Characterization of Slurries Used for Chemical‐Mechanical Polishing (CMP) in the Semiconductor Industry

In the chemical‐mechanical polishing applied during the manufacture of semiconductor devices the polishing slurry is of major importance for the processing result and hence, a permanent, strict monitoring of the slurry properties is necessary. For this purpose qualified particle size analysis methods for the characterization of the solid particles used in the CMP slurries are required. Additionally, small amounts of agglomerates and large particles have to be detected.