Polishing using multi-metal oxide nanopowders
View Patent ↗Polishing powders of nanoscale dimensions are disclosed. Complex, multi-metal oxides are disclosed as constituents for chemical mechanical planarization, (CMP) as well as polishes for optical components, photonic devices, and other applications.
1. A process of producing a polishing slurry comprising:
providing a feed composition wherein the feed composition comprises a blend of a first fluid precursor and a second fluid precursor, wherein the first fluid precursor comprises of the first metal and the second fluid precursor comprises of the second metal;
introducing the feed composition into a reactor wherein the feed composition is converted into a vapor at a temperature greater than 3000 C;
transforming the vapor into polishing powder; and
dispersing the polishing powder in a solvent to form the polishing slurry.
2. The process of claim 1 , where the temperature at which the feed composition is converted into a vapor is greater than 5000 C.
3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the polishing powder comprises a submicron powder.
4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the polishing powder comprises a nanoscale powder.
5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the purity of the powder is greater than 99.9% on metal basis.
6. The process of claim 1 , wherein the purIty of the powder is greater than 99.99% on metal basis.
7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the powder comprises of an oxygen containing substance.
8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the powder comprises a silicate.
9. The process of claim 1 , wherein the powder is non-stoichiometric.
10. The process of claim 1 further comprising pretreating the polishing powder before forming the polishing slurry, wherein the pretreating comprises one or more process(cs) selected from the group consisting of: thermal treatment, surface modification, shear mixing, and sonication.
11. The process of claim 1 further comprising combining one or more additives wIth the polishing slurry wherein the additives are selected from the group consisting of: acids, alkalis, detergents, oxidizers, reducers, dispersants, catalysts, enzymes, and emulsifying agents.
12. The process of claim 1 , wherein the blend further comprises of additional fluid precursors.
13. A method for producing a polishing slurry comprising:
preparing nanoparticles with a composition comprising at least two metals selected from the group comprising: aluminum, silicon, copper, cerium, zirconium, rare earth, alkaline earth, tungsten, titanium, iron, nickel, cobalt, zinc, tin, boron, platinum, palladium, silver, gold, hafnium, and manganese, wherein the preparing comprises introducing the composition into a reactor wherein the composition is converted into a vapor at a temperature greater than 3000 C and transforming the vapor into the nanoparticles;
wherein the hardness of the nanoparticles with a composition comprising at least two metals is different than the hardness of single metal oxides of alumina and silica;
dispersing the nanoparticles in water or organic solvent; and
adding additional additives thereby preparing a polishing slurry.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the nanoparticles with a composition comprising at least two metals comprises a multi-metal oxide.
15. The method of claim 13 wherein the additional additives are selected from the group consisting of: acids, alkalis, detergents, oxIdizers, reducers, dispersants. catalysts, enzymes, and emulsifying agents.