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Analysis of Feature-Scale Wear in Chemical Mechanical Polishing: Modeling and Experiments

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Abstract

An asperity-scale wear model was developed to predict feature-scale wear in chemical–mechanical polishing (CMP), and was compared to the measured evolution of a lithographically patterned feature during full-scale CMP tests. To conduct this study, a lithographic technique was used to pattern a set of raised square features into a Cu-coated silicon wafer. Two-dimensional contact profilometry was used to measure the topography of an isolated feature on each wafer both before polishing and at various intervals throughout the polishing process. In the wear modeling formulation, a pad deflection-based contact mechanics model was developed and combined with a particle-based wear model to predict the wear evolution of the sample during CMP. The predicted wear of the sample feature was found to agree well to experimental results.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Pittsburgh Infrastructure Technology Alliance, and the NSF CAREER Program for their support of this research. Additionally, the authors are grateful for the support of the PPG Industries, for supplying polishing pads, and Advanced MicroSensors, for supplying the wafers that were used for this research.

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  1. Elon J. Terrell

    Present address: Columbia University, 500 W. 120th St., New York, NY, 10027, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA, 15213-2890, USA

    Elon J. Terrell, Ryan B. Comes & C. Fred Higgs III

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  1. Elon J. Terrell
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  2. Ryan B. Comes
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Correspondence to C. Fred Higgs III.

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Terrell, E.J., Comes, R.B. & Higgs, C.F. Analysis of Feature-Scale Wear in Chemical Mechanical Polishing: Modeling and Experiments. Tribol Lett 37, 327–336 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-009-9524-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-009-9524-5

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