Study on Pad Conditioning Parameters in Silicon Wafer CMP Process

Polishing pad plays a key role in determining polish rate and planarity of a chemical mechanical planarization (CMP). The properties of the pad would deteriorate during polishing because of pad surface grazing, which results in reduced removal rates and poorer planarity of wafer surface. Pad conditioning and its influence on pad surface structure and CMP process is introduced and discussed in this paper. The study shows that the surface structure can be regenerated by breaking up the glazed areas with conditioner, MRR(Material Removal Rate) can be maintained at high level with proper pad conditioning, and UN(Non-uniformity)can also improved. Orthogonal experiments design is employed in this study to determine the best conditioning parameters.