Slurry flow visualisation of chemical mechanical polishing based on a computational fluid dynamics model.

Abstract

In this work, we developed a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to simulate the slurry flow between the wafers and pad during the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process under a multiple-wafer configuration. A serial of simulations were carried out to visualise slurry flow and explore the effects of the process variables concerned on the flow velocity and pressure distributions beneath the wafers. Through the model and simulation, the flow field characteristics were obtained and analyzed under different operating conditions. The results can provide an insight into a fundamental understanding of the slurry flow behaviours under the multiple-wafer configuration and some useful implications for the selection of practical polishing variables.