Atomic Insights into Material Removal Mechanisms in Si and Cu Chemical Mechanical Polishing Processes: ReaxFF Reactive Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Inhalt:
In this work, material removal mechanisms in Si and Cu chemical mechanical polishing processes are investigated using molecular dynamics simulations based on ReaxFF reactive force field. In the Si CMP process, the Si-Si bonds and Si-O-Si bonds of the Si substrate can be broken when they are connected to the silica surface through interfacial bridge bonds under the interfacial shear effects. Higher pressure leads to the removal of more Si atoms due to the formation of more interfacial bridge bonds. In the Cu CMP process, H2O, H2O2, glycine and silica surface can interact with the Cu surface, leading to the oxidation of Cu atoms and extrusion of these Cu atoms from the Cu surface, under the interfacial sliding process, these Cu atoms can be sheared off from the Cu surface. Keywords: Chemical-mechanical Polishing, molecular dynamics simulations, ReaxFF, H2O2, glycine, material removal mechanism