CMP active diamond characterization and conditioner wear

Using a pad substitute material, we measure the number of active or working diamonds on a conditioner and find that it is generally a small fraction of the total number on the disc. The number of active diamonds also increases with the applied load and varies somewhat with sliding direction. However, even among the active diamonds, most do relatively little cutting. A few diamonds on a disc do most of the deep bulk cutting, a larger fraction skim the higher areas of the pad surface and most of the diamonds on the disc apparently merely help to support the load. While all of the diamonds that make contact, cutting or otherwise, may show evidence some of mechanical wear, wear of the small number of deep bulk cutting diamonds may be responsible for declining cut rates and for surprisingly low observed conditioner lifetimes.