Relationship Between Wafer-Level Warpage and Cu Overburden Thickness Controlled by Isotropic Wet Etching for Through Si Vias

In this paper, we developed an isotropic wet etching process in a capsule-type bevel etch chamber to reduce a Cu overburden of through Si via (TSV) for less wafer-level warpage with 300 mm wafers. We report the relationship between the wafer-level warpage and the Cu overburden thicknesses controlled by the isotropic wet etching with diluted solution of hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid, which is widely used for Cu wet etching. After Cu filling by electroplating, there are humps at the top of the TSVs; therefore, the isotropic wet etching can be considered as a solution to etch away the Cu overburden without any damages on the TSVs. We modified the capsule-type bevel etch chamber to avoid serious attack on TSVs at the center area of the wafer caused by the etchant delivery path. We also adjusted the process parameters to have a controllable Cu etch rate. The etch rate of ~ 0.2 μm/s and the uniformity of ~ 3% were achieved. The overburden was able to be etched up to 3 μm m from the initial Cu overburden. While the Cu overburden decreased during the isotropic wet etching, the TSVs were protected from the etchant because of the humps at the top of the TSVs. After the Cu electroplating, there was a grain size difference between the Cu at TSV and the Cu at field area. Because the microstructural difference caused a galvanic corrosion during the wet etching, the etch rate of the adjacent Cu around TSV was faster than the Cu at any other area. That resulted in exposure of dielectric layer at the adjacent area around TSVs when the Cu overburden was etched heavily. It may be another protection mechanism of TSV during the isotropic wet etching. The wafer-level warpage of the wafer with the Cu overburden etched up to 3 μm after the annealing decreased by 50% from that of the wafer with the initial Cu overburden. The wafer-level warpage exhibited a linear relationship with the Cu overburden thickness controlled by the isotropic wet etching.