Characterization and Control of Copper CMP with Optoacoustic Metrology

We discuss applications of optoacoustic film thickness metrology for characterization of copper chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP). We highlight areas where the use of optoacoustics for CMP characterization provides data complementary to that obtained by other techniques because of its ability to directly measure film thickness with high spatial resolution in a rapid, non-destructive manner. Examples considered include determination of planarization length, measurement of film thickness at intermediate stages of polish, and measurement of arrays of metal lines.