Review on modeling and application of chemical mechanical polishing

Material Removal Mechanism in Chemical Mechanical Polishing: Theory and Modeling

The abrasion mechanism in solid-solid contact mode of the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process is investigated in detail. Based on assumptions of plastic contact over wafer-abrasive and pad-abrasive interfaces, the normal distribution of abrasive size and an assumed periodic roughness of pad surface, a novel model is developed for material removal in CMP. The basic model is = removed, wh...

Modeling of chemical mechanical polishing for shallow trench isolation

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is a key process enabling shallow trench isolation (STI), which is used in current integrated circuit manufacturing processes to achieve device isolation. Excessive dishing and erosion in STI CMP processes, however, create device yield concerns. This thesis proposes characterization and modeling techniques to address a variety of concerns in STI CMP. Three ma...

Modeling Dielectric Erosion in Multi-Step Copper Chemical-Mechanical Polishing

A formidable challenge in the present multi-step Cu CMP process, employed in the ultra-large-scale integration (ULSI) technology, is the control of wafer surface non-uniformity, which primarily is due to dielectric erosion and Cu dishing. In contrast with the earlier experimental and semi-theoretical investigations, a systematic way of characterizing and modeling dielectric erosion in both sing...

Chemical mechanical polishing of thin film diamond

The demonstration that Nanocrystalline Diamond (NCD) can retain the superior Young’s modulus (1100 GPa) of single crystal diamond twinned with its ability to be grown at low temperatures (<450 C) has driven a revival into the growth and applications of NCD thin films. However, owing to the competitive growth of crystals the resulting film has a roughness that evolves with film thickness, preven...

Laser Assisted Chemical Mechanical Polishing for Planarization