Particle technology in chemical mechanical planarization

Abstract

In order to keep pace with Moore’s law, multilevel metallization has become the process of choice. Having a planar wafer surface before every successive step in multilevel metallization is important. The Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) process is used in the semiconductor industry to achieve planar surfaces at every step of the multi-level metallization. In CMP, planarization is achieved primarily due to material removal by the use of abrasive particle slurries. In addition to the slurry chemistry, slurry performance is also dictated by the properties of the abrasive particles. A better understanding of the properties of abrasive particles and particle abrasion mechanisms will lead to better CMP. Some of the challenges in particle modeling, slurry stabilization and particle induced lubrication as well as recent developments in engineered particles for CMP are discussed in this paper.