Electrochemical behavior and polishing properties of silicon wafer in alkaline slurry with abrasive CeO2

The electrochemical behavior of silicon wafer in alkaline slurry with nano-sized CeO2 abrasive was investigated. The variations of corrosion potential （φcorr） and corrosion current density （Jcorr） of the P-type （100） silicon wafer with the slurry pH value and the concentration of abrasive CeO2 were studied by polarization curve technologies. The dependence of the polishing rate on the pH and the concentration of CeO2 in slurries during chemical mechanical polishing（CMP） were also studied. It is discovered that there is a large change of φcorr and Jcorr when slurry pH is altered and the Jcorr reaches the maximum （1.306 μA/cm^2） at pH 10.5 when the material removal rate（MRR） comes to the fastest value. The Jcorr increases gradually from 0.994 μA/cm^2 with 1% CeO2 to 1.304 μA/cm^2 with 3% CeO2 and reaches a plateau with the further increase of CeO2 concentration. There is a considerable MRR in the slurry with 3% CeO/at pH 10.5. The coherence between Jcorr and MRR elucidates that the research on the electrochemical behavior of silicon wafers in the alkaline slurry could offer theoretic guidance on silicon polishing rate and ensure to adjust optimal components of slurry.