfield, UK• Saltash, UK• Singapore• Poland•Germany• Taiwan•China

9

Generation #1: 1995-1997

• Introduction of P.B.S.®brazed process.

• Early stages featured industrial quality products, but quickly moved to highly engineered and controlled products.

• Use of brazed conditioners resulted in lower cost of ownership & defectivity.

10

Generation #2: 1997-1999

• Continued working with major customers to refine product.• Inspection parameters fixed & serialization was added to

improve traceability.

155764(Disk Serial #)

5511718(Patent #)

S3410538X(ATI part #)

2D Bar Code(contains disk serial #)

ATI

11

Generation #3: 1999-2000

• Introduction of Infinity™ and Infinity II™ pad conditioners.

• Introduction of RAS (Relative Abrasive Sharpness).

• Introduction of pre-conditioning.

0

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

0.14

0.16

Pad

Rem

oval

Rat

e (m

m/h

r)

5.2

5.4

5.6

5.8

6

6.2

6.4

6.6

RA

S (R

elat

ive

Abr

asiv

e Sh

arpn

ess)Pad Removal Rate

Calibrated RAS

Shape A Shape B Shape C Shape D

Pad Removal Rate & RAS as a function of 100 mesh Abrasive Shape

12

Generation #4: 2000-2001

Complete Data

Record

Abrasive, Braze Weight

Manufacturing Operators

Abrasive Applicator

Specific FurnaceExact Within -

Furnace Location

Furnace Profile

FP Visual Inspection

FP Inspector

RAS

Flatness

(Crystal Count)

(Covered Crystals)

(Crystal Exposure)

QC Visual Inspection

QC Inspectors

ConditioningProtective Coating

• Introduction of better temperature control, clean scribe lines & improved process monitoring.

13

Generation #5: 2001-2003

Pad Removal Rate Comparison, IC-1000 Padwith DI Water

0

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

Tungsten Very LongLife (20+hrs)

Tungsten Long Life(15+ hrs)

Legacy Disk

Disk Type

Pad

Rem

oval

Ra

te (m

m/h

our)

Conditioner Disks for Tungsten CMP

• Introduction of Process Infinity™-- Tailoring of abrasive, concentration and type allowed the disk to better perform for specific processes.

14

Generation #6: 2004-Present

Multi-step in-situ Copper CMP**

15

45

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Legacy Infinity v6.1

Disk

Life

, Hou

rs

** Fab Data

Oxide CMP**

40

70

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Legacy Infinity v6.1

Dis

k Li

fe, H

ours

** Fab Data

• Introduction of Infinity v6.1™

15

Product Development Expertise

• AT is successful at developing solutions to address customers’ needs.

• AT has proven strength in sustaining and evolving a product line. ∗ Example is the Two Striper® product line.

− Founded in 1971 as the initial AT product. − Has successfully evolved through many

generations and applications. − Continues today to evolve and grow. − Among AT’s most successful product lines.

16

Collaboration

• Common thread through all generations is involvement & communication with end users.

• Next solutions will come from collaborative work between slurry / pad & conditioner makers.

17

Lessons Learned

• In the past, products took many years to develop -- now we require quicker learning cycles, quicker time to yield.

• Learning times of years are not possible as our customers move forward we need to move forward also.

18

Successes - Have Farther to Go!

• “Best in class” of a few years ago is now not acceptable. • Our focus is to keep the technology moving forward.

100 Mesh Shaping Characterization

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Blocky Non Blocky .

Wei

ght P

erce

nt

Shape AShape BShape CShape D

19

AT’s Future in CMP

• Commitment to continue to move product & technology forward.

• Introduce alternative bonding materials -- hyper-corrosion resistance.

• Re-exploration of electroplating -- bringing this technology back to the forefront of CMP.

20

Ready to meet the Challenge!

Source: EE Times Issue 1252 (Lightspeed Semiconductor))