System for chemical mechanical polishing of Ge-based materials and devices

1. A chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) system, comprising:

a slurry source configured to distribute a slurry having a slurry composition including an oxidant, a germanium removal rate enhancer, and an etching inhibitor, wherein the oxidant includes potassium peroxodisulfate, wherein the germanium removal rate enhancer includes a methylpyridine compound including 3-methylpyridine, and wherein a first concentration of the germanium removal rate enhancer in the slurry composition is equal to a second concentration of the etching inhibitor in the slurry composition;

a polishing pad disposed on a platen that is configured to rotate, wherein the slurry source is further configured to distribute the slurry onto a surface of the polishing pad; and

a workpiece carrier configured to house a substrate and bring the substrate into contact with the polishing pad.

2. The CMP system of claim 1 , wherein the germanium removal rate enhancer includes a methylpyridine derivative compound including at least one of 2,3-dimethylpyridine, 2,4-dimethylpyridine, 2,6-dimethylpyridine, and 3,5-dimethylpyridine.

3. The CMP system of claim 1 , wherein the oxidant includes a compound having one or more oxygen atoms.

4. The CMP system of claim 1 , wherein the oxidant further includes one or more of hydrogen peroxide, ammonium peroxodisulfate, sodium peroxodisulfate, potassium peroxymonosulfate, peracetic acid, and tert-butyl hydrogen peroxide.

5. The CMP system of claim 1 , wherein the first concentration and the second concentration is equal to about 2,000 ppm.

6. The CMP system of claim 1 , wherein the etching inhibitor includes 2-mercaptopyridine N-oxide.

7. The CMP system of claim 1 , wherein the slurry composition further includes at least one of a surfactant, an organic complexant, a chelating agent, an organic or inorganic acid, an organic or inorganic base, a corrosion inhibitor, and a buffer.

8. The CMP system of claim 1 , wherein the slurry composition includes a slurry composition having a pH level in a range of between approximately 1 and 6.

9. The CMP system of claim 1 , wherein the oxidant further includes two or more of hydrogen peroxide, ammonium peroxodisulfate, sodium peroxodisulfate, potassium peroxymonosulfate, peracetic acid, and tert-butyl hydrogen peroxide.

10. An apparatus, comprising:

a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) system including:

a slurry source configured to distribute a slurry including an oxidant having one or more oxygen atoms and one or more sulfur atoms, an etching inhibitor, and a germanium removal rate enhancer including a methylpyridine-based compound, wherein the methylpyridine-based compound includes 3-methylpyridine, and wherein a first concentration of the germanium removal rate enhancer in the slurry is equal to a second concentration of the etching inhibitor in the slurry;

a polishing pad, wherein the slurry source is further configured to distribute the slurry onto a surface of the polishing pad; and

a workpiece carrier configured to house a substrate including a surface layer, wherein the workpiece carrier is further configured to bring the surface layer into contact with the polishing pad;

a valve manifold box coupled to a slurry day tank and to the CMP system, wherein the valve manifold box is configured to provide the slurry from the slurry day tank to the CMP system; and

re-circulation transport piping coupled to the valve manifold box and configured to return unused slurry that was not provided to the CMP system to the slurry day tank, wherein the slurry day tank is configured to mix the unused slurry with new slurry provided from a slurry manufacturing tank coupled to the slurry day tank.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising a slurry storage tank coupled between the slurry manufacturing tank and the slurry day tank.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the slurry day tank is further configured to maintain an efficacy of the mixed slurry for a period of at least six months.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the polishing pad is disposed on a platen that is configured to rotate, and wherein the rotation of the polishing pad is configured to transport the slurry underneath the surface layer.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising a pad conditioner configured to roughen the surface of the polishing pad.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the workpiece carrier is configured to rotate.

16. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the oxidant includes potassium peroxodisulfate.

17. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the etching inhibitor includes 2-mercaptopyridine N-oxide.

18. A system, comprising:

a slurry source configured to distribute a slurry including a germanium removal rate enhancer including a methylpyridine-based compound, an etching inhibitor including an N-oxide compound, and an oxidant including potassium peroxodisulfate, wherein the methylpyridine-based compound includes 3-methylpyridine, wherein a first concentration of the germanium removal rate enhancer is equal to a second concentration of the etching inhibitor, and wherein a third concentration of the oxidant is half the concentration of the first concentration and the second concentration; and

a polishing pad disposed on a platen, wherein the slurry source is further configured to distribute the slurry onto a surface of the polishing pad.

19. The system of claim 18 , further comprising a workpiece carrier configured to house a substrate and bring the substrate into contact with the polishing pad.

20. The system of claim 18 , wherein the N-oxide compound includes 2-mercaptopyridine N-oxide.