Abstract: The present invention provides a multi-conditioner arrangement of a CMP system. The CMP system according to the present invention comprises a polishing table, a polishing pad positioned on the polishing table, a plurality of carrier heads on the polishing pad functioning in holding semiconductor wafers, and a plurality of conditioners positioned between the two neighboring carrier heads on the polishing pad for recovering the surface texture of the polishing pad. Herein, a plurality of conditioners are in a one-to-one arrangement to a plurality of carrier heads, each conditioner producing a back and forth motion in a radiant direction. Therefore, the lifetime of the polishing pad is extended, the wafer-to-wafer difference is reduced, and spatial coverage is increased.

Abstract: A method for forming silicide on a semiconductor wafer. The semiconductor wafer includes a doped silicon layer on a predetermined area of the semiconductor wafer, a metal layer positioned on the doped silicon layer, and a barrier layer covering the metal layer. A first rapid thermal processing (RTP) step is performed to make portions of the metal layer react with silicon inside the doped silicon layer so as to form a transitional silicide. The barrier layer and the portions of the metal layer that have not reacted with silicon are then removed. A dielectric layer is formed on the transitional silicide. Finally, a second rapid thermal processing (RTP) step is performed to make the transitional silicide react with portions of the doped silicon layer so as to form the silicide.

Abstract: A method of fabricating a preserve layer. A top metallic layer is formed over the substrate. Portions of the metallic layer and the substrate are removed to form a trench. A conformal pad oxide layer is formed over the substrate. A conformal first nitride layer is formed on the pad oxide layer. A spin-on glass layer is formed on the first nitride layer to fill the trench. An etching back step is performed to remove a portion of the spin-on glass layer. The remaining spin-on glass layer fills the trench to the surface of the first nitride layer above the top metallic layer. An oxide layer is formed over the substrate. A second nitride layer is formed on the oxide layer. A preserve layer comprising the pad oxide layer, the first nitride layer, the oxide layer, and the second nitride layer is formed.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for manufacturing of a titanium self-aligned silicide (Salicide). This process includes of forming a metal layer over the surfaces of the semiconductor substrate and the gate electrode. Then, a rapid thermal process is performed with three stages to form the salicide, for example, titanium silicide, at the interface between the titanium and silicon, namely on the surfaces of the gate electrode and source/drain region. The rapid thermal process with three stages includes using the first stage with the first temperature to form the early titanium silicide having the C49 phase. The temperature is raised to a second temperature and the RTA process is performed with nitrogen gases to transform the high resistance phase C49 of the titanium nitride into a low resistance phase C54 in the second stage. Then, the temperature is rapidly raised to a third temperature to transform the C49 phase into the C54 phase completely and to prevent the agglomeration phenomenon.