Morgan Advanced Ceramics announces new pad conditioners for 32 nanometer wafer fabrication

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Issue Date: 20th August 2008

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30% higher material removal rate on blanket copper wafers compared to conventional pad conditioners

Morgan Advanced Ceramics’ Diamonex division announces a new pad conditioner for chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) of wafers. The Diamonex Phoenix® Edge pad conditioner produces the highly consistent and fine pad texture required for the advanced process nodes. This patent-pending technology can be used in the most demanding CMP applications, including wafer fabrication at 32 nanometers and beyond.

Phoenix Edge pad conditioners produce CMP pad surfaces with significantly smaller asperities and more consistent pad texture than pad conditioners utilising traditional diamond crystals or grit. Contact is made by the edges of precisely-machined proprietary ceramic substrate with elevated surfaces coated with CVD diamond. This diamond surface has the advantage of multiple cutting facets compared with only one or two cutting edges of a single diamond crystal particle.

In laboratory tests, the Phoenix Edge pad conditioners achieved a 30% higher material removal rate on blanket copper wafers compared to conventional pad conditioners. This is achieved with dramatically lower pad cut rates, extending the life of the pad.

Constructed of an engineered ceramic substrate and coated with Diamonex® CVD diamond coating, Phoenix Edge pad conditioners have no diamond grit, and a completely inert contact surface. This is an engineered solution for controlling pad texture, corrosion and erosion; it is especially effective in low pH chemistries, such as tungsten and copper slurries. Edges can be designed in a variety of patterns, including spirals or concentric circles, with specifically-engineered dimensions, producing the required pad texture that will optimise CMP performance for each application.

Diamonex's quality programs and engineering support assures the success of customers' specific applications.

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For further information contact - Freshwater Technology