Materials and methods for chemical-mechanical planarization

A method of removing oxide from a major surface of a semiconductor substrate comprising:

• applying a carrier liquid to the polishing surface of a polishing pad, the polishing pad having an open cell structure of a thermoset polymer matrix defining a plurality of interconnected cells and abrasive particles distributed throughout the polymer matrix, and the carrier liquid having a pH of between about 5 and about 8;
• causing relative motion between the substrate and the polishing pad in a plane generally parallel to the oxide layer while applying a force tending to bring the oxide layer and the polishing surface into contact;
• conditioning the polishing surface, thereby releasing abrasive particles from the polymer matrix to form free abrasive particles;
• combining the carrier liquid and the free abrasive particles to form a planarizing slurry;
• and
• polishing the oxide with the planarizing slurry to remove a portion of the oxide from the substrate.

A method of removing metal from a major surface of a semiconductor substrate comprising:

• applying a carrier liquid to the polishing surface of a polishing pad, the polishing pad having an open cell structure of a thermoset polymer matrix defining a plurality of interconnected cells and abrasive particles distributed throughout the polymer matrix, and the carrier liquid having an oxidizer concentration;
• causing relative motion between the substrate and the polishing pad in a plane generally parallel to the oxide layer while applying a force tending to bring the metal layer and the polishing surface into contact;
• conditioning the polishing surface, thereby releasing free abrasive particles from the polymer matrix;
• combining the carrier liquid and the free abrasive particles to form a planarizing slurry;
• and
• polishing the metal with the planarizing slurry to remove a portion of the metal from the substrate.