Perspective—Electrochemical Assessment of Slurry Formulations for Chemical Mechanical Planarization of Metals: Trends, Benefits and Challenges

With continued shrinkage of circuit dimensions, the technique of chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) has become progressively more intricate through the last decade. Since the chemical mechanism of metal CMP is governed by electrochemical effects, the complex task of CMP-slurry engineering can be economically assisted in the electroanalytical approach by using laboratory scale model systems. This article discusses how CMP has been impacted by device scaling, and examines the status of fundamental studies of metal CMP. The techniques suitable for studying model CMP systems are discussed, along with an assessment of the utilities and the practical limits of such experiments.