IPEC Avanti 472

Such systems are used when deposited or patterned films leave height differences that would interfere with later process steps. The role of this class is to improve global and local planarity, expose selected layers when required, and prepare wafers for subsequent deposition, lithography, etch, or interconnect processing.

Machines of this class press a rotating wafer against a moving polishing pad while dispensing a reactive slurry. The pad provides mechanical abrasion, while the slurry chemistry softens or reacts with the target film so that material is removed in a controlled manner. Process control in this class centers on balancing pressure, relative motion, slurry delivery, pad condition, and endpoint behavior to achieve the intended removal profile.

A typical CMP sequence in this class includes wafer loading, carrier mounting, polishing, rinsing, and transfer onward for post polish cleaning. Such systems are designed to manage uniformity across the wafer, limit defects such as scratches or residue, and reduce dishing, erosion, or unwanted loss of underlying material. The polishing module is commonly part of a broader workflow that includes conditioning of the pad surface and cleaning steps to remove slurry particles and reaction byproducts.

CMP tools sit between film formation or pattern transfer steps and later operations that require a flatter starting surface. In semiconductor process flows, this class is commonly used after dielectric or metal deposition and after certain etch sequences, especially where multilayer structures would otherwise accumulate topography that degrades overlay, focus, fill, or interconnect formation.