Pad Conditioning for Poromeric Materials

Abstract:
Poromeric materials have a long history in wafer polishing. While the process technology associated with them has not enjoyed the attention that has been applied to hard pads, renewed focus on soft pads in critical applications such as barrier polishing has highlighted the need for a better understanding of these materials. In this paper, the performance implications of the vertically oriented pore structure of poromeric pads and the various conditioning protocols that can be applied to them will be discussed. The history of these materials and their adoption in the semiconductor industry will also be reviewed. Keywords: Poromeric, Corfam, pad conditioning, structured CVD diamond, vertically oriented pore structure, buff pad, barrier pad, soft pad