Title: Pad conditioning in chemical mechanical polishing: a conditioning density distribution model to predict pad surface shape

Authors: Emmanuel A. Baisie; Zhichao Li; Xiaohong Zhang

Addresses: Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, 1601 E. Market Street, Greensboro, NC 27411, USA ' Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, 1601 E. Market Street, Greensboro, NC 27411, USA ' Seagate Technology, 1 Disc Drive, Bloomington, Minneapolis, MN 55435, USA

Abstract: Diamond disc pad conditioning is traditionally employed to restore pad planarity and surface roughness in chemical mechanical polishing (or planarisation) (CMP). In this paper, a conditioning density distribution model is developed to predict the pad surface shape resulted from the diamond disc conditioning in CMP. A kinematic study is carried out to calculate and simulate the diamond grit trajectories. An analytical model is then proposed to correlate the conditioning density distribution with the wear of the polishing pad. In this study conditioner design is considered while function defined sweeping profiles and a visual measure of conditioner-pad contact distribution are introduced. Furthermore, the pad surface shape is predicted by the model and compared with experimental data. Results show that the model is effective to predict the pad surface shape. [Received 25 April 2011; Revised 24 August 2011; Accepted 23 October 2011]

Keywords: semiconductor materials; chemical mechanical polishing; chemical mechanical planarisation; CMP; pad conditioning; density distribution modelling; pad surface shape; dressing; pad shape; kinematics modelling; conditioning density; pad planarity; surface roughness; diamond disc conditioning; simulation; diamond grit trajectories; pad wear; polishing pads; surface quality.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMR.2013.051836

International Journal of Manufacturing Research, 2013 Vol.8 No.1, pp.103 - 119

Published online: 29 Jan 2014 *

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