Diamond Conditioner Wear Characterization for a Copper CMP Process

Conditioner wear, copper polish rates, pad temperature and coefficient of friction (COF) are measured for two novel Mitsubishi Materials Corporation designs during an extended wear and polishing test. Both designs are coated with a $Teflon^{TM}$ film to reduce substrate wear and chemical attack. Using optical interferometry, changes in the coating that result in gradual changes in diamond exposure are measured. Theories of the COF, conditioning, and polishing are applied to explain the observed performance differences between the designs.