Title: Tribological defects in planar nanomanufacturing processes

Authors: Thor Eusner, Nannaji Saka, Jung-Hoon Chun

Addresses: Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA. ' Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA. ' Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA

Abstract: In the manufacture of advanced semiconductor devices and MEMS, undesirable scratches are produced during such planar nanomanufacturing processes as chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP). In this paper, the upper-bound loads for scratching in CMP at single-particle contacts are estimated and validated by AFM experiments on both homogeneous and composite coatings. Additionally, the upper limits for the scratch width and depth are estimated. For a Cu surface, the maximum scratch width is about one-half and for a Cu/SiO₂ composite, it is about one-fifth of the abrasive particle diameter.

Keywords: chemical-mechanical polishing; CMP; semiconductor manufacturing; defects; atomic force microscopy; AFM; tribological defects; tribology; planar nanomanufacturing; nanotechnology; scratching; abrasive particles; surface scratches.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNM.2010.034769

International Journal of Nanomanufacturing, 2010 Vol.6 No.1/2/3/4, pp.22 - 37

Published online: 22 Aug 2010 *

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