Recent developments and applications of chemical mechanical polishing

Abstract

This article discusses advanced developments and applications of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) published recently in the selected papers indexed by Web of Science. The topics covered are advances in slurry and abrasives, pads and conditioning, CMP for semiconductor device manufacturing, CMP for other applications, modeling and simulations, and CMP with ultrasonic vibrations, lasers, photocatalysts, or UV lamps. Nonspherical abrasive particles have been developed for CMP, resulting in increased material removal rates (MRRs). Advanced conditioning methods have been proposed to uniformly generate pad surface shapes. Fixed abrasive CMP has advantages with higher MRRs. New models for designing the pad and conditioner have been proposed, and more uniform pad shapes can be obtained. Integrated advanced process control improves the wafer-to-wafer variation. Dental implants treated by CMP perform equally or better than the baseline-machined implants and the biphasic calcium phosphate-treated implants. The slurry distribution and the abrasive behavior can be simulated by means of multiphase modeling. Molecular dynamics simulations can explore the mechanism of CMP. CMP of wafers can be simulated using an atomic force microscope with its tapping mode. Theoretical models have been developed to calculate removal depths, study the chemical action in CMP, and explore the crystal orientation effects. CMP assisted by ultrasonic vibrations increases CMP MRRs and lowers the roughness of polished surfaces. CMP assisted by using UV lamp power, femtosecond lasers, or photocatalysts enhances CMP MRRs.