Abrasive

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

0001The present invention relates to an abrasive comprising surface modified particles of ceric oxide and a polishing method using said abrasive.

2. Description of the Related Art

0002It has been proved that cerium oxide particles or the particles of a composition essentially composed of cerium oxide have excellent performance as an abrasive for polishing inorganic glass, quartz crystal and quartz glass.

0003Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Sho 58-55334 discloses a process for producing a dispersible product containing a cerium compound which comprises heating a cerium (IV) oxide hydrate in the presence of a salt and disintegrating agglomerated fine crystals contained in the cerium (IV) oxide hydrate. The above publication teaches that ammonium nitrate is used as the salt in addition to a metal nitrate, metal chloride and metal perchlorate. The publication further teaches that a solution containing a cerium (IV) oxide hydrate and ammonium nitrate was dried at 105°C and further heated at 300°C to obtain a product containing ceric oxide and a nitrate which was then dispersed in water to obtain a gel, as an embodiment of the invention. However, the description is not made about the application of this gel.

0004Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 5-262519 discloses a process for producing a rare earth oxide which comprises mixing an oxalate, rare earth compound and ammonium salt in an aqueous medium, separating a precipitate produced at 30 to 90°C and calcining the obtained oxalic acid rare earth ammonium double salt at 600 to 1,200°C. The above publication teaches that ammonium nitrate, ammonium chloride, ammonium acetate or the like is used as the ammonium salt and cerium nitrate is used as the rare earth compound.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

0005A silicon oxide film (SiO₂ film) for a semiconductor device, quartz glass for a photo mask and a quartz piece for a crystal oscillator are becoming in need of a polished surface having high flatness and accordingly, an abrasive having a particle diameter in a submicron or lower order must be used.

0006When the particle diameter of an abrasive used for polishing these is reduced, mechanical polishing force is lowered, thereby lowering the polishing speed and productivity in the polishing step with the result of an increase in product cost. If the polishing speed can be increased without changing the particle diameter of an abrasive particle, the productivity of the polishing step will improve.

0007When a silicon oxide film (SiO₂ film) is used as a stopper (layer for stopping polishing) for flattening an interlayer film for a semiconductor device, if only a soft film such as an organic resin film can be polished without polishing a hard film such as a silicon oxide film (SiO₂ film) so that polishing of a soft film such as an organic resin film proceeds while polishing of a hard film such as a silicon oxide film (SiO₂ film) stops, the application of an abrasive to lithography is expected.

0008It is an object of the present invention to provide an abrasive comprising ceric oxide particles or particles essentially composed of ceric oxide prepared by heating ceric oxide particles or particles essentially composed of ceric oxide obtained by calcining and grinding a composition containing a rare earth element essentially composed of cerium in an aqueous medium at a temperature of 50 to 250°C in the presence of an ammonium salt. This abrasive is composed of surface modified ceric oxide particles. The polishing speed can be controlled and a polishing method suitable for the properties of a surface to be polished can be adopted for an abrasive composed of ceric oxide particles obtained according to type of a chemical used for surface modification.

0009According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an abrasive composed of ceric oxide particles which are heated at a temperature of 50 to 250°C in an aqueous medium in the presence of an ammonium salt or of a reducing substance.

0010According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a polishing method using an abrasive composed of ceric oxide particles which are heated at a temperature of 50 to 250°C in an aqueous medium in the presence of an ammonium salt or of a reducing substance.

0011In the first and second aspects of the present invention, the ceric oxide particles used as a starting material are not limited to a particular kind, and ceric oxide particles produced by known methods can be used. For example, it is possible to use crystalline ceric oxide particles having a particle diameter of 0.05 to 5 µm produced by a dry process which comprises calcining a cerium salt such as cerous hydroxide, ceric hydroxide, cerous nitrate, basic cerium (IV) nitrate, cerous chloride, ceric chloride, cerous carbonate, ceric carbonate, basic cerous sulfate, basic ceric sulfate, cerous oxalate or ceric oxalate, or a rare earth compound essentially composed thereof at 1,000°C, grinding and classifying.

0012The crystalline ceric oxide particles obtained by the process of EP-A-0 822 164 are particularly preferably used as the ceric oxide particles as a starting material of the present invention.

0013The aqueous medium of the present invention is generally water but can contain a trace amount of a water-soluble organic medium.

0014The ammonium salt used in the present invention may be an ammonium salt having a non-oxidizing anion component. This ammonium salt having a non-oxidizing anion component is the most preferably ammonium carbonate or ammonium hydrogencarbonate. They may be used alone or in admixture.

0015The ammonium salt having a non-oxidizing anion component is preferably contained in an aqueous medium in an [NH₄⁺]/[CeO₂] molar ratio of 0.1 to 30 and the concentration of the ammonium salt in the aqueous medium is preferably 1 to 30 wt%.

0016When the ceric oxide particles are heated in an aqueous medium using the ammonium salt having a non-oxidizing anion component, they are heated at a temperature of 50 to 250°C, preferably 50 to 180°C to obtain surface modified crystalline ceric oxide particles. The heating time can be set to 10 minutes to 48 hours. When the heating temperature is 100°C or lower, an open (not-sealed) reactor is used. When the heating temperature is higher than 100°C, an autoclave or supercritical treatment apparatus is used. The heated ceric oxide particles are taken out from a treatment layer as a slurry and cleaned by ultrafiltration or filter press to remove impurities.

0017The ceric oxide particles whose surfaces are modified by heating in the presence of an ammonium salt having a non-oxidizing anion component can be easily dispersed into an aqueous medium to prepare an abrasive solution. This aqueous medium is preferably water.

0018When quaternary ammonium ions (NR₄⁺ wherein R is an organic group) are contained in the sol of the ceric oxide particles whose surfaces are modified by heating in an aqueous medium in the presence of an ammonium salt having a non-oxidizing anion component in a (NR₄⁺)/(CeO₂) molar ratio of 0.001 to 1 after impurities are removed from the particles by cleaning, the stability of the abrasive solution is improved advantageously. The quaternary ammonium ions are provided by adding quaternary ammonium silicate, quaternary ammonium halide, quaternary ammonium hydroxide or a mixture thereof, out of which quaternary ammonium silicate and quaternary ammonium hydroxide are particularly preferred. R is a methyl group, ethyl group, propyl group, hydroxyethyl group, benzyl group or the like. Illustrative examples of the quaternary ammonium compound include tetramethylammonium silicate, tetraethylammonium silicate, tetraethanolammonium silicate, monoethyl triethanolammonium silicate, trimethylbenzylammonium silicate, tetramethylammonium hydroxide and tetraethylammonium hydroxide.

0019A trace amount of an acid or a base can be contained. The pH of the abrasive solution is preferably 2 to 12. The above abrasive solution (sol) can be changed into an acidic abrasive solution (sol) by adding a water-soluble acid in a [H⁺]/[CeO₂] molar ratio of 0.001 to 1. This acidic sol has a pH of 2 to 6. Illustrative examples of the water-soluble acid include inorganic acids such as hydrogen chloride and nitric acid, organic acids such as formic acid, acetic acid, oxalic acid, tartaric acid, citric acid and lactic acid, acidic salts thereof and mixtures thereof. When a water-soluble base is contained in an [OH^-]/[CeO₂] molar ratio of 0.001 to 1, the abrasive solution can be changed into an alkaline sol. This alkaline abrasive solution (sol) has a pH of 8 to 12. Illustrative examples of the water-soluble base include amines such as monoethanolamine, diethanolamine, triethanolamine, aminoethylethanolamine, N,N-dimethylethanolamine, N-methylethanolamine, monopropanolamine and morpholine, and ammonia in addition to the above-described quaternary ammonium silicate and quaternary ammonium hydroxide.

0020The abrasive solution is stable for more than 1 year when it is kept at room temperature.

0021A polishing method using an abrasive containing ceric oxide whose surface is modified by heating in the presence of the above ammonium salt having a non-oxidizing anion component makes it possible to achieve a higher speed of polishing a silicon oxide film (SiO₂ film) for a semiconductor device, inorganic glass, crystal (such as a quartz piece for a crystal oscillator) and quartz glass than a polishing method using ceric oxide particles having the same particle diameter of the prior art. The reason for this is that the ceric oxide particles have both a mechanical polishing function and a chemical polishing function, a large number of hydroxyl groups (≡Ce-OH) are produced on the surface of the ceric oxide particle by heating in an aqueous medium in the presence of an ammonium salt having a non-oxidizing anion component, and this group (≡Ce-OH) exerts a chemical effect on the hydroxyl group (≡Si-OH) on the surface of a silicon oxide film, thereby improving the polishing speed. The ammonium salt having a non-oxidizing anion component is considered to exert a reducing effect on the surface of the ceric oxide particle.

0022In the present invention, the above effect (high polishing speed) can be also obtained by using, as abrasive ceric oxide particles which have been heated in an aqueous medium in the presence of a water-soluble reducing substance such as hydrazine, ammonium nitrite or the like instead of heating in an aqueous medium in the presence of above ammonium salt having a non-oxidizing anion component. However, the above ammonium salt having a non-oxidizing anion component is preferably used because hydrazine and ammonium nitrite involve a risk such as explosion during handling.

0023When the ceric oxide particles are heated in purified water without using the above ammonium salt having a non-oxidizing anion component, the polishing speed is the same as in the case where starting material ceric oxide particles are used as an abrasive and hence, the above effect cannot be expected.

0024It is known that the polishing speed slows down gradually when an abrasive is used in the polishing step. Since an abrasive having a reduced polishing speed (that is, reduced polishing ability) causes a reduction in productivity in the polishing step, the abrasive itself has to be disposed. However, in the present invention, the used ceric oxide particles having reduced polishing ability can restore its original polishing ability and achieve improved polishing speed by heating at a temperature of 50 to 250°C in an aqueous medium in the presence of an ammonium salt having a non-oxidizing anion component.

0025On the other hand, the ammonium salt used in the present invention can be an ammonium salt having an oxidizing anion component. This ammonium salt having an oxidizing anion component is the most preferably ammonium nitrate or ammonium sulfamate. They may be used alone or in admixture.

0026The above ammonium salt having an oxidizing anion component is preferably contained in an aqueous medium in an [NH₄⁺]/[CeO₂] molar ratio of 0.1 to 30 and in a concentration of 1 to 30 wt%.

0027When the ceric oxide particles are heated in an aqueous medium using an ammonium salt having an oxidizing anion component, they are heated at 50 to 250°C, preferably 100 to 250°C to obtain surface modified ceric oxide particles. The heating time can be set to 10 minutes to 96 hours. When the heating temperature is 100°C or lower, an open (not-sealed) reactor is used. When the heating temperature is higher than 100°C, an autoclave or supercritical treatment apparatus is used.

0028The heated ceric oxide particles are taken out from a treatment layer as a slurry and cleaned by ultrafiltration or filter press to remove impurities.

0029The ceric oxide particles whose surfaces are modified by heating in the presence of an ammonium salt having an oxidizing anion component can be easily dispersed in an aqueous medium to prepare an abrasion solution. As the aqueous medium may be used water.

0030When quaternary ammonium ions (NR₄⁺ wherein R is an organic group) are contained in the sol of the ceric oxide particles whose surfaces are modified by heating in an aqueous medium in the presence of an ammonium salt having an oxidizing anion component in a (NR₄⁺)/(CeO₂) molar ratio of 0.001 to 1 after impurities are removed by cleaning, the stability of the obtained abrasive solution is improved and the above effect (only a soft film such as an organic resin film is polished without polishing a hard film such as a silicon oxide film) is further improved advantageously. The quaternary ammonium ions are provided by adding quaternary ammonium silicate, quaternary ammonium halide, quaternary ammonium hydroxide or a mixture thereof, out of which quaternary ammonium silicate and quaternary ammonium hydroxide are particularly preferred. R is a methyl group, ethyl group, propyl group, hydroxyethyl group, benzyl group or the like. Illustrative examples of the quaternary ammonium compound include tetramethylammonium silicate, tetraethylammonium silicate, tetraethanolammonium silicate, monoethyl triethanolammonium silicate, trimethylbenzylammonium silicate, tetramethylammonium hydroxide and tetraethylammonium hydroxide.

0031A trace amount of a base can be contained. The pH of the abrasive solution is preferably 8 to 12. When a water-soluble base is contained in an [OH^-]/[CeO₂] molar ratio of 0.001 to 1, the abrasive solution (sol) can be changed into an alkaline sol. This alkaline abrasive solution (sol) has a pH of 8 to 12. Illustrative examples of the water-soluble base include amines such as monoethanolamine, diethanolamine, triethanolamine, aminoethylethanolamine, N,N-dimethylethanolamine, N-methylethanolamine, monopropanolamine and morpholine, and ammonia in addition to the above-described quaternary ammonium silicate and quaternary ammonium hydroxide.

0032The abrasive solution is stable for more than 1 year when it is kept at room temperature.

0033A polishing method using the surface modified ceric oxide particles which have been heated in the presence of an ammonium salt having an oxidizing anion component can be used as an abrasive to flatten an interlayer film for a semiconductor device. For instance, when a silicon oxide film (SiO₂ film) serves as a stopper (layer for stopping polishing), if only a soft film such as an organic resin film can be polished without polishing a hard film such as a silicon oxide film (SiO₂ film), that is, polishing of a soft layer such as an organic resin layer proceeds while polishing of a hard film such as a silicon oxide film (SiO₂ film) stops, lithography is made possible. That is, the abrasive has a low polishing speed for a silicon oxide film (SiO₂ film). The reason for this is assumed to be that the ceric oxide particles have both a mechanical polishing function and a chemical polishing function and hydroxyl groups (≡Ce-OH) on the surface of the ceric oxide particle exerts a chemical effect on hydroxyl groups (≡Si-OH) on the surface of a silicon oxide film, thereby improving the polishing speed. It is considered that by heating in an aqueous medium in the presence of an ammonium salt having an oxidizing anion component, the number of the hydroxyl groups (≡Ce-OH) on the surface of the ceric oxide particle is reduced and the chemical polishing function of the ceric oxide particle is lowered. The ammonium salt having an oxidizing anion component is assumed to exert an oxidizing effect on the surface of the ceric oxide particle.

0034For example, in the planarization of an interlayer film for a semiconductor device, the polishing speed can be freely controlled by using an abrasive containing ceric oxide particles heated in an aqueous medium in the presence of an ammonium salt having a non-oxidizing anion component and an abrasive containing ceric oxide particles heated in an aqueous medium in the presence of an ammonium salt having an oxidizing anion component alternately for polishing. With this polishing method, a material to be polished including a hard silicon oxide film (SiO₂) portion and a soft organic resin film portion can be polished with high accuracy using two different abrasives. The word "alternately" means that each of these abrasives is used separately to polish a surface to be polished at least one time in this method.

0035In the present invention, when the ceric oxide particles which have been heated at a temperature of 50 to 250°C in an aqueous medium in the presence of an ammonium salt having a non-oxidizing anion component or an ammonium salt having an oxidizing anion component are dried and measured for their diffraction pattern by an X-ray diffractometer, they are found to be cubic ceric oxide particles having main peaks at diffraction angles 2θ of 28.6°, 47.5° and 56.4° and high crystallinity as specified in ASTM Card No. 34-394.

Example 1

0036740 g of a 9 wt% ammonium aqueous solution which was equivalent to an NH₄OH/Ce³⁺ molar ratio of 6 was charged into a 2-liter separable flask and a nitrogen gas was blown into the flask from a glass nozzle at a rate of 2 liters/min to substitute the inside of the flask with the nitrogen gas while the temperature of the solution was maintained at 30°C. A solution of 216 g of cerium (III) nitrate dissolved in 500 g of purified water was added to the flask little by little to obtain a suspension of cerium (III) hydroxide. After the suspension was heated to 80°C, air was blown from the glass nozzle at a rate of 4 liters/min in place of the nitrogen gas to start an oxidation reaction for converting cerium (III) into cerium (IV). The oxidation reaction ended in 3 hours and a reaction solution having light yellow ceric oxide particles and a pH of 7.2 was obtained. The ceric oxide particles were used as starting material particles.

0037When the ceric oxide particles which would be the starting material particles were separated from the reaction solution by filtration, cleaned and observed through a transmission electron microscope (TEM), they were found to be particles having a particle diameter of 80 to 100 nm. When the particles were dried and measured for their powder X-ray diffraction, they had major peaks at diffraction angles 2θ of 28.6°, 47.5° and 56.4° which coincided with the characteristic peaks of cubic crystalline ceric oxide specified in ASTM Card No. 34-394.

00381,500 g of a 10 wt% ammonium carbonate aqueous solution was charged into a 3-liter separable flask and 150 g of the ceric oxide particles as starting material particles obtained above were added to the flask and heated at 95°C for 8 hours. When the heated slurry was separated by filtration, cleaned and observed through a transmission electron microscope (TEM), they were found to have the same particle diameter of 80 to 100 nm as that before surface modification. When the surface modified particles were dried and measured for their powder X-ray diffraction, they were found to be cubic ceric oxide particles. A tetramethyl ammonium silicate aqueous solution was added to the surface modified crystalline ceric oxide particles which were filtered and cleaned again in an [N(CH₃)₄⁺/CeO₂] molar ratio of 0.01 to adjust the concentration of CeO₂ to 20 wt% and pH to 10.3. 750 g of this 20 wt% crystalline ceric oxide sol was prepared as an abrasive solution.

Example 2

00391,500 g of a 10 wt% ammonium carbonate aqueous solution was charged into a 3-liter high-pressure container made from glass lining and 150 g of ceric oxide particles which were produced in the same manner as in Example 1 as starting material particles were placed in the high-pressure container and subjected to a hydrothermal treatment at 150°C for 20 hours. When the heated slurry was separated by filtration, cleaned and observed through a transmission electron microscope (TEM), they were found to have the same particle diameter of 80 to 100 nm as that before surface modification. When the surface modified particles were dried and measured for their powder X-ray diffraction, they were found to be cubic ceric oxide particles. A tetramethyl ammonium silicate aqueous solution was added to the surface modified crystalline ceric oxide particles which were filtered and cleaned again in an [N(CH₃)₄⁺/CeO₂] molar ratio of 0.01 to adjust the concentration of CeO₂ to 20 wt% and pH to 10.3. 750 g of this 20 wt% crystalline ceric oxide sol was prepared as an abrasive solution.

Example 3

00401,500 g of a 10 wt% ammonium nitrate aqueous solution was charged into a 3-liter high-pressure container made from glass lining and 150 g of ceric oxide particles which were produced in the same manner as in Example 1 as starting material particles were placed in the high-pressure container and subjected to a hydrothermal treatment at 150°C for 20 hours. When the heated slurry was separated by filtration, cleaned and observed through a transmission electron microscope (TEM), they were found to have the same particle diameter of 80 to 100 nm as that before surface modification. When the surface modified particles were dried and measured for their powder X-ray diffraction, they were found to be cubic ceric oxide particles. The surface modified crystalline ceric oxide particles which were filtered and cleaned again were dispersed in purified water and further a tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide aqueous solution was added to the dispersion in an [N(CH₃)₄⁺/CeO₂] molar ratio of 0.01 to stabilize pH at 10.3. 750 g of this 20 wt% crystalline ceric oxide sol was prepared as an abrasive solution.

Example 4

00411,500 g of a 10 wt% ammonium carbonate aqueous solution was charged into a 3-liter separable flask and 150 g of abrasive particles (particle diameter of 1 µm, CeO₂ content of 88 wt%, La₂O₃ content of 7 wt% and SiO₂ content of 5 wt%) obtained by calcining and grinding a commercially available rare earth compound essentially composed of cerium were placed in the separable flask and heated at 95°C for 8 hours to modify the surface of each particle. When the heated slurry was separated by filtration, cleaned and observed through a transmission electron microscope (TEM), they were found to have the same particle diameter of 1 µm as that before surface modification. When the obtained surface modified particles were dried and measured for their powder X-ray diffraction, it was found that their main peaks included the peaks of cubic ceric oxide. A tetramethyl ammonium silicate aqueous solution was added to the above surface modified crystalline ceric oxide particles which were filtered and cleaned again in an [N(CH₃)₄⁺/CeO₂] molar ratio of 0.01 to adjust the concentration of CeO₂ to 20 wt% and pH to 10.3. 750 g of this 20 wt% abrasive particle dispersion was prepared as an abrasive solution.

Comparative Example 1

0042Ceric oxide particles having a particle diameter of 80 to 100 nm which were produced in the same manner as in Example 1 as starting material particles were dispersed in purified water without being surface modified by heating in the presence of an ammonium salt and a tetramethyl ammonium silicate aqueous solution was added to the dispersion in an [N(CH₃)₄⁺/CeO₂] molar ratio of 0.01 to adjust the concentration of CeO₂ to 20 wt% and pH to 10.3. 750 g of this 20 wt% crystalline ceric oxide sol was prepared as an abrasive solution.

Comparative Example

2

0043Abrasive particles (particle diameter of 1 µm, CeO₂ content of 88 wt%, La₂O₃ content of 7 wt% and SiO₂ content of 5 wt%) obtained by calcining and grinding a commercially available rare earth compound essentially composed of cerium were dispersed in purified water without surface modification by heating in the presence of an ammonium salt and a tetramethyl ammonium silicate aqueous solution was added to the dispersion in an [N(CH₃)₄⁺/CeO₂] molar ratio of 0.01 to adjust the concentration of CeO₂ to 20 wt% and pH to 10.3. 750 g of this 20 wt% crystalline ceric oxide sol was prepared as an abrasive solution.

0044The abrasives of Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 were polished under the following conditions using a commercially available Oscar type lens polishing machine. The polishing speed was obtained by forming a groove in crystal glass and measuring the depth of the groove with a tracer type surface roughness meter. The results are shown in Table 1. <ul id="ul0001" list-style="none"><li>a. polishing cloth: fluororesin (φ250 mm) or foamed polyurethane (φ250 mm)</li><li>b. object to be polished: quartz glass (φ25 mm)</li><li>c. revolution: 30 rpm, and</li><li>d. polishing pressure: 270 g/cm²</li></ul><tables id="tabl0001" num="0001"><table frame="all"><title>Table 1</title><tgroup cols="3" colsep="1" rowsep="0"><colspec colnum="1" colname="col1" colwidth="52.50mm" /><colspec colnum="2" colname="col2" colwidth="52.50mm" /><colspec colnum="3" colname="col3" colwidth="52.50mm" /><thead valign="top"><row rowsep="1"><entry namest="col1" nameend="col1" /><entry namest="col2" nameend="col3" align="center">polishing speed (nm/min)</entry></row><row rowsep="1"><entry namest="col1" nameend="col1" align="center">abrasive</entry><entry namest="col2" nameend="col2" align="center">fluororesin as polishing cloth</entry><entry namest="col3" nameend="col3" align="center">foamed polyurethane as polishing cloth</entry></row></thead><tbody valign="top"><row><entry namest="col1" nameend="col1" align="left">Example 1</entry><entry namest="col2" nameend="col2" align="right">48</entry><entry namest="col3" nameend="col3" align="right">90</entry></row><row><entry namest="col1" nameend="col1" align="left">Example 2</entry><entry namest="col2" nameend="col2" align="right">40</entry><entry namest="col3" nameend="col3" align="right">83</entry></row><row><entry namest="col1" nameend="col1" align="left">Example 3</entry><entry namest="col2" nameend="col2" align="right">1</entry><entry namest="col3" nameend="col3" align="right">--</entry></row><row><entry namest="col1" nameend="col1" align="left">Example 4</entry><entry namest="col2" nameend="col2" align="right">--</entry><entry namest="col3" nameend="col3" align="right">502</entry></row><row><entry namest="col1" nameend="col1" align="left">Comparative Example 1</entry><entry namest="col2" nameend="col2" align="right">21</entry><entry namest="col3" nameend="col3" align="right">38</entry></row><row rowsep="1"><entry namest="col1" nameend="col1" align="left">Comparative Example 2</entry><entry namest="col2" nameend="col2" align="right">--</entry><entry namest="col3" nameend="col3" align="right">438</entry></row></tbody></tgroup></table></tables>

0045The abrasives of Examples 1 and 2 composed of ceric oxide particles whose surfaces were modified by heating in an aqueous medium in the presence of an ammonium salt having a non-oxidizing anion component have a polishing speed almost double that of the abrasive of Comparative Example 1 composed of ceric oxide particles whose surfaces were not modified under the same polishing conditions. Abrasives having an improved polishing speed as shown by Examples 1 and 2 can achieve a higher polishing speed than an abrasive composed of ceric oxide particles of the prior art having the same particle diameter as that of the above abrasives for the polishing of a hard film such as a silicon oxide film (SiO₂ film) of a semiconductor device and a hard substance such as inorganic glass, crystal (such as a quartz piece of a crystal oscillator) or quartz glass.

0046As for the relationship between the abrasives of Examples 1 and 2 and the abrasive of Comparative Example 1, an abrasive composed of surface modified particles has a high polishing speed as in the relationship between the abrasive of Example 4 and the abrasive of Comparative Example 2 even when abrasive particles obtained by calcining and grinding a commercially available rare earth compound essentially composed of cerium are used as starting material particles.

0047On the other hand, the abrasive of Example 3 composed of ceric oxide particles whose surfaces are modified by heating in an aqueous medium in the presence of an ammonium salt having an oxidizing anion component has a polishing speed 1/20 that of the abrasive of Comparative Example 1 composed of ceric oxide particles whose surfaces are not been modified, under the same polishing conditions.

0048As for usage of the abrasive of Example 3, supposing that the abrasive of Example 3 of the present invention is used to polish a hard SiO₂ film formed on the uneven surface of an LSI chip as a stopper and a soft film (an organic resin film or SiO₂ film containing impurities) formed on the hard SiO₂ film to flatten an interlayer film using CMP, for example, the soft film formed on the surfaces of projecting portions is first polished and then polishing is stopped at hard SiO₂ film portions exposed to the projecting portions, whereby only soft film portions can be polished selectively.

0049Supposing that the abrasives of Examples 1 and 2 and the abrasive of Example 3 are combined to polish a soft film (an organic resin film or SiO₂ film containing impurities) coated on the uneven surface of an LSI chip and a hard SiO₂ film coated on the soft film, the hard SiO₂ film on the surfaces of projecting portions is first polished with the abrasives of Examples 1 and 2 and the soft film exposed to the projecting portions is polished with the abrasive of Example 3, whereby the mountain of each projecting portion gradually lowers and polishing is stopped when the hard SiO₂ film (stopper) in a recessed portion is reached. Thus, the surface of the LSI is planarization.

0050In the present invention, an abrasive comprising ceric oxide particles or particles essentially composed of ceric oxide is obtained by heating ceric oxide particles or particles essentially composed of ceric oxide obtained by calcining and grinding a composition containing a rare earth element essentially composed of cerium at a temperature of 50 to 250°C in an aqueous medium in the presence of an ammonium salt or a reducing substance. This abrasive is composed of surface modified ceric oxide particles and the properties of the obtained abrasive composed of ceric oxide particles differ depending on types of a chemical (ammonium salt) used for surface modification.

0051Using an abrasive composed of ceric oxide particles whose surfaces are modified by heating in an aqueous medium in the presence of an ammonium salt having a non-oxidizing anion component, a hard film such as a silicon oxide film (SiO₂ film) of a semiconductor device, inorganic glass, quartz crystal (such as a quartz piece of a quartz crystal oscillator) and a hard substance such as quartz glass can be polished at a higher speed than when using an abrasive composed of ceric oxide particles of the prior art having the same particle diameter as that of the above abrasive.

0052Using an abrasive composed of ceric oxide particles whose surfaces are modified by heating in an aqueous medium in the presence of an ammonium salt having an oxidizing anion component, a hard film such as a silicon oxide film (SiO₂ film) is polished at a much lower speed than when using an abrasive composed of ceric oxide particles of the prior art having the same particle diameter as that of the above abrasive.

0053Though polishing for wide application is made possible by using two different abrasives independently, selective polishing is possible in the field of semiconductor devices by combining the two different abrasives.