Study on Characteristic of Material Removal Rate in Chemical Mechanical Polishing of Silicon Wafer

Chemical mechanical polishing has become the most widely used planarization technology in the semiconductor manufacturing process, but the mechanism of chemical mechanical polishing has not been understood completely. Study on the mechanism of chemical mechanical polishing becomes an important fundamental research work to improve the technology of chemical mechanical polishing. In this paper, the model of forming element of material removal rate has been built based on friction and abrasion behaviors in process of wafer chemical mechanical polishing. The material removal rate produced by mechanical action, chemical action and interaction between the mechanical action and chemical action, respectively, has been obtained by the material removal rate tests of the silicon wafer in chemical mechanical polishing. According to analyzing the experiment results, it is concluded that the mechanical action produced by the abrasive is the main mechanical action in chemical mechanical polishing of wafer and the material removal rate mainly results from the interaction between the mechanical action of the abrasives and the chemical action of slurry. These results will provide a theoretical guide to further understanding the material removal mechanism in chemical mechanical polishing of wafer.