An investigation of the Vickers hardness of polishing pads using simulations based on microtomography model

Abstract

Abstract Porous pads used during the chemical mechanical polishing are critical in IC fabrication for achieving consistent throughput. The hardness of thermoplastic polyurethane pads is identified as a crucial parameter in calibrating the amount of material removed during the polishing process. Through micro-CT scanning technology, a three-dimensional micro-topography model of polyurethane IC1000 pad was developed. Nanoindentation measurements were conducted to evaluate the physical properties of IC1000 pad in the manufacture process. In order to investigate the Vickers hardness of the polyurethane IC1000 pad, which widely use in the fabrication of semiconductor manufacturing, the finite element method was employed to simulate the indentation between Vickers indenter diamond tip and the model of IC1000 pad. This study is not only successfully calibrating the Vickers hardness of polyurethane IC1000 pad with a 3 percent error compared to experimental verification, but also developed a novel methodology for investigating the micro-topography structure of polymer foam materials.