Influence of colloidal silica dispersion on the decrease of roughness in silicon chemical mechanical polishing

Abstract

Colloidal silica with different dispersion states during silicon chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) are investigated in detail. As the dispersion of colloidal silica is improved, the roughness (Ra ) decreases gradually during polishing. The silicon surface has a minimum Ra of 0.118 nm when the polydispersity index of particles is 0.078. Comparing with surface polished by colloidal silica in poor dispersion, the surface quality has great improvement. The important role of dispersant is presented by the results of investigations. The research results indicate that dispersant makes aggregate micelles dispersed into many smaller uniform colloidal silica particles. The uniformly dispersed colloidal silica forms a thin film between the surfaces of silicon and polishing pad during CMP, which is beneficial for the stability of friction, and therefore greatly decreases roughness of silicon surface after polishing.