Title: PCD pad conditioners for low pressure chemical mechanical planarisation of semiconductors

Authors: James C. Sung, Ming-Yi Tsai, Marehito Aoki, Cheng-Shiang Chou, Michael Sung

Addresses: Kinik Company, 64, Chung-San Road, Ying-Kuo, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan 239, ROC; National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan 106, ROC. ' National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 106, ROC. ' Tomei Diamond Co., Ltd., 4-5-1 Jyoto, Oyama, Tochigi 323-0807, Japan. ' Kinik Company, 64, Chung-San Road, Ying-Kuo, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan 239, ROC. ' Advanced Diamond Solutions, Inc., 351 King Street Suite 813, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA

Abstract: Instead of attaching individual diamond grits to a metal substrate, Advanced Diamond Disk (ADD) are manufactured by Electro Discharge Machining (EDM) of sintered Polycrystalline Diamond (PCD) to form cutting pyramids of a designed shape. This is not possible with single crystal diamond grits that possess obtuse solid angles for dressing plastic pads. The test data confirmed that ADD can dress pad more effectively than conventional pad conditioners with discrete diamond grits. Moreover, the service lives of ADD and pad can both be lengthened due to the much milder dressing action. These unique features of ADD can reduce significantly the Cost of Consumable (CoC) of Chemical Mechanical Planarisation (CMP) for the manufacture of advanced semiconductors.

Keywords: chemical mechanical planarisation; CMP; diamond dresser; polycrystalline diamond; sintered PCD; pad conditioners; advanced diamond disks; ADD; electro-discharge machining; EDM; electrical discharge machining; cutting pyramids; semiconductor manufacturing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAT.2008.020566

International Journal of Abrasive Technology, 2008 Vol.1 No.3/4, pp.327 - 355

Published online: 30 Sep 2008 *

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