Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2001) 18:2028 2001 Springer-Verlag London Limited

Application of an Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System for the Optimal Analysis of ChemicalMechanical Polishing Process Parameters
Z.-C. Lin and C.-Y. Liu
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan

This paper examines the machining parameters during the wafer attening process by chemicalmechanical polishing (CMP). There are very few data available from CMP experiments for wafer attening. This study adopted an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) to predict the surface roughness in the absence of CMP experiments. An integrated concept like ANFIS combines the advantages of the two systems of fuzzy control and neuro networks. Next, the feasible directions algorithm and sequential approximation algorithm from the local search method are combined with ANFIS. During the process of combination, the value from the optimisation theory is replaced by that from the ANFIS, so that, the roughness value of the wafer surface can be predicted. Alternatively, the optimal values of various process parameters can also be predicted. To sum up, verication through experiments indicates that the optimal experimental values of process parameters are identical with those predicted by the optimisation theory and ANFIS. Thus, the optimal precise value can be simulated and predicted within the parameters of the experimental design. The predicted optimal result is compared with the optimal experimental result of Kung and Dai to show that the predicted optimal result is acceptable. As a result, the CMP process parameters investigated in this study can be controlled. Keywords: Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS); Chemicalmechanical polishing (CMP); Neuro-fuzzy

1.

Introduction

Chemicalmechanical polishing (CMP) has been widely applied in the eld of microelectronic fabrication for the past several decades. Among the existing polishing methods and related research studies, CMP technology has successfully met the
Correspondence and offprint requests to: Professor Z.-C. Lin, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taiwan Institute of Technology, 43 Keelung Road, Section 4, Taipei 10672, Taiwan. Email: zclinmail.ntust.edu.tw

demand for substantial attening in the later part of the fabrication process. The mechanism and its application have been widely studied. However, there has been little work on parameters related to the fabrication process. The major parameters related to CMP include the following: polish solution recipe, polish pad material, polish pressure, spinning speed of the polish pad, workpiece spinning speed, and oscillation arm velocity. The major polish mechanism involves the use of polish solution for the chemical erosion reaction on the workpiece surface. At the same time, the polish pad is engaged to remove the micro material protruding from the workpiece surface. The purpose is to make the workpiece completely at. The selection of process parameters depends on the support of the front-end process for making proper adjustments. The process cannot determine the selection. Therefore, the success of CMP depends on the control of process parameters. Wang and Huang [1] presented the concept of fuzzy strategy in their study of different degrees of die surface smoothness to determine the appropriate polishing parameters and surface smoothness after polishing. They used the information of signal noise ratio and ANOVA to interpret the primary factor level and the percentage contribution of various factors during the die polish process. Based on their model, a parameter system framework for at face polishing was established. Wang et al. [2] combined neural networks and Taguchi methods and developed an analytical method that could effectively improve the engineering design. An orthogonal array was used as the tool for an experimental design in an attempt to obtain sufcient system input relationships, given the least number of experiments. The neural network, which had completed its training, became the system mode capable of providing precise interpolation, extrapolation, prediction, and optimal search. The functions of this new neural network and the Taguchi experiment methods were veried by an actual die cast example. The above literature review indicates that only the characteristics of CMP process parameters have been studied in the eld of CMP technology. The polishing parameters themselves have yet to be analysed and studied. As for the analysis of the fabrication process, some used the Taguchi experimental methods, others the fuzzy or neural network theories. Regard-

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Fig. 1. The equipment used for CMP attening.

Fig. 2. The ANFIS framework.

Table 1. Original experimental data of the CMP process. Actual data item number P (p.s.i.) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 5 5 5 7 7 7 10 10 10 12 12 12 5 5 5 7 7 7 10 10 10 12 12 12 Experimental data Np (r.p.m.) 10 20 30 10 20 30 10 20 30 10 20 30 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 Nc (r.p.m.) 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 30 40 50 30 40 50 30 40 50 30 40 50 6.00 6.00 6.23 6.58 7.00 6.44 6.23 7.00 6.33 6.33 7.00 6.58 6.20 6.00 6.00 6.11 7.00 6.32 6.32 7.05 6.59 6.11 6.43 6.82 Result Ra ( )

2. Chemical Mechanical Polish Method

CMP technology involves the use of a polishing platform and a suitable chemical solvent to polish proles of different heights on a wafer surface. Overall, the CMP method uses a polishing solvent containing suspending micro-particles, and polishes by contact, sliding and cutting. Chemicals that produce a chemical reaction with the polished workpiece easily are used as the polishing solvent. The mechanical friction, chemical binding and chemical solvant removal function in the contact region between the microparticles and polished face are all combined to produce high-efciency polishing [3]. If the polishing parameters are controlled adequately, the technology can achieve the effect of attening the entire wafer, and thus it provides a most direct and effective solution for the current bottleneck encountered in attening technology in the high-order microprocessing technologies. The CMP equipment consists of a platen for wafer polishing and a wafer carrier for the purpose of securing the wafer and exerting pressure. The wafer carrier sticks to the back of the wafer by means of a vacuum. The front of the wafer, i.e. the part being attened, is placed on the platen having one or more layers of polish pads. The mechanical polishing action is undertaken through the relative movement between the platen and rotating wafer carrier. Figure 1 shows the mechanism movement on the platen of the primary polish pad. In the polishing movement, the platen of the primary polish pad is turned by the rotation of the axis beneath it. The slurry is sprayed by a controlling tube at a rate of 200 ml s1 and is evenly distributed on the primary polish pad to act as the medium layer. The wafer is secured between the carrier and the primary polish pad, given a downward positive pressure, and rotated by the carriers rotating axis for the polishing. The experimental data shown in Table 1 were obtained using a Westech Systems Model 372 series CMP experimental machine [4]. The machine is capable of a high atness polishing. Since it uses soft particle depletion to react and form another material, micro units the reaction region involves less than 30 or 40 A when polishing. The mechanical damage to the polished face is very limited and there are almost no aws from polishing. Therefore, the process is capable of satisfying the requirement for surface precision in this experiment.

less of the method, all of the above studies carried out a detailed investigation and analysis of the process parameters of the entire mechanical polishing method. Hence, in this paper, we used the adaptive neural network fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) to minimise the number of CMP experiments, and to further predict the optimal surface smoothness value. The comparison through CMP experimental verication indicates that the optimal values of process parameters from the CMP experiment match the results derived from the adaptive neural network fuzzy inference system algorithm and the optimisation theory. Thus, the precise values can be predicted through simulation. Through investigation of the CMP process in this study, the parameters can be precisely determined.

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3. The Structure of an Adaptive NeuroFuzzy Inference System

To predict the optimal surface roughness value of the CMP process, we used the control algorithm, which has improved upon the classic and modern control methods in recent years, namely, neuro-fuzzy control. Ever since Zadeh proposed the theory of a fuzzy set, workers have used the fuzzy principle to execute control commands. Since the fuzzy principle is derived from expert experience and knowledge, there is a possibility of insufciency or lack of terms of denitions. To compensate for the insufciency of this principle, a combination of the fuzzy set and neural networks has emerged. This combination of concepts merges the advantages of a fuzzy control system and a neural networks system. For example, the learning capabilities, optimisation capabilities and connecting structure of neural networks and the fuzzy principle of thoughts for integrating the wisdom of experts are combined in the fuzzy control system. This approach allows us to apply a neural network with learning and the computing capabilities of fuzzy control. On the other hand, fuzzy control also provides advanced expert knowledge and fuzzy principles for use by the neural network. For the sake of easier construction of this type of control method with self-adaption of network parameters, Jang [5] proposed a combination of an adaptive neural network and a fuzzy inference system. Such a combination structure is called an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system.
Table 2. Fuzzy rules of ANFIS. ANFIS rules Rules Rule number P 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Small Small Small Small Small Small Small Small Small Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Large Large Large Large Large Large Large Large Large If Np Small Small Small Medium Medium Medium Large Large Large Small Small Small Medium Medium Medium Large Large Large Small Small Small Medium Medium Medium Large Large Large Nc Small Medium Large Small Medium Large Small Medium Large Small Medium Large Small Medium Large Small Medium Large Small Medium Large Small Medium Large Small Medium Large Then Ra Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

Fig. 3. The execution steps of the optimisation task.

Fig. 4. The owchart of the simulation ANFIS.

Fig. 5. The simplied version of the framework ANFIS. System ANFIS: 3 inputs, 1 output, 27 rules.

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Fig. 6. The curve of network error convergence.

Fig. 8. Membership function of the down force.

Fig. 7. Adaptation of parameter steps. Fig. 9. Membership function of the pad speed.

Since the CMP process is a micro nishing process, CMP experiments are very time consuming and are not economical. Hence, in this paper, the ANFIS theory is applied for the handling of the experimental data from the CMP process parameters. The goals are to predict precisely the value of surface roughness and minimise the number of CMP experiments. The following sections describe in greater detail the neuro-fuzzy theory and its framework, the Sugeno fuzzy model, the ANFIS, learning algorithm and reverse learning. The relationships among the down force, pad speed, carrier speed, oscillation, and surface roughness can be derived from CMP experiments. Among them the down force, pad speed, and carrier speed are the three most important process parameters. Through simulation by the ANFIS system framework [6], there are two input variables, m and n, in the fuzzy inference system, which can be assigned to represent any two experimental parameters of the above three. The other output variable f, then denotes the surface roughness in the measurement results of CMP. The ANFIS framework is shown in Fig. 2. There are a total of 5 layers in the overall network framework, including the fuzzication layer, product layer, normalisation layer, defuzzication layer and the total output layer. The Sugeno fuzzy model was used in the fuzzication and defuzzication of the system. The fuzzy rules are dened as follows [5]:

Rule 1: If (m is A1) and (n is B1) then f1 = p1 m + q1 n + r1 Rule 2: If (m is A2) and (n is B2) then f2 = p2 m + q2 n + r2 Where p1, p2, q1, q2, r1, and r2 denote the linear parameters and A1, A2, B1, and B2 the nonlinear parameters. The relationships between the input and output of every layer of the ANFIS are discussed in the following. The rst layer is the fuzzication layer, where m and n are the input of nodes A1 and B1, and A2 and B2, respectively. A1, A2, B1, and B2 are the linguistic labels of the divided membership functions of the fuzzy theory. The membership function relationship between output and input may be dened as follows: O1,i = Ai (m) O1, j = Bj (n) (i = 1,2) (j = 1,2) (3) (1) (2)

Where O1,i and O1, j denote the output functions, and Ai and Bj membership functions. The second layer is the product layer, containing two nodes marked as II. The output of this layer w1 and w2 are the

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O4,i = wifi = wi (pim + qin + ri)

(i = 1,2)

(6)

Where O4,i is the output of the fourth layer. The fth layer is the total output layer, whose nodes are marked by . The output of this layer is the total of all input signals. That is, the roughness value among the measurement results of CMP can be derived by the following Eq.: O5,i = i wifi = iwifi iwi (i = 1,2) (7)

where O5,i is the output of the fth layer.

4. Optimisation Method and Strategy

Fig. 10. Membership function of the carrier speed.

The optimisation theory uses mathematical and numerical analysis methods to search for the design variable that can control changes and, given the satisfaction of the constraint condition, can produce a design that meets the optimal requirements. In general, the optimisation process must dene a capability index as the standard of evaluation, called objective function. As the design variable changes, the design capability is also affected, i.e. the value of the objective function is changed. This study uses an optimisation method and strategy to achieve the objective of CMP process parameter optimisation. The steps in the optimisation process are shown in Fig. 3. The optimisation theory used in this paper is described below [7].
4.1 Theory and Strategy of the Feasible Direction Algorithm

Fig. 11. The owchart of the combination of Ans and DOT.

For the optimisation of a question containing a constraint condition, the rst strategy to take is to decide whether to use a direct or indirect approach to handle this question. An indirect approach means that the constraint condition is not dealt with directly during the optimisation search process. Instead, the constraint function is appropriately changed into a
Table 3. Comparison values between experiment and prediction. Data 6th prediction value 13th prediction value 16th prediction value 19th prediction value P 7 7 5 5 7 7 10 10 Np 30 30 20 20 20 20 20 20 Nc 42 42 30 30 30 30 30 30 Ra 6.44 2.83% 6.2578 6.20 1.67% 6.3035 6.11 0.48% 6.0805 6.32 2.8% 6.4977 Error

weight functions of the next layer. The output of this layer is the product of the input signal, dened as follows: O2,i = wi = Ai(m) Bi (n) (i = 1, 2) (4)

where O2,i denotes the output of the second layer. The third layer is the normalisation layer, whose nodes are marked as N. Its function lies in normalising the weight function. The normalisation process is as follows: O3,i = wi = wi w1 + w2 (i = 1, 2) (5)

where O3,i is the output of the third layer. The fourth layer is the defuzzication layer, whose nodes are adaptive. The output Eq. is w(pmqnr), where pi, qi, ri, are the linear parameters among the nodes, called consequent parameters. The fuzzication relationship between the input and output of this layer is as follows:

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Fig. 12. The application results of ANFIS and the feasible directions method of DOT. (a) The relationship between the down force and the number of search. (b) The relationship between the pad speed and the number of search. (c) The relationship between the carrier speed and the number of search. (d) The relationship between the surface roughness and the number of search.

penalty function, which is then incorporated into the objective function, according to a certain percentage, to become a pseudo-objective function. In this case, we do not need to deal with the constraint condition directly, but indirectly handle the optimisation question without any constraint condition. The question is thus much simplied. The direct approach means direct handling of the constraint condition during the optimisation search process. This approach is called a direct method, among which the most famous is the method of feasible directions. The name suggests that after the search direction is decided during the search process, the gradients of both the objective function and constraint functions are considered at the same time. In this case, not only can the objective function be decreased, but violation of the constraint condition is also prevented. Therefore, the design of this method during the search process is feasible in all cases.
4.2 Theory and Strategy of the Sequential Approximation Algorithm

The sequential approximation method is the proposed method of solution to nonlinear questions. In simple terms, a sequential approximation method seeks to use a series of simple and

easy-to-solve linear or secondary programming subquestions to approximate an original nonlinear optimisation question which was of greater complexity and more difcult to solve. This type of algorithm is called sequential linear programming (SLP). The solution of a nonlinear function and that of a linear function may be compared. The simplex method used to solve linear questions uses a rst-order approximation function to execute the linear programming of a question. The search region of the simplex method follows the boundary of the feasible region, which makes it very simple and efcient. During the iteration process of the sequential linear programming method, the value of the move limit is related to the convergence of the design value. Hence, the designation of the move limit is of great concern to the designer. To avoid the issue of dening the value of the move limit, SQP is used for solution. In the SLP approach, the move limit is designated as a square move region. SQP modies the move limit into a circular move region. The objective function of SQP is a second-order function. All constraint conditions of SQP are linear. The approach of the sequential approximation of the subquestion during each iteration is called sequential second-order programming. This algorithm does not require the denition of the move limit

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Fig. 13. The application results of ANFIS and the sequential linear programming of DOT. (a) The relationship between the down force and the number of search. (b) The relationship between the pad speed and the number of search. (c) The relationship between the carrier speed and the number of search. (d) The relationship between the surface roughness and the number of search.

either. The subquestion of every iteration can also be solved by the modied simplex method. If there is still a feasible region under the constraint conditions after linear programming, one can then rest assured. In this case, the move limit is set so small that the subquestion of the iteration process is rendered unfeasible. SQP is one of the powerful algorithms available now. It is also a popular and important algorithm in solving large nonlinear optimisation problems.

5. Results and Analysis of the Application of ANFIS with Optimal Analysis in CMP Process Parameters
According to the ANFIS framework and the simulation owchart shown in Fig. 4, ANFIS can take the experimental data of the aforementioned CMP process parameters as the input training data of the system, which makes it possible to truly reect the characteristics of the system being controlled. Figure 5 shows the simplied framework of the ANFIS controller. There are a total of 78 nodes and 27 fuzzy rules in the ANFIS structure. The 108 front parameters and 27 consequent parameters of the structure are dened in Table 2. The network

training uses 23 training data in 200 learning periods, among which the start value of the step of parameter adaptation is 0.01. Within the structure, the membership function of each input parameter can be divided into three items, the membership function being a triangle. At the end of 200 training periods, the network error convergence curve can be derived as shown in Fig. 6. From the curve, the nal convergence value is 1.12077 106. The minimum value of the rootmean-squared error after training is 0. The steps of parameter adaptation are shown in Fig. 7. Figures 8 to 10 illustrate the start and nal membership functions of the experimental CMP process parameters. In this paper, the ANFIS method was used to calculate the experimental data of CMP process and rapidly infer and predict the optimal surface roughness value. As shown in Table 3, among the actual 24 pieces of experimental data, any piece of data is deleted from them and the other 23 pieces are placed in ANFIS for training. At the completion of training, the deleted data of the process parameter is taken as a test data and input into ANFIS to obtain the predicted value of the surface roughness. According to Table 3, the residual checking of the derived result is within 3%. The ANFIS algorithms were veried and proved to be able to predict the optimal value precisely.

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Fig. 14. The application results of ANFIS and the sequential quadratic programming of DOT. (a) The relationship between the down force and the number of search. (b) The relationship between the pad speed and the number of search. (c) The relationship between the carrier speed and the number of search. (d) The relationship between the surface roughness and the number of search.

In this section, the data obtained from CMP experiments are organised. The regression analysis Eq. can be derived after execution of the program written by SAS software. Here, we replaced the regression Eq. by ANFIS. As described earlier, the original regression Eq. was replaced by the ANFIS predicted value to serve as the objective function of the optimisation method. The previous designated values remain the same: CMP process parameters serve as the constraint functions; for the range of constraint, the maximum and minimum values of the process parameters of the CMP experiment serve as the boundaries of the constraint functions; and the initial designated values. In this study, the optimisation computation of ANFIS was run using the DOT 4.0 software package and the Matlab language program. The owchart of the program execution is shown in Fig. 11.
5.1 Results of the Application of ANFIS Combined with the Algorithm of Feasible Directions

package and the Matlab language program written by us to execute the said optimisation algorithm of ANFIS. The results are shown in Fig. 12. Figures 12(a) to 12(c) illustrate the following results for CMP process parameters. The optimal prediction value of the P search approximates to 5 p.s.i; that of the Np search to 10 r.p.m. and that of Nc to 30 r.p.m. These optimal prediction values are the same as the optimal experimental results of [4]. Figure 12(d) indicates that the design variable is relative to the optimal prediction value searched for using the objective function.
5.2 Results of the Application of ANFIS Combined with the Sequential Linear Programming (SLP) Algorithm

ANFIS was combined with the algorithm of feasible directions, which was then run by method 1 of the DOT 4.0 software

ANFIS was combined with the SLP algorithm, which was run by method 2 of the DOT 4.0 software package and the Matlab language program written by us to execute the optimisation algorithm of ANFIS. The results are shown in Fig. 13. Figures 13(a) to 13 (c) illustrate the following facts about the

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CMP process parameters. The optimal prediction value of the P search approximates to 5 p.s.i.; the Np search to 10 r.p.m. and the Nc to 30 r.p.m. These optimal prediction values are the same as the optimal experimental results in [4]. Figure 13(d) indicates that the design variable is relative to the optimal prediction value searched for using the objective function.
5.3 Results of the Application of ANFIS Combined with the Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) Algorithm

ANFIS was combined with the SQP algorithm, which was run by method 3 of the DOT 4.0 software package and the Matlab language program written by us to execute the optimisation algorithm of ANFIS. The results are shown in Fig. 14. Figures 14(a) to 14(c) illustrate the following facts about the CMP process parameters. The optimal prediction value of the P search approximates to 5 p.s.i; the Np search to 10 r.p.m. and the Nc to 30 r.p.m. These optimal prediction values are the same as the optimal experimental results of [4]. Figure 14(d) indicates that the design variable is relative to the optimal prediction value searched for using the objective function.

method are combined with the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) in this method. During the process of combination, the value of the optimisation theory is replaced by the ANFIS value. By this means, the difculty of the acquisition of formula can be solved. Immediate response and accurate prediction can also be achieved through the characteristics of ANFIS to eliminate the error between expert experience and theory, and the actual values. To sum up, verication through experiments indicates that the optimal experimental values of process parameters are identical with those predicted by ANFIS. Thus, optimal precise values can be derived which are acceptable within the parameters of the experimental design. As a result, the CMP process parameters investigated in this study can be controlled.
References
1. J. C. Wang and K. L. Huang, The research of Taguchi method with fuzzy strategy on die polishing parameters analysis, Proceedings of the Tenth National Conference on Automation Technology, pp. 11031109, 1997. 2. G. J. Wang, J. C. Tsai, P. C. Tseng and T. C. Chang, NeuralTaguchi method for robust design analysis, Journal of the Chinese Society of Mechanical Engineers, 19(2), pp. 223230, 1998. 3. W. J. Patrick, W. L. Guthrie, C. L. Standley and P. M. Schiable, Application of chemical mechanical polishing to the fabrication of VLSI circuit interconnections, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 138(6), pp. 17781784, 1991. 4. C. Y. Kung and B. T. Dai, A study of chemical mechanical polishing on silicon wafer, Report, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsin-Chu, Taiwan, R. O. C, 1996. 5. S. R. Jang, ANFIS: Adaptive-Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, 23(3), pp. 665685, May 1993. 6. S. R. Jang, C. T. Sun and E. Mizutani, Neuro-Fuzzy and Soft Computing, Prentice-Hall, pp. 335345, 1997. 7. Garret N. Vanderplaats, Numerical Optimization Techniques for Engineering Design with Applications, McGraw-Hill, New York, pp. 163177, 1984.

6.

Conclusion

In this paper, we used an adaptive neural networks fuzzy inference system to simplify the number of CMP experiments and achieved accurate preductions. ANFIS combines the advantages of a neuro network and a fuzzy system. It possesses fast convergence and has more power than conventional controllers. More importantly, ANFIS can learn from the input of data obtained in experiments, which gives ANFIS the feature of a controlled system. In addition, the feasible directions algorithm and sequential approximation algorithm from the local search