Silicon dioxide removal is enabled by chemical softening of the oxide surface through reactions with slurry abrasives, followed by shear-induced detachment under pad asperity contact [P1].
The SiO2 CMP to SiN stop step is positioned after trench oxide fill and pre-CMP oxide deposition to remove excess dielectric while preserving the silicon nitride pad layer that defines active regions in the STI module [P3]. This step establishes a globally planar surfac…
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