University of Florida Research Foundation Inc

Sinmat, Inc.

Entegris, Inc.

Arul Arjunan

Rajiv K Singh

Deepika Singh

Wei Bai

Abhudaya Mishra

Kannan Balasundaram

Chaitanya Ginde

Tanjore V Jayaraman

Puneet N Jawali

Dibakar Das

A method of CMP includes providing a slurry solution including &#x2265;1 per-compound oxidizer in a concentration between 0.01 M and 2 M with a pH from 2 to 5 or 8 to 11, and &#x2265;1 buffering agent which provides a buffering ratio &#x2265;1.5 that compares an amount of a strong acid needed to reduce the pH from 9.0 to 3.0 as compared to an amount of strong acid to change the pH from 9.0 to 3.0 without the buffering agent. The slurry solution is exclusive any hard slurry particles or has only soft slurry particles that have throughout a Vickers hardness &#x3c;300 Kg/mmor Mohs Hardness &#x3c;4. The slurry solution is dispensed on a hard surface having a Vickers hardness &#x3e;1,000 kg/mmis pressed by a polishing pad with the slurry solution in between while rotating the polishing pad relative to the hard surface.

Hard abrasive particle-free polishing of hard materials

A CMP method uses a slurry including colloidal metal oxide or colloidal semiconductor oxide particles (colloidal particles) in water. At least one particle feature is selected from (i) the colloidal particles having a polydispersity &#x3e;30%, and (ii) mixed particle types including the colloidal particles having an average primary size &#x3e;50 nm mixed with fumed oxide particles having average primary size &#x3c;25 nm. A substrate having an alumina surface is placed into a CMP apparatus, and CMP is performed with a rotating polishing pad and the slurry to polish the alumina surface. The polydispersity is determined by a polydispersity formula for a distribution width (w) involving width wand width wat a second larger particle size. The polydispersity formula=(w&#x2212;w)&#xd7;100/dav which includes 63% of a total of the colloidal particles by volume and day is an average particle size of the colloidal particles.

Method of chemical mechanical polishing of alumina

A chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) includes providing a slurry including composite particles dispersed in a water-based carrier that comprise a plurality of hard particles on an outer surface of a soft-core particle. The hard particles have a Mohs hardness at least 1 greater than a Mohs hardness of the soft core particle and/or a Vickers hardness at least 500 Kg/mmgreater than the soft-core particle. A substrate having a substrate surface with a hardness greater than a Mohs number of 6 or a Vickers hardness greater than 1,000 kg/mmis placed into a CMP apparatus having a rotating polishing pad, and CMP is performed with the rotating polishing pad and the slurry to polish the substrate surface.

Polishing of hard substrates with soft-core composite particles

A CMP method uses a slurry including a first metal oxide or semiconductor oxide particles (first oxide particles) in water. At least one particle feature is selected from (i) first oxide particles having a polydispersity &#x3e;30%, (ii) a coating on first oxide particles including Group I or Group II ions, transition metal oxide, or organic material, (iii) first oxide particles mixed with fumed oxide particles, (iv) first oxide particles with average primary size &#x3e;50 nm mixed with fumed oxide particles having average primary size &#x3c;25 nm, and (v) first oxide particles with a per surface area per unit mass &#x3c;100 m/gm mixed with another oxide particle type having an average area per unit mass &#x3e;150 m/gm. A substrate having an alumina surface is placed into a CMP apparatus, and CMP is performed with a rotating polishing pad and the slurry to polish the alumina surface.

Chemical mechanical polishing of alumina

Slurry compositions and chemically activated CMP methods for polishing a substrate having a silicon carbide surface using such slurries. In such methods, the silicon carbide surface is contacted with a CMP slurry composition that comprises i) a liquid carrier and ii) a plurality of particles having at least a soft surface portion, wherein the soft surface portion includes a transition metal compound that provides a Mohs hardness &#x3c;6, and optionally iii) an oxidizing agent. The oxidizing agent can include a transition metal. The slurry is moved relative to the silicon carbide comprising surface, wherein at least a portion of the silicon carbide surface is removed.

Chemical mechanical polishing of silicon carbide comprising surfaces

A method of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) a diamond containing surface includes providing a slurry including a plurality of particles, at least one oxidizer, and at least one acid, wherein the slurry has a pH&#x2266;3 or pH greater than 11. At least an outer surface of the plurality of particles is softer than the diamond surface or the particles are diamond particles averaging less than (&#x3c;) 2 &#x3bc;m in size. The diamond surface is pressed with respect to a polishing pad providing a Shore D Hardness less than 99 having the slurry in between while rotating the polishing pad relative to the diamond surface to form a smooth diamond surface having a root mean square (rms) surface roughness less than 15 nm.

CMP method for forming smooth diamond surfaces

A method of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) a diamond containing surface includes providing a slurry including a plurality of particles, at least one oxidizer, and at least one acid, wherein the slurry has a pH&#x2266;3 or pH greater than 11. At least an outer surface of the plurality of particles is softer than the diamond surface or the particles are diamond particles averaging less than (&#x3c;)2 &#x3bc;m in size. The diamond surface is pressed with respect to a polishing pad providing a Shore D Hardness less than 99 having the slurry in between while rotating the polishing pad relative to the diamond surface to form a smooth diamond surface having a root mean square (rms) surface roughness less than 15 nm.

Smooth diamond surfaces and CMP method for forming

A method for forming an epitaxial layer on a substrate surface having crystalline defect or amorphous regions and crystalline non-defect regions includes preferential polishing or etching the crystalline defect or amorphous regions relative to the crystalline non-defect regions to form a decorated substrate surface having surface recess regions. A capping layer is deposited on the decorated substrate surface to cover the crystalline non-defect regions and to at least partially fill the surface recess regions. The capping layer is patterned by removing the capping layer over the crystalline non-defect regions to form exposed non-defect regions while retaining the capping layer in at least a portion of the surface recess regions. Selective epitaxy is then used to form the epitaxial layer, wherein the capping layer in the surface recess regions restricts epitaxial growth of the epitaxial layer over the surface recess regions.

Defect capping method for reduced defect density epitaxial articles

A method of chemically-mechanically polishing a substrate having a Group III-nitride surface includes providing a chemical-mechanical polishing slurry composition. The slurry composition includes a slurry solution including a liquid carrier and an oxidizer including a transition metal or a per-based compound. The slurry solution includes at least one component that reacts with the Group III-nitride surface to form a softened Group III-nitride surface. The Group III-nitride comprising surface is contacted with the slurry composition by a pad to form the softened Group III-nitride surface. The pad is moved relative to the softened Group III-nitride surface, wherein at least a portion of the softened Group III-nitride surface is removed.

Chemical mechanical polishing of group III-nitride surfaces

Slurry compositions and chemically activated CMP methods for polishing a substrate having a silicon carbide surface using such slurries. In such methods, the silicon carbide surface is contacted with a CMP slurry composition that comprises i) a liquid carrier and ii) a plurality of particles having at least a soft surface portion, wherein the soft surface portion includes a transition metal compound that provides a Mohs hardness &#x2266;6, and optionally iii) an oxidizing agent. The oxidizing agent can include a transition metal. The slurry is moved relative to the silicon carbide comprising surface, wherein at least a portion of the silicon carbide surface is removed.

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Gainesville, FL, United States of America

Arul Arjunan