A study on the recycle of reused slurry abrasives

CMP 폐슬러리내의 필터링된 연마 입자 재활용에 관한 연구

CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) process remained to solve several problems in deep sub-micron integrated circuit manufacturing process. especially consumables (polishing pad, backing film, slurry, pad conditioner), one of the most important components in the CMP system is the slurry. Among the composition of slurries (buffer solution, bulk solution, abrasive particle, oxidizer, inhibitor, suspension, antifoaming agent, dispersion agent), the abrasive particles are important in determining polish rate and planarization ability of a CMP process. However, the cost of abrasives is still very high. So, in order to reduce the high COO (cost of ownership) and COC (cost of consumables) in this paper, we have collected the silica abrasive powders by filtering after subsequent CMP process for the purpose of abrasive particle recycling. And then, we have studied the possibility of recycle of reused silica abrasive through the analysis of particle size and hardness. Also, we annealed the collected abrasive powders to promote the mechanical strength of reduced abrasion force. Finally, we compared the CMP characteristics between self-developed KOH-based silica abrasive slurry and original slurry. As our experimental results, we obtained the comparable removal rate and good planarity with commercial products. Consequently, we can expect the saving of high cost slurry.