Novel CVD diamond-coated conditioner for improved performance in CMP processes

Conditioning of polishing pads during chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) of wafers is a critical process for maintaining productivity and quality control in the semiconductor industry. This investigation aims at developing a CMP diamond conditioner of a new concept and hence improving the conditioning performance. The novel diamond conditioner was fabricated by coating diamond films on a Si3N4 substrate with regularly patterned protrusions. Thanks to the uniform distribution and constant height of protrusions, the novel conditioner exhibited superior performance and durability over the current conditioner, which contains bonded diamond grits of various sizes and shapes with unequal heights. Characterization of the developed novel diamond CVD conditioner has also been made.

Research highlights
► CVD diamond-coated on ceramic substrate has regularly patterned protrusions.
► Diamond protrusions are all of equal height, the dressing behavior of the pad conditioner is greatly improved.
► Diamond-coated conditioner has improved resistance to corrosion by the polishing slurry and increased lifetime compared to the conventional conditioner.
► By optimizing the protrusion design, further performance improvement can be anticipated.