Effect of Alkaline pH on Polishing and Etching of Single and Polycrystalline Silicon

Abstract

In this paper, the polishing and etching behavior of single and polycrystalline silicon were studied. Prior to chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process, the surfaces were treated with dilute hydrofluoric acid (DHF) to remove native oxides. The surface analysis shows that the poly contains trace amount of oxygen even after DHF treatment. The static and dynamic etch rates, and removal rates were measured as a function of slurry pH. The single silicon showed a higher static etch rate than the poly. After static etch rate measurements, poly showed higher surface roughness and more hydrophilic which indicates that the surface of poly is different from single crystal silicon. The friction force between pad and substrate and pad temperature was also measured as a function of pH during polishing in order to get more understanding of polishing process. At all the pH values being investigated, poly showed lower dynamic and removal rates, higher friction force and higher temperature. This indicates that the removal of poly in CMP is predominantly by mechanical actions. Also, these results, suggest a mechanism in which the oxygen present in the poly grain boundaries strongly influences the etching and removal mechanism. (C) 2012 The Japan Society of Applied Physics