US-Egypt Cooperative Research: Processing of Silica Fumes From Ferrosilicon Industries into Chemical Mechanical Polishing Nanoslurries for Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing

University Of Florida, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

0527560 Singh Description: This project supports a collaborative research between Dr. Rajiv Singh, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida (UF) and Mohamed El-Desouki, Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute (CMRDI), Helwan, Egypt. They plan to study the transformation of silica fume by-products produced from ferrosilicon industries into chemical mechanical polishing nano-slurries for advanced semiconductor manufacturing. Intellectual Merit: The overall goal of this project is to transform low quality silica fume by-product from ferrosilicon industries into high quality silica for CMP slurries, which can be used for defect-free polishing of copper films in semiconductor manufacturing. To transform the silica byproduct into a copper CMP slurry, several technical challenges have to be overcome including (i) characterization of the silica by-product, (ii) separation of submicron (50- 200 nm) particles from the byproduct, (iii) slurry formulation and (iv) copper CMP testing and performance measurements. The two PIs and their teams have the expertise needed to address the above-mentioned processing and characterization issues. CMRDI possesses world-class expertise in particle science and technology including separation and wet processing of particles, while UF has expertise in slurry formulation, CMP testing and characterization. It should be noted that the research challenge is unique and is not known to have been addressed earlier. Broader Impacts: The project is expected to have a strong impact on the development of nanoparticles and its applications to semiconductor manufacturing industry. The CMP slurry is the fastest growing specialty chemical market for sub-micron silica particles in the world (market size greater than > $ 500 million/yr) due to its use in manufacture of copper interconnects in logic based devices such as Intel's Pentium chips. Presently it is estimated that CMP slurries constitute more than 30 % of the recurring costs of running a semiconductor manufacturing facility. Thus, the project has the potential to transform a cheap undesirable byproduct produced in Egypt into a highly value added product for the global semiconductor manufacturing industry. This project also brings together the international expertise of CMP researchers in the U.S. with particle technology experts in Egypt (CMRDI). Furthermore, this project could lead to export of silica particles/slurries from Egypt to other countries engaged in advanced semiconductor manufacturing (US, France, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, etc.). The project will also help in training of U.S. and Egyptian students and scientists. The project will involve support for at least one U.S. graduate student. This project is being supported under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program, which provides grants to scientists and engineers in both countries to carry out these cooperative activities.