A lubrication model between the soft porous brush and rigid flat substrate for post-CMP cleaning

A 3D lubrication model between a soft porous brush and rigid flat surface in the post-CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) cleaning process for wafer or hard-disc surface is set up in this article. The mesh porous structure of the brush and the kinematic relations between the brush and the surface are taken into account. The flow governing equations for cleaning process are deduced with Newtonian fluids between the brush nodule and the substrate. The distributions of fluid pressure and hydrodynamic removal moment are calculated. The simulation results show that the fluid pressure has negative regions in inlet area. The removal force is depended on system parameter, location, time and particle size. The load and hydrodynamic moment increase with the increase of brush velocity and deflection of brush nodule, which is effective for cleaning. A low wafer rotation speed is recommended to keep the cleaning uniformity. The removal moment is increasing during the cleaning process. The hydrodynamic drag force decreases rapidly with decreasing of particle size. The models are coincident with the actual process and can be used as reference for designing a higher level cleaning process and the analysis of the formation of particle defect. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.