Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 September 2013
Additive-abrasive interactions in chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) slurries are investigated using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). The FCS technique provides quantitative determinations of the interaction between additives and abrasive particles by characterizing the competitive adsorption of the additive and a fluorescent probe molecule by an abrasive particle. Adsorption of the CMP additives glycine and benzotriazole (BTA) on precipitated and sol-gel colloidal silica abrasives are characterized. Significant differences in the fluorescent probe’s adsorption to the different silica abrasives in the presence of the additives suggest surface chemistry differences between the different types of silica. Extensions of the analysis of FCS data are proposed for improving the quantitative determination of the competitive adsorption of fluorescent probe dyes and CMP additives on abrasive particles.