CMP Pad Conditioning Using the High-Pressure Micro-Jet Method

Xin Li; Yinggang Wang; Hongyu Chen; Wenhong Zhao; Qianfa Deng; Tengfei Yin; Suet To; Zhe Sun; Xi Shen; Wei Hang; Julong Yuan

doi:10.3390/mi14010200

CMP Pad Conditioning Using the High-Pressure Micro-Jet Method

Micromachines (Basel). 2023 Jan 13;14(1):200. doi: 10.3390/mi14010200.

Authors

Xin Li^{1

2}, Yinggang Wang^{1

2}, Hongyu Chen^{1

2}, Wenhong Zhao^{1

2}, Qianfa Deng^{1

2}, Tengfei Yin³, Suet To³, Zhe Sun¹, Xi Shen^{1

4}, Wei Hang^{1

2}, Julong Yuan^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China.
² Key Laboratory of Special Purpose Equipment and Advanced Processing Technology, Ministry of Education and Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Ultra-precision Machining Technology, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
⁴ School of Engineering, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Hangzhou 310007, China.

Abstract

In this study, in order to improve and restore the performance of the polishing pads and reduce the cost of chemical mechanical polishing, three types of material polishing pads, namely, polyurethane, damping cloth, and non-woven fabric, were selected for the experiment. Accordingly, each polishing pad was set up with diamond conditioner and high-pressure micro-jet (HPMJ) conditioning control experiments. Subsequently, the fluctuation ranges of the material removal rate on the three polishing pads were 2.73-3.75 μm/h, 1.38-1.99 μm/h, and 2.36-4.32 μm/h, respectively under the HPMJ conditioning method, while the fluctuation ranges of the material removal rate on the three polishing pads were 1.80-4.14 μm/h, 1.02-2.09 μm/h, and 1.78-5.88 μm/h under the diamond conditioning method. Comparing the polishing pad morphologies under SEM, we observed that the surface of the polishing pad after HPMJ conditioning was relatively clean, and the hole structure was not blocked. Contrastingly, there remained numerous abrasive particles on the surface after the conventional diamond conditioning and the hole structure was blocked. Thus, the HPMJ conditioning technology is better than the traditional diamond conditioning technology. Subsequently, the polishing pad after HPMJ conditioning has a longer service life and a more stable material removal rate than that after traditional diamond conditioning.

Keywords: chemical mechanical polishing; conditioning; high-pressure micro-jet; polishing pad; wear.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U20A20293, 52275467, 51775511), the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LZY23E050004, LY21E050011), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Provincial Universities of Zhejiang (RF-A2020003, RF-A2022002) and the Institute for Frontiers and Interdisciplinary Sciences of Zhejiang University of Technology (2022JCY09).