Taipei, Taiwan – September 12, 2011 – In conjunction with industry tradeshow SEMICON Taiwan, Dow Electronic Materials, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW), today introduced its latest Copper (Cu) bulk chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process. The new offering combines Dow’s unique RL3100™ abrasive-free, self-stopping chemistry and VISIONPAD™ 5000 polishing pad to offer a high performance, low cost of ownership (COO) solution for Cu Bulk/Clear CMP.
“As the industry strives to keep up with Moore’s Law by developing ever-smaller and more dense technology nodes, new approaches to CMP are needed to address significant manufacturing challenges,” said Dr. Wei-Chung Yu, CMP Slurry R&D Director of Dow Electronic Materials. “Our research scientists and application specialists collaborate directly with our customers to ensure that our CMP solutions are at the leading edge of technology as IC manufacturers look to migrate to the next technology node. Our new abrasive-free CMP process has evolved out of this effort and has already been met with strong interest due to the significant performance and cost benefits it offers.”
The key benefit of Dow’s RL3100™ + VISIONPAD™ 5000 polishing pad Cu CMP process is the ability to provide low dishing and no erosion that is independent of line width and array pattern density. When combined with high Cu rates, clearing capability and almost infinite selectivity to barrier and dielectric films, the results include higher yields, tight Rs control, high throughput, and wide process margin.
The unique RL3100™ abrasive-free chemistry ensures minimal defectivity and higher yields by eliminating the erosion or scratching associated with standard abrasive-containing slurries. This novel approach delivers low COO due to the solution’s dilutability, elimination of pad cleaning requirements between processed wafers, and use of minimal pad conditioning to extend pad life.
Production-proven, Dow’s unique abrasive-free technology has been in use for 90–45 nm 300 mm high volume manufacturing for more than three years. It has also been selected as the process of record for the 14 nm node by a technology-leading IDM, and is the process of record for a leading foundry manufacturer for Cu CMP in a TSV process scheduled to ramp at the 28 nm node.
For more information about Dow’s latest products for CMP and lithography, please visit Dow Electronic Materials at SEMICON Taiwan from September 7 – 9, 2011 in Booth 1252 at the Taipei World Trade Center in Taipei, Taiwan.
About Dow
Dow combines the power of science and technology with the “Human Element” to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world’s most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow’s diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2010, Dow had annual sales of $53.7 billion and employed approximately 50,000 people worldwide. The Company’s more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 188 sites in 35 countries across the globe. References to “Dow” or the “Company” mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.
About Dow Electronic Materials
Dow Electronic Materials, a global supplier of materials and technologies to the electronics industry, brings innovative leadership to the semiconductor, interconnect, finishing, photovoltaic, display, LED and optics markets. From advanced technology centers worldwide, teams of talented Dow research scientists and application experts work closely with customers, providing solutions, products and technical service necessary for next-generation electronics. These partnerships energize Dow’s power to invent. Its key end-use applications include a broad range of consumer electronics from personal computers, to television monitors, cellular phones, global positioning systems, automobile safety systems, and avionics
