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Measurement Of Polishing Rate As A Function Of Pad-Independent Abrasive Friction For Chemical Mechanical Polishing, Christopher Mcgowan

Master's Theses

As features on integrated circuits continue to grow smaller, they become more susceptible to damage from sequential planarization steps during fabrication. As planarization (known as chemical mechanical planarization, or simply CMP) is preformed multiple times and on every stage of fabrication, potential damage from it represents a significant financial risk, motivating a more fundamental understanding of the material removal process. CMP typically consists of a stiff polymer pad being used to bring a chemically active colloidal suspension of nanoscale particles into contact and relative motion with the substrate to be polished. For narrow sets of conditions, CMP is typically seen …