Chemical mechanical polishing of steel substrate using colloidal silica-based slurries

Abstract

AISI 52100 steel has been widely used in the mechanical industry due to its excellent mechanical properties and high availability. In some cases, an ultra-smooth surface of AISI 52100 steel is needed and is even indispensable for the satisfactory performance of devices. In this paper, chemical mechanical polishing technique was employed to prepare the ultra-smooth surface of AISI 52100 steel. Colloidal silica was used as the abrasive. The effects of pH, complexing agent such as glycine, H2O2 and benzotriazole (BTA) on the polishing performance were studied. It is revealed that, with the increase of pH, the static etching rate (SER) and the material removal rate (MRR) are both gradually reduced, and the post-CMP surface roughness Ra decreases. This is attributed to the fact that compact and passive iron oxides, especially Fe(III) oxides, gradually form on the top surface. At pH 4.00, in the presence of glycine, and with the increase of the H2O2 concentration, the SER is further suppressed, and the surface roughness Ra gradually decreases; the MRR initially dramatically increases due to the fact that, with the addition of small amount of H2O2, the porous iron oxide layer with relatively low mechanical strength can be rapidly formed on the surface. Moreover, glycine intensifies the chemical dissolution by chelating iron ions, especially Fe(II) ions, and thereby the mechanical strength of the oxide layer further weakens. Then, after reaching the peak value, the MRR gradually decreases when the H2O2 concentration further increases since the compactness of the oxide layer gradually increases. With the increase of the BTA concentration, the MRR is gradually suppressed and the surface roughness Ra decreases due to the formation of Fe-BTA passivating film on the top surface. Finally, a two-step polishing process was developed. The polishing results show that, within 20min, a rough surface of AISI 52100 steel with the Ra value of 188nm can be polished into an ultra-smooth surface with the Ra value of 1.8nm.