Francisco Martin

US Patent:

62913514, Sep 18, 2001

Filed:

Jun 28, 2000

Appl. No.:

9/605729

Inventors:

Leping Li - Poughkeepsie NY
Steven George Barbee - Amenia NY
Eric James Lee - San Jose CA
Francisco A. Martin - San Jose CA
Cong Wei - Poughkeepsie NY

Assignee:

International Business Machines Corporation - Armonk NY

International Classification:

H01L 21302

US Classification:

438692

Abstract:

A method is described for fabricating a cloisonne structure, in which a top surface of a metal oxide layer is made coplanar with a top surface of a metallic structure formed on a substrate. A nitride layer is deposited on at least the top surface of the metallic structure, and the metal oxide layer is deposited over the metallic structure and the nitride layer. The metal oxide layer is then polished by a chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) process using a slurry, to expose the nitride layer on the top surface of the metallic structure. Polishing of the nitride layer causes ammonia to be generated in the slurry. The ammonia is extracted as a gas from the slurry, and a signal is generated in accordance with the ammonia concentration. The CMP process is terminated in accordance with a change in the signal. In a preferred embodiment, the metal oxide is aluminum oxide, the nitride is aluminum nitride, and the nitride layer is deposited as a conformal layer on the substrate and the metallic structure.