The impact of diamond conditioners on scratch formation during chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) of silicon dioxide

• Scratch formation behavior on SiO2 CMP was investigated using various conditioners.
• Pad debris generated depends on the type of diamond conditioners.
• Friction force decreases with increase in the diamond density and grade number.
• Pad surface roughness decreases with increase in the diamond grade number.

The effects of pad surface roughness and debris induced by various types of diamond conditioners during the chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process and their scratch forming behaviors were evaluated. Five types of conditioners having different grade numbers and densities were used to condition the polyurethane pads. When conditioned using low-density and sharp diamond conditioners, the roughness and wear rate of the pads were found to be higher with higher removal rates. The scratch generation behavior showed a similar trend to that of the removal rate. Additionally, the scratch formation was evaluated through the in-situ/ex-situ pad conditioning. Based on in-situ/ex-situ pad conditioning experiments, it was found that ex-situ pad conditioning process resulted in lower removal rate with lesser number of scratches.