Intel Corporation

National Semiconductor Corporation

Digital Equipment Corporation

Sematech, Inc.

Matt Stell

Janos Farkas

Rahul Jairath

Sing-Mo H Tzeng

A method of using additives with silica-based slurries to enhance metal selectivity in polishing metallic materials utilizing a chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) process. Additives are used with silica-based slurries to passivate a dielectric surface, such as a silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2) surface, of a semiconductor wafer so that dielectric removal rate is reduced when CMP is applied. The additive is comprised of at least a polar component and an apolar component. The additive interacts with the surface silanol group of the SiO.sub.2 surface to inhibit particles of the silica-based slurry from interacting with hydroxyl molecules of the surface silanol group. By applying a surface passivation layer on the SiO.sub.2 surface, erosion of the SiO.sub.2 surface is reduced. However, the metallic surface is not influenced significantly by the additive, so that the selectivity of metal removal over oxide removal is enhanced.

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Folsom, CA, United States of America

Matt Stell