Effects of particle size, polishing pad and contact pressure in free abrasive polishing

The objective of this research is to better understand the mechanisms of material removal in the free abrasive polishing process. Experiments were carried out to understand the effects of particle size, polishing pad and nominal contact pressure on the wear rate and surface roughness of the polished surface. A theoretical model was developed to predict the relationship between the polishing parameters and the wear rate for the case of hard abrasive particles sandwiched between a soft pad and a workpiece (softer than the abrasive particles). Experimental results and theoretical predictions indicate that the wear rate increases with an increase in particle size, hardness of polishing pad and nominal contact pressure, and with a decrease in elastic modulus of the polishing pad. Surface roughness increases with an increase in particle size and hardness of polishing pad, and nominal contact pressure has little effect on the roughness. A dimensionless parameter, wear index which combines all of the preceding parameters, was introduced to give a semi-quantitative prediction for the wear rate in free abrasive polishing. It is also suggested that when polishing hard material, in order to achieve a high materials removal rate and a smooth surface, it is preferable to use diamond as the polishing particles because of their high deformation resistance.     

Material removal efficiency improvement by orientation control of CMP pad surface asperities

This paper presents a novel method of improving material removal efficiency in the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process by optimizing the surface asperity orientation with respect to polishing motion. Feret's diameter plays a key role in increasing the number of working abrasives. Based on Feret's diameter model, an optimization method is proposed for the conditioning motion of a diamond dresser against a CMP pad. The radial velocity component of the dresser on the CMP pad is maximized by considering its direction of motion based on kinematic motion simulation. In addition, the pad cut rate profile is optimized to be uniform. Analytical and experimental investigations show that the ratio of radial and tangential velocity components is improved, yielding a larger Feret's diameter and 15% increase in the material removal rate.     

纳米聚集氧化硅固定磨料抛光布的抛光特性

针对传统磨料的固定磨料抛光布容易在加工表面产生划伤,以及材料去除效率低等问题,提出了采用微米级球形聚集氧化硅粒子的固定磨料抛光布。将纳米聚集氧化硅粒子添加到抛光布中,用pH为10.5的碱性水溶液替代传统的抛光液,进行了Si基板的的抛光加工试验。与传统采用不规则形状天然氧化硅及球形熔融氧化硅固定磨料抛光布进行了比较,得到了纳米聚集氧化硅的固定磨料抛光布的加工特性,并讨论了它的基本参数对加工特性的影响。实验得到了与现行纳米抛光液(重量百分比为3%,pH=10.5)相同的材料去除率,加工表面粗糙度降低了约30%。与传统不规则形状天然氧化硅磨料抛光布相比,纳米聚集氧化硅抛光布的磨料为球形,弹性系数仅为其1.4%~60%,因此不易划伤抛光表面。与熔融氧化硅抛光布相比,纳米聚集氧化硅抛光布在pH为10.5的碱性水溶液中磨料表面可吸附的[-OH]离子提高了25倍,使得液相化学去除作用增大至去除率的70%以上。另外,随着纳米聚集氧化硅的微米粒径的增大,固定磨料抛光布的纳米级加工表面粗糙度几乎不变,但对前加工面表面粗糙度的去除能力明显增大,表现出微米粒径效应。     

Dependence of pad performance on its texture in polishing mono-crystalline silicon wafers

Mono-crystalline silicon wafers are important materials in the semiconductor industry for fabricating integrated circuits and micro-electro-mechanical systems. To ensure high surface integrity of polished wafers, the effect of pad texture and its variation on the pad performance needs to be understood. This paper studies experimentally the dependence of pad performance on its texture deterioration by investigating its correlation with polishing time, polishing pressure, and material removal rate. The study concludes that material removal rate decreases as the cylindrical cell structure of a pad is gradually deteriorated, that there is a pad life limit beyond which polishing quality can no longer be maintained, and that the workable pad life can be extended to a certain degree by applying higher polishing pressure.     

时变去除函数在气压砂轮抛光中的应用研究

针对气压砂轮抛光中通过驻留时间控制材料去除量需在模具表面多去除一层材料及抛光效率低等问题,提出了一种基于时变去除函数的抛光材料去除量控制方法。该方法以抛光工具所能达到的最大进给速度在模具表面进行抛光加工,无需多去除材料,通过实时改变抛光工具的去除能力以适应面形误差的变化,极大地缩短了抛光时间;开展了抛光材料去除过程研究,建立了气压砂轮抛光工具进给速度与面形数据和抛光去除函数之间的关系,提出了抛光过程时间的计算方法;针对时变去除能力超出抛光工具最大去除能力的问题,提出了在气压砂轮抛光中对需去除的材料进行分层抛光的思想。最后,通过抛光过程时间对材料去除量控制的两种方法进行了对比分析。研究结果表明,在气压砂轮抛光中采用时变去除函数来控制材料去除量能极大地提高抛光效率。     

Optimization of the chemical mechanical polishing process for optical silicon substrates

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) experiments are performed to study the effects of four key process factors on the flatness and surface finish of the polished optical silicon substrates and on the material removal rate (MRR). The experimental results and analyses reveal that the pad rotational speed and polish pressure have significant effects on the MRR, the interaction of the polish head rotational speed and slurry supply velocity and the interaction of the polish pressure and polish head rotational speed have significant effects on the flatness, and the pad rotational speed has a significant effect on the surface roughness R _t of the optical silicon substrates polished. The optimal combination of the four factors investigated is a polish pressure of 9,800 Pa, a pad rotational speed of 20 rpm, a polish head rotational speed of 20 rpm, and a slurry supply velocity of 100 ml/min. A confirmation CMP experiment has been carried out using the optimal process parameter setting obtained from the design of experiments analyses. The goal to attain optical silicon substrates with nanometric surface roughness and micrometric flatness by an optimized CMP process with a high MRR simultaneously so as to reduce the polishing time to only 15 min from over 8 h has been achieved.     

EFFECTS OF POLISHING PARAMETERS ON MATERIAL REMOVAL FOR CURVED OPTICAL GLASSES IN BONNET POLISHING

The paper firstly analyzes the influence factor on material removal rate of curved optical work-pieces in the bonnet polishing. Then the experiments are conducted to reveal the effects of several polishing parameters on the material removal rate when the spherical optical glasses are polished with different curvature radius, such as the decrement of the bonnet, the rotational speed of the bonnet and the curvature radius of the work-piece＇s surface using a bonnet trial-manufacturing machine developed by our assignment groups. In the end, the curvilinear relationships between these parameters and the material removal rate are acquired and the laws of the effects on material removal rate in bonnet polishing by several parameters are given. When the spherical-pieces are polished with smaller curvature radius, it is not proportional to either bonnet decrement or bonnet rotational speed as described by the Preston equation although the removal rate increases as the relative velocity or the applied pressure increases. Therefore, for the purpose of calculating more accurately the material removal of the spherical work-pieces, the Preston equation should be modified and studied further.     

Theoretical and experimental investigation of surface generation in swing precess bonnet polishing of complex three-dimensional structured surfaces

Three-dimensional structured surfaces (3D-structured surfaces) possessing specially designed functional textures are widely used in the development of advanced products. This paper presents a novel swing precess bonnet polishing (SPBP) method for generating complex 3D-structured surfaces which is accomplished by the combination of specific polishing tool orientation and tool path. The SPBP method is a sub-aperture finishing process in which the polishing spindle is swung around the normal direction of the target surface within the scope of swing angle while moving around the center of the bonnet. This is quite different from the ‘single precess’ and ‘continuous precessing’ polishing regime, in which the precess angle is constant. The technological merits of the SPBP were realized through a series of polishing experiments. The results show that the generation of complex 3D-structured surfaces is affected by many factors which include point spacing, track spacing, swing speed, swing angle, head speed, tool pressure, tool radius, feed rate, polishing depth, polishing cloth, polishing strategies, polishing slurry, etc. To better understand and determine the surface generation of complex 3D-structured surfaces by the SPBP method, a multi-scale material removal model and hence a surface generation model have been built for characterizing the tool influence function and predicting the 3D-structured surface generation in SPBP based on the study of contact mechanics, kinematics theory, abrasive wear mechanism, and the convolution of the tool influence function and dwell time map along the swing precess polishing tool path. The predicted results agree reasonably well with the experimental results.     

Numerical analysis of hydrodynamic process of circular-translational-moving polishing (CTMP)

By keeping a pad moving relative to a wafer along a circular path without rotation, we developed a polishing technique called circular-translational-moving polishing (CTMP), which permits multidirectional polishing of the work piece and thus bears the advantage of isotropic polishing and a potential increase of material removal rate (MRR) on the wafer. To illuminate the mechanisms of CTMP and determine the optimum process variables in a CTMP process, a three-dimensional hydrodynamic lubrication model for CTMP with a smooth and rigid pad under a quasi-stable state is established in a polar coordinate system. The model equations are further calculated numerically by the finite difference method. The instantaneous distribution of fluid pressure is obtained, which shows that a negative pressure exists. The reason for negative pressure in CTMP and its effect on polishing is discussed. Moreover, the nominal clearance of the fluid film, roll, and pitch angles under different working conditions are obtained in terms of the applied load, moments, and polishing velocity. The obtained numerical analysis can be used as guidance for choosing operation parameters in a practical CTMP application.     

Numerical analysis of hydrodynamic process of circular-translational-moving polishing (CTMP)

By keeping a pad moving relative to a wafer along a circular path without rotation, we developed a polishing technique called circular-translational-moving polishing (CTMP), which permits multidirectional polishing of the work piece and thus bears the advantage of isotropic polishing and a potential increase of material removal rate (MRR) on the wafer. To illuminate the mechanisms of CTMP and determine the optimum process variables in a CTMP process, a three-dimensional hydrodynamic lubrication model for CTMP with a smooth and rigid pad under a quasi-stable state is established in a polar coordinate system. The model equations are further calculated numerically by the finite difference method. The instantaneous distribution of fluid pressure is obtained, which shows that a negative pressure exists. The reason for negative pressure in CTMP and its effect on polishing is discussed. Moreover, the nominal clearance of the fluid film, roll, and pitch angles under different working conditions are obtained in terms of the applied load, moments, and polishing velocity. The obtained numerical analysis can be used as guidance for choosing operation parameters in a practical CTMP application.     

单晶硅同质互抛实验研究

以材料的去除率和表面粗糙度为评价指标设计对比实验,验证了硬脆材料互抛抛光的可行性,得到了抛光盘转速对硬脆材料互抛的影响趋势和大小。实验结果表明：当抛光压力为48 265 Pa（7 psi）、抛光盘转速为70 r/min时,自配抛光液互抛的材料去除率为672.1 nm/min,表面粗糙度为4.9 nm,与传统化学机械抛光方式的抛光效果相近,验证了硬脆材料同质互抛方式是完全可行的;互抛抛光液中可不添加磨料,这改进了传统抛光液的成分;采用抛光液互抛时,材料去除率随着抛光盘转速的增大呈现先增大后减小的趋势,硅片的表面粗糙度随着抛光盘转速的增大呈先减小后增大的趋势。     

Investigation of increased removal rate during polishing of single-crystal silicon carbide

The application field of silicon carbide (SiC) as a next-generation compound semiconductor is expanding because of its significant advantages: high power, high frequency, low coefficient of thermal expansion, and high thermal conductivity. Many researchers have investigated SiC polishing for the manufacturing of semiconductor substrates using SiC. However, because SiC is a chemically and mechanically stable material, these researchers have faced difficulties due to its very low polishing rate (95–540 nm/h). Therefore, methods are required for increasing the material removal rate of SiC. The aim of this study was to investigate the increase in removal rate during the polishing of single-crystal SiC subjected to simultaneous polishing and dressing by using a diamond-impregnated polishing pad. Two types of pads—containing 1 and 5 wt% nanodiamond—were fabricated, and their performances were compared with that of a polyurethane polishing pad. A novel arrangement of conditioners was created in brazed diamond patterns, which were radially arranged in a cluster with 3–4 grits per cluster. Furthermore, a combined diamond disk was developed. The surface characteristics of the nanodiamond-impregnated pads, as well as the surface roughness, surface damage, and removal rate of the SiC polished with these pads and diamond disks, were investigated and compared with the corresponding attributes displayed by a polyurethane polishing pad and a conventional diamond disk. Experimental results showed that the removal rate of SiC with dressing was approximately 73 % higher than that of without dressing. The novel conditioner resulted in a dressing rate approximately two times higher and a removal rate approximately 38 % higher than those obtained by using the conventional diamond disk. In addition, SiC polishing tests revealed that the nanodiamond-impregnated polishing pads provided better surface roughness with no damage, as well as a removal rate approximately 2.5 times higher than that provided by the polyurethane polishing pad.     

Research on unbounded abrasive polishing process with assisted ultrasonic vibration of workpiece

Ultrasonic-assisted machining was an effective method to improve the material removal quality especially to difficult-to-cut metal materials. The ultrasonic vibration was usually superimposed on the machining tool but seldom on the workpiece, although the ultrasonic vibration of workpiece could improve the processability of material more effectively. In this paper, a rectangle hexahedron ultrasonic sonotrode with optimized slots was developed as a platform to realize the assisted ultrasonic vibration of workpiece and the ultrasonic-assisted polishing process of austenitic stainless steel was also studied. The unbounded abrasive was selected as polishing medium, and the path compensation strategy of soft polishing tool was carried out for getting uniform polishing force. The orthogonal experiments were designed to study the optimization of ultrasonic polishing parameters and the relation between different types of ultrasonic polishing path and polishing quality. The results appear that the horizontal ultrasonic vibration of workpiece can reduce polishing force and improve polished surface roughness, which can also reinforce the proportion of plastic shear effect in the material removal process. The ultrasonic polishing path keeping consistent with workpiece vibration direction can get more uniform polishing force and better surface roughness. And the 45° oblique crossing ultrasonic path can get the maximum average polishing force reduction by 75.2 %.     

Ta-W合金的化学机械抛光实验研究

针对Ta-W合金材料圆薄片零件化学机械抛光工艺，设计了Ta-W合金材料化学机械抛光抛光液，并探讨了抛光液各组分的含量及抛光工艺参数对抛光速率和抛光件表面质量的影响。结果表明，当抛光液中磨料SiO2溶胶质量分数为40％-65％时，抛光速率也达到较高值并在一定的硅溶胶含量范围内波动不大；当抛光液中有机碱的质量分数为4％-6％时，抛光速率达到最大值；随着氧化剂含量的增加，去除速率几乎成线性增加，但随氧化剂含量的增大表面状态变差，故应控制氧化剂的含量；随着抛光液流量的增加，抛光速率也增大，但在流量增加到200mL／min后，速率的增加变得缓慢。     

An analytical model of the material removal rate between elastic and elastic-plastic deformation for a polishing process

This paper develops an analytical model for the material removal rate during specimen polishing. The model is based on the micro-contact elastic mechanics, micro-contact elastic-plastic mechanics and abrasive wear theory. The micro-contact elastic mechanics between the pad-specimen surfaces used the Greenwood and Williamson elastic model. The micro-contact elastic-plastic mechanics between specimen and particle, as well as the micro-contact elastic mechanics between particle and pad, are also analyzed. The cross-sectional area of the worn groove in the specimen is considered as trapezoidal area. A close-form solution of material removal rate from the specimen surface is the function of average diameter of slurry particles, pressure, the specimen/pad sliding velocity, Equivalent Young’s modulus, RMS roughness of the pad, and volume concentration of the slurry particle.     

Predicting the Material Removal in Polishing: The Applicability of Two Types of Statistical Models

This article develops two statistical rough surface models to investigate the material removal rate in surface polishing. Model I implies that the contact between two surfaces is equivalent to that between a composite surface and a plane; but Model II is without the equivalent surface concept. The prediction differences of the two models were first investigated with the aid of contact mechanics. The analysis shows that the relative error of the predictions by the two models could be minimized by considering the interactions between asperities, and that this error increases with the separation of the mean planes, but decreases with the asperity density, asperity radius and standard deviation of the asperity height. By extending the models to study the material removal rate in polishing, it was found that asperity interaction is an important factor in a statistical modelling of polishing, and that with a given separation of the reference planes of the pad and workpiece surfaces, the material removal rate increases with the volume concentration of abrasive particles and varies with the pad roughness. The study also showed that the microstructure of a polishing pad has a significant effect on the material removal rate of a polishing.     

超声振动辅助固结磨粒抛光硅片表面形成机理及实验

基于超声加工所具有的加工效率和加工表面质量高等特性,提出了一种超声振动辅助固结磨粒化学机械复合抛光硅片新技术。对抛光工具及复合抛光实验系统的建立进行了描述,在此基础上开展硅片抛光表面形貌及材料去除机理的理论及实验研究,得到不同抛光力下的研究结果。所建立的理论模型及实验结果表明,超声振动辅助固结磨粒抛光有利于硅片表面质量及材料去除率的提高,且随着抛光力的增大,抛光表面质量下降,材料去除效果提高。     

Modeling the effects of abrasive size, surface oxidizer concentration and binding energy on chemical mechanical polishing at molecular scale

No conclusive results have been proposed for the influence of the abrasive particle size on the material removal during the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). In this paper, a mathematical model as a function of abrasive size and surface oxidizer concentration is presented for CMP. The model is proposed on the basis of the molecular-scale removal theory, probability statistics and micro contact mechanics. The influence in relation to the binding energy of the reacted molecules to the substrate is incorporated into the analysis so as to clarify the disputes on the variable experimental trends on particle size. The predicted results show that the removal rate increases sub-linearly with the abrasive particle size and oxidizer concentration. The model predictions are presented in graphical form and show good agreement with the published experimental data. Furthermore, variations of material removal rate with pressure, pad/wafer relative velocity, and wafer surface hardness, as well as pad characteristics are addressed. Results and analysis may lead further understanding of the microscopic material removal mechanism from molecular-scale perspective.     

软性粒子抛光石英玻璃的材料去除机理

基于阿伦尼乌斯原理和分子振动理论,分析了软性抛光粒子、石英玻璃和抛光垫之间的弹性与超弹性接触,研究了用软性粒子抛光石英玻璃的材料去除机理。基于理论研究进行了大量的抛光试验,建立了软性粒子抛光石英玻璃的材料去除率模型。理论计算与试验结果表明:在石英玻璃化学机械抛光中,材料的去除主要由抛光粒子与石英玻璃的界面摩擦化学腐蚀作用来实现;单个抛光粒子压入石英玻璃的深度约为0.05nm,且材料去除为分子量级;石英玻璃表层的分子更易获得足够振动能量而发生化学反应实现材料的去除;抛光压力、抛光液中化学试剂种类和浓度以及石英玻璃试件与抛光盘的相对运动速度决定了软性粒子抛光石英玻璃的材料去除率大小。     

磁场分布对多磨头磁流变抛光材料去除的影响

为研究磁场分布对材料去除的影响,设计轴向充磁异向排布、轴向充磁同向排布、径向充磁异向排布、径向充磁同向排布4种磁铁充磁和排布方式,利用有限元软件Maxwell仿真不同磁场的磁力线分布及抛光轮表面的磁感应强度分布,并采用数字特斯拉计测量实际磁感应强度。对单晶硅基片进行定点抛光试验,检测抛光斑沿抛光轮轴向的去除轮廓及峰值点的表面形貌。仿真和实际磁感应强度检测结果表明,不同磁场分布方式对抛光区的磁场分布有很大影响,磁铁轴向充磁同向排布与径向充磁异向排布时,具有较高的磁场强度和较好的多磨头效果。定点抛光试验表明,采用轴向充磁同向排布与径向充磁异向排布这两种方式时,能实现多点加工,其中轴向充磁同向排布时加工效率较高;但采用径向充磁同向排布时,由于抛光区磁感应强度较低,磁流变微磨头无法对工件进行有效地抛光。峰值点表面形貌检测结果表明,采用不同磁场分布方式时,对工件表面均是以塑性去除方式去除。研究表明,通过优化磁铁充磁和排布方式,可实现多磨头磁流变抛光的加工原理。