ABSTRACT EEC-9812843 O'HANLON The University of Arizona Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) for Microcontamination Control is becoming a multi-university I/UCRC with the addition of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). The Center's research addresses contamination reduction in processes used to manufacture semiconductor chips. Meeting the announcement for competitive renewal and NSF Announcement 97-164, the RPI research site is expanding the Center's research agenda with significantly new intellectual substance through research addressing processes used in the manufacture of the upper layers of silicon devices and the relationship between contaminants and killer defects that reduce manufacturing yield. The research agenda of the new site will address 1.) Defect Analysis for Improved BEOL Yield Modeling, 2.) Control of Process-induced Particle Formation in Thin-film Plasma Processing, 3.) Defect Control During Chemical Mechanical Planarization, 4.) Post-CMP Cleaning of Copper Damascene Structures.
