Method of making polishing layer for chemical mechanical polishing pad

1. A method of forming a chemical mechanical polishing pad polishing layer, comprising:

providing a mold having a base, wherein the base has a negative of a groove pattern formed therein;

providing a poly side (P) liquid component, comprising at least one of a (P) side polyol, a (P) side polyamine and a (P) side alcohol amine;

providing an iso side (I) liquid component, comprising at least one polyfunctional isocyanate;

providing a pressurized gas;

providing an axial mixing device having an internal cylindrical chamber;

wherein the internal cylindrical chamber has a closed end, an open end, an axis of symmetry, at least one (P) side liquid feed port that opens into the internal cylindrical chamber, at least one (I) side liquid feed port that opens into the internal cylindrical chamber, and at least one tangential pressurized gas feed port that opens into the internal cylindrical chamber;

wherein the closed end and the open end are perpendicular to the axis of symmetry;

wherein the at least one (P) side liquid feed port and the at least one (I) side liquid feed port are arranged along a circumference of the internal cylindrical chamber proximate the closed end;

wherein the at least one tangential pressurized gas feed port is arranged along the circumference of the internal cylindrical chamber downstream of the at least one (P) side liquid feed port and the at least one (I) side liquid feed port from the closed end;

wherein the poly side (P) liquid component is introduced into the internal cylindrical chamber through the at least one (P) side liquid feed port at a (P) side charge pressure of 6,895 to 27,600 kPa;

wherein the iso side (I) liquid component is introduced into the internal cylindrical chamber through the at least one (I) side liquid feed port at an (I) side charge pressure of 6,895 to 27,600 kPa;

wherein a combined mass flow rate of the poly side (P) liquid component and the iso side (I) liquid component to the internal cylindrical chamber is 1 to 500 g/s,

wherein the poly side (P) liquid component, the iso side (I) liquid component and the pressurized gas are intermixed within the internal cylindrical chamber to form a combination;

wherein the pressurized gas is introduced into the internal cylindrical chamber through the at least one tangential pressurized gas feed port with a supply pressure of 150 to 1,500 kPa;

wherein an inlet velocity into the internal cylindrical chamber of the pressurized gas is 50 to 600 m/s calculated based on ideal gas conditions at 20° C. and 1 atm pressure;

wherein the poly side (P) liquid component comprises 25 to 95 wt % of a (P) side polyol;

wherein the (P) side polyol is a high molecular weight polyether polyol; and

wherein the high molecular weight polyether polyol has a number average molecular weight, MN, of 2,500 to 100,000 and an average of 4 to 8 hydroxyl groups per molecule;

discharging the combination from the open end of the internal cylindrical chamber toward the base at a velocity of 5 to 1,000 msec;

allowing the combination to solidify into a cake;

separating the cake from the mold; and,

deriving the chemical mechanical polishing pad polishing layer from the cake, wherein the chemical mechanical polishing pad polishing layer has a polishing surface with the groove pattern formed into the polishing surface, and wherein the polishing surface is adapted for polishing a substrate.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the iso side (I) liquid component comprises a polyfunctional isocyanate having an average of two reactive isocyanate groups per molecule.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pressurized gas is selected from the group consisting of: CO 2 , N 2 , air and argon.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the pressurized gas has a water content of ≤10 ppm.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the internal cylindrical chamber has a circular cross section in a plane perpendicular to the axis of symmetry of the internal cylindrical chamber.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the open end of the internal cylindrical chamber has a circular opening perpendicular to the axis of symmetry of the internal cylindrical chamber; and wherein the circular opening is concentric with the circular cross section.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the circular opening has an inner diameter of 2.5 to 6 mm.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the circular opening has an inner diameter of 3 mm.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polishing surface is adapted for polishing a semiconductor wafer.