Removal Mechanism of Tungsten CMP Process: Effect of Slurry Abrasive Concentration and Process Temperature

This work studied the removal mechanism of a tungsten chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process on a dual head polishing platform. The two key parameters studied were slurry abrasive concentration and process temperature. The removal rate was observed to scale with the cubic root of the abrasive concentration. The polishing temperature showed a linear relation with the removal rate in the temperature controlled experiment. A potential mechanism was explored for the removal of the tungsten film to explain the experimental results.