Investigation on the metal-clipping issue after FSG deposition

Abstract

Metal clipping issue was observed in semiconductor manufacturing, which will result in the electronic property failure of metal line. The process parameters of HDP FSG deposition were investigated in order to discover the mechanism of metal clipping. The results indicated that ion bombardment effect is the dominated factor for metal clipping, it also accelerate the chemical etch of F ions. According to the standard manufacturing procedure, several progresses were used to avoid the metal clipping issue successfully.