Effects of the ultrasonic flexural vibration on the interaction between the abrasive particles; pad and sapphire substrate during chemical mechanical polishing (CMP)

In this paper, the technique of ultrasonic flexural vibration assisted chemical mechanical polishing (UFV-CMP) was used for sapphire substrate CMP. The functions of the polishing pad, the silica abrasive particles, and the chemical additives of the slurry such as pH value regulator and dispersant during the sapphire's UFV-CMP were investigated. The results showed that the actions of the ultrasonic and silica abrasive particles were the main factors in the sapphire material removal rate (MMR) and the chemical additives were helpful to decrease the roughness of sapphire. Then the effects of the flexural vibration on the interaction between the silica abrasive particles, pad and sapphire substrate from the kinematics and dynamics were investigated to explain why the MRR of UFV-CMP was bigger than that of the traditional CMP. It indicated that such functions improved the sapphire's MRR: the increasing of the contact silica particles’ motion path lengths on the sapphire's surface, the enhancement of the contact force between the contact silica particles and the sapphire's surface, and the impaction of the suspending silica particles to the sapphire's surface.     

Synthesis, characterization of ceria-coated silica particles and their chemical mechanical polishing performance on glass substrate

Nano-sized ceria particles were coated on the silica surface by the precipitation method using ammonium cerium nitrate and urea as precipitant with poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) as assistant. The structures and compositions of ceria-coated silica particles were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements. The results show that nano-size ceria particles were coated uniformly around the surface of silica particles when PVP was used as assistant during coating process, while without PVP, the ceria particles were grown sparsely on the silica particle surface and many ceria particles grow up through independent nucleation in the solution. Then, the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) behaviors of the as-prepared ceria-coated silica particles on glass substrate were investigated. The CMP test results suggest that the as-prepared ceria-coated silica particles exhibit higher removal rate than pure silica particles without deteriorating the surface quality. In addition, online coefficient of friction (COF) was conducted during the polishing process. The COF data indicate that the COF values of ceria-coated silica particles are larger than those of pure silica particles due to their surface properties.     

Removal of scratch on the surface of MgO single crystal substrate in chemical mechanical polishing process

Etching and chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) experiments of the MgO single crystal substrate with an artificial scratch on its surface are respectively performed with the developed polishing slurry mainly containing 2 vol.% phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄) and 10-20 nm colloidal silica particles, through observing the variations of the scratch topography on the substrate surface in experiments process, the mechanism and effect of removing scratch during etching and polishing are studied, some evaluating indexes for effect of removing scratch are presented. Finally, chemical mechanical polishing experiments of the MgO substrates after lapped are conducted by using different kinds of polishing pads, and influences of the polishing pad hardness on removal of the scratches on the MgO substrate surface are discussed.     

Generation and removal of pits during chemical mechanical polishing process for MgO single crystal substrate

Magnesium oxide (MgO) single crystal is an important substrate for high temperature superconductor, ferroelectric and photoelectric applications. The function and reliability of these devices are directly affected by the quality of polished MgO surface because any defect on the substrate, such as pit or scratch, may be propagated onto device level. In this paper, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) experiments were conducted on MgO (1 0 0) substrate using slurry mainly comprised of 1-hydroxy ethylidene-11-diphosphonic acid (HEDP) and silica or ceria particles. Through monitoring the variations of the pits topography on substrate surface, generation and removal mechanism of the pits were investigated. The experimental results indicate that the pits were first generated by an indentation or scratch caused by particles in the slurry. If the rate of chemical etching in the defect area is higher than the material removal rate, the pits will grow. If chemical reaction in the defect area is slower than the material removal rate, the pits will become smaller and eventually disappear. Consequently, these findings may provide insight into strategies for minimizing pits during CMP process.     

Surface modification of ceria nanoparticles and their chemical mechanical polishing behavior on glass substrate

To improve their chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) performance, ceria nanoparticles were surface modified with γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APS) through silanization reaction with their surface hydroxyl group. The compositions, structures and dispersibility of the modified ceria particles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), laser particle size analyzer, zeta potential measurement and stability test, respectively. The results indicated that APS had been successfully grafted onto the surface of ceria nanoparticles, which led to the modified ceria nanoparticles with better dispersibility and stability than unmodified ceria particles in aqueous fluids. Then, CMP performance of the modified ceria nanoparticles on glass substrate was investigated. Experimental results showed that the modified ceria particles exhibited lower material removal rate (MRR) but much better surface quality than unmodified ceria particles, which may be explained by the hardness reduction of ceria particles, the enhancement of lubrication of the particles and substrate surfaces, and the elimination of the agglomeration among the ceria particles.     

Localized corrosion effects and modifications of acidic and alkaline slurries on copper chemical mechanical polishing

This study demonstrates the CMP performance can be enhanced by modifying the corrosion effects of acidic and alkaline slurries on copper. A corrosion test-cell with a polishing platform is connected with the potentiostat to investigate the corrosion behaviors of copper CMP in various alumina slurries. Experiments show that the slurry needs to be maintained in acidic pH<4.56 or alkaline pH>9.05 surroundings and thus better dispersion of alumina particles and less residual contaminant on copper surface can be obtained. The surface defects after copper CMP using acidic and alkaline slurries are described by pitting corrosion mechanisms, and these mechanisms can be regarded as a basis to modify their corrosion effects. Experimental results indicate that it is necessary to modify the dissolution of HNO₃ and oxidization of NH₄OH for copper CMP slurries. Consequently, the slurries of 5 wt.% HNO₃ by adding 0.1 wt.% BTA or 5 wt.% KNO₃ by adding 1 wt.% NH₄OH achieve good CMP performance for copper with higher CMP efficiency factor (CMPEF), 1460 and 486, and lower surface roughness (R_q), 4.019 and 3.971 nm, respectively. It is found that AFM micrographs can support the effectiveness of corrosion modifications for copper CMP in various slurry chemistries.     

Modeling the effects of oxidizer, complexing agent and inhibitor on material removal for copper chemical mechanical polishing

The paper presents a novel mathematical model that systematically describes the role of oxidizer, complexing agent and inhibitor on the material removal in chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) of copper. The physical basis of the model is the steady-state oxidation reaction and etched removal in additional to mechanical removal. It is shown that the complexing agent concentration-removal relation follows a trend similar to that observed from the effects of oxidizer on Cu removal in CMP. In addition, the removal rate and the coupled effects of the chemical additives are determined from a close-form equation, making use of the concepts of chemical-mechanical equilibrium and chemical kinetics. The model prediction trends show qualitatively good agreement with the published experimental data. The governing equation of copper removal reveals some insights into the polishing process in addition to its underlying theoretical foundation.     

Characterization of post-copper CMP surfaces with scanning probe microscopy: Part 1: Surface leakage measurement with conductive atomic force microscopy

We demonstrate in this paper for the first time the use of conductive atomic force microscopy (AFM) to measure surface leakage between copper structures with varying line width and spacing in the micro and sub micrometer ranges. Conducting atomic force microscopy allows subsequent measurement of the topography as well as the electrical properties of surfaces. The feasibility and interest of these measurements will be shown by studying the impact of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) of an electrical interface bearing different micrometric copper structures. As expected the polishing time has a crucial impact on the current determined between closely spaced copper structures. This paper will also deal with issues observed during the measurement.     

Modeling the effects of cohesive energy for single particle on the material removal in chemical mechanical polishing at atomic scale

This paper proposes a novel mathematical model for chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) based on interface solid physical and chemical theory in addition to energy equilibrium knowledge. And the effects of oxidation concentration and particle size on the material removal in CMP are investigated. It is shown that the mechanical energy and removal cohesive energy couple with the particle size, and being a cause of the non-linear size-removal rate relation. Furthermore, it also shows a nonlinear dependence of removal rate on removal cohesive energy. The model predictions are in good qualitative agreement with the published experimental data. The current study provides an important starting point for delineating the micro-removal mechanism in the CMP process at atomic scale.     

A nano-scale mirror-like surface of Ti–6Al–4V attained by chemical mechanical polishing

Metal Ti and its alloys have been widely utilized in the fields of aviation, medical science, and micro-electromechanical systems, for its excellent specific strength, resistance to corrosion, and biological compatibility. As the application of Ti moves to the micro or nano scale, however, traditional methods of planarization have shown their short slabs.Thus, we introduce the method of chemical mechanical polishing(CMP) to provide a new way for the nano-scale planarization method of Ti alloys. We obtain a mirror-like surface, whose flatness is of nano-scale, via the CMP method. We test the basic mechanical behavior of Ti–6Al–4V(Ti64) in the CMP process, and optimize the composition of CMP slurry.Furthermore, the possible reactions that may take place in the CMP process have been studied by electrochemical methods combined with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS). An equivalent circuit has been built to interpret the dynamic of oxidation. Finally, a model has been established to explain the synergy of chemical and mechanical effects in the CMP of Ti–6Al–4V.     

Effect of additives for higher removal rate in lithium niobate chemical mechanical planarization

High roughness and a greater number of defects were created by lithium niobate (LN; LiNbO₃) processes such as traditional grinding and mechanical polishing (MP), should be decreased for manufacturing LN device. Therefore, an alternative process for gaining defect-free and smooth surface is needed. Chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) is suitable method in the LN process because it uses a combination approach consisting of chemical and mechanical effects. First of all, we investigated the LN CMP process using commercial slurry by changing various process conditions such as down pressure and relative velocity. However, the LN CMP process time using commercial slurry was long to gain a smooth surface because of lower material removal rate (MRR). So, to improve the material removal rate (MRR), the effects of additives such as oxidizer (hydrogen peroxide; H₂O₂) and complexing agent (citric acid; C₆H₈O₇) in a potassium hydroxide (KOH) based slurry, were investigated. The manufactured slurry consisting of H₂O₂-citric acid in the KOH based slurry shows that the MRR of the H₂O₂ at 2 wt% and the citric acid at 0.06 M was higher than the MRR for other conditions.     

高准确度玻璃光学元件的CMP技术研究

依据化学机械抛光（Chemical Mechanical Polishing,CMP）加工玻璃光学元件的原理,通过对抛光运动机理的理论分析,提出了抛光垫的磨削均匀性对光学元件面形的影响,并设计了新的工艺流程.通过工艺试验,完成了高准确度玻璃光学元件的CMP加工,获得了表面质量N<0.2,Rq<0.3 nm的玻璃光学元件.     

Static dissolution rate of tungsten film versus chemical adjustments of a reused slurry for chemical mechanical polishing

Tungsten is widely used as deposited layer for the multi-level interconnection structures of wafers. The chemical composition of abrasive slurry plays an important role in chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process. Removal of tungsten is driven by complex oxidation mechanisms between slurry components. The slurry for tungsten CMP generally contains oxidizer, iron catalyst, complexing agents and stabilizers in a pH adjusted solution of abrasive particles. Interaction between iron complex and H₂O₂ in the slurry is the main factor governing the chemical mode of material removal, oxidation potencies and kinetics.In this study, we investigate the effects of chemical additives in silica (SiO₂)-based slurry on the removal rate of the tungsten film. Experiments were carried out in static batch as a preliminary study to understand and optimize chemical mechanisms in CMP-Tungsten process. Experiment designs were conducted to understand the influence of the chemical additives on the main performances of W-CMP. Used slurry, concentrated and retreated with chemical adjustments, is compared to the original slurry as a reference.