Accelerating Process Optimization and Consumable Development for Chemical Mechanical Planarization

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is an essential technology in the development of cutting-edge microelectronics. CMP is used for global planarization of dielectric interlayers and polishing of copper damascene architectures, tungsten vias, and low-k dielectric films. The ever-increasing list of semiconductor devices and scaling demands necessitates efficient polishing of a wide range of materials concurrently or sequentially. This increases the complexity of CMP and drives a continual need to optimize process design and control.

Tribolab CMP is a benchtop CMP system that simulates a full-scale CMP process, providing:

• a broad range of polishing pressures and rotational speeds
• coefficient of friction data
• acoustic emission data
• surface temperature data

Several variables can be changed and controlled independently in the experiments, including but not limited to:

• relative velocity
• applied downforce
• wafer shape
• slurry composition and viscosity
• conditioning disc type
• polishing pad type

Each of these parameters have different effects on the wafer-slurry-pad interactions and the experimental results are used in characterizing wafer/slurry/pad interactions, understanding material removal mechanisms, correlating contact conditions to the process parameters in a systematic way, and establishing models that relate material removal rate and friction coefficient to the process parameters.

Tribolab CMP is an effective tool for resolving challenges in the development of consumables such as pad, slurry, and cleaning solutions. It can also provide insight into applications for development and future potential directions.

Find out more about the technology featured in this webinar or our other solutions for Chemical Mechanical Planarization: