In semiconductor chip manufacturing, integrated circuits are laid down through precisely controlled and carefully engineered layer-by-layer processing. During the fabrication process, semiconductor wafers undergo repeated polishing and planarization to ensure that the wafer surface is flat and free of extraneous material before subsequent layer processing. This process, chemical mechanical planarization (or chemical mechanical polishing) uses a combination of a textured hard or soft CMP pad, a pad conditioner, and a specialized slurry to polish the wafer.

As the CMP pad is used over time, it must be regularly conditioned with a CMP pad conditioner to maintain consistent polishing performance. Pad conditioners can be made of hard or soft materials, and they can be designed with a range of sizes, textures, and features to condition different types of pads. Integrated optimization of pad, slurry, and conditioner is increasingly necessary to deliver the required CMP performance at advanced nodes.

3M science spans advanced CMP pad conditioners and CMP pads, and leverages the breadth of 3M’s many technology platforms. Our solutions are designed to help you meet your advanced CMP processes’ demands, including reduced variability, improved planarization performance, tunable selectivity, longer lifetime, process consistency and stability, reduced metal contamination and higher yield.