Effect of Surfactants on the Properties of C-, A- and M-Plane Sapphire CMP

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) can attain nanoscale planarization of wafers through the coordinated combination of chemical erosion and mechanical detrition. The components of slurry directly determine the surface quality after polishing. In this study, the effects of cationic surfactants (CTAB) and anionic surfactants (SDS) on the surface roughness (Sq) and material removal rate (MRR) of A-, C- and M-plane sapphire were investigated. According to the data, both surfactants can improve the surface quality and MRR of sapphire, with SDS being superior to CTAB. The A-, C- and M-plane MRRs are 2.38 μm/h, 4.22 μm/h and 3.77 μm/h, respectively, when 0.02 wt% SDS is added, the corresponding Sq values are 0.213 nm, 0.234 nm and 0.202 nm, achieving optimal results.