On the CMP material removal at the molecular scale

Understanding of the mechanisms of material removal is of fundamental importance in chemical-mechanical planarization of semiconductor wafers. A plausible mechanism at work is that the material is removed at the molecular scale by debonding the chemistry-weakened molecules at the wafer surface. A sequence of order-of-magnitude calculations is carried out to substantiate this mechanism of chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) materials removal. The analysis may lend further credence to the mechanism in addition to its underlying theoretical foundation.