This dissertation presents a series of studies with regards to wear and contact phenomena in existing and future large-scale chemical mechanical planarization (CMP). They are also evaluated with the purposes of reducing cost of ownership (COO) and minimizing environmental impacts. The first study is performed to investigate the effect of retaining ring slot design, material and temperature on pad wear during interlayer dielectric CMP. During polishing, friction is generated at the retaining ring-pad interface resulting in pad wear. Three retaining rings are used in this study and the results show that the retaining ring material and temperature have significant impacts on the pad wear rate. In the next study, a custom-made sample holder is designed to heat pad sample. Pad surface contact area and density are measured at three different temperatures using laser confocal microscopy to illustrate the effect of temperature on the mechanical contact during CMP. In the third study, the tribological, thermal and kinetic attributes of 300 mm copper CMP process are investigated. The current state-of-the-art IC manufacturing factories have migrated from 200 mm wafer processes to 300 mm to reduce manufacturing COO and increase throughput. In this study, a two-step modified Langmuir-Hinshelwood model is used to simulate copper removal rate as well as chemical and mechanical dominance during CMP. The fourth study evaluates the relationship between planarization and pad surface contact area and micro-topography using laser confocal microscopy. Results of confocal microscopic analysis are correlated with polishing performance in terms of coefficient of friction, removal rate, time to clear, dishing and erosion. As Ti has recently regained attention in copper barrier applications, the effect of temperature during Ti CMP is investigated in another study to provide fundamental understanding of Ti removal mechanism. The last contribution of this dissertation involves a study on 450 mm CMP process. An existing 300 mm CMP tool is modified to polish both 300 and 450 mm wafers to demonstrate experimentally whether any differences exist in the tribological and thermal characteristics of the two processes, and from that, to infer whether one can expect any removal rate difference between the two systems.

The first part of this study involve an evaluation of the performance of TiN and AlZ03 single layer coated cemented carbide tools when threading inclusion modified, 708M40T (En 19T) 817M40T (En 24T) and Jethete steels at high cutting conditions by monitoring tool wear, failure modes, post threading workpiece properties, micro and macro-surface alterations and subsurface microhardness variation of threaded surfaces. Test results show that flank wear was the dominant failure mode, increasing rapidly when machining at the top speed of 225 m min,l due to the high temperature generated which accelerates thermally related wear mechanisms. Tool life, surface finish, hardness variation and component forces during threading were influenced by the geometry of the cutting edge, shape of wear/length of wear along tool nose/cutting edge after threading. Formation of flake-like oxide debris on the worn inserts was found to increase with nickel content in the workpiece material. The Al20) coated carbide inserts with K05 - K20 substrate gave longer tool life, lower cutting forces, better surface finish! damages as well as minimum hardness variation after threading compared with the TiN coated VSX grade with P20-P30 substrates. This can be related to their superior hardness, density, transverse rupture strength as well as the unalloyed WC fine grained substrate (1/lm) in addition to the high hot hardness, excellent chemical stability and low thermal conductivity of the AlZ03 coating at elevated temperatures. A formula for tool rejection was also developed during this study based on the average flank wear (VBb) and growth in thread root (GTR) in order to establish a scientific basis for assessing wear of threading tools. The second part of this study involve single point turning of a nickel base, G263, alloy using rhomboid-shaped PVD coated (TiN/TiCN/TiN, TiAIN and TiZrN) carbide tools at high speed cutting conditions. The worn tool edges revealed adhesion of a compact fin-shaped structure of hardened burrs with saw-tooth edges. The compact structure also formed on the cut surface of the workpiece material. The use of coolant during machining tend to work harden the root of the burr thereby restricting tool entry at the cutting zone leading to the generation of excessive feed force which subjects the tool edge to premature fracture and consequently lower tool life. The serrated/saw-tooth like edges of the burr encourages abrasion wear on the tool flank face and the formation of shallow cavities/lateral cracks where fragments of hardened workpiece material are deposited causing deterioration of the machined surfaces. Tool life was generally influenced by the cutting conditions employed as well as the insert geometry. Increasing cutting conditions (speed, feed and depth of cut) led to chipping of the cutting edge and/or flaking of coating layers as well as notching and fracture of the cutting edge. These failure modes jointly contributed to lowering tool life during machining. The TiN/TiCN/TiN coated KC732 (Tool A) inserts with positive sharp edges gave overall performance at the optimum cutting conditions established under finishing operation. This is followed by the TiN/TiCN/TiN coated KC732 (Tool B), TiAlN coated KC313 (Tool C) and lastly the TiZrN coated KC313 (Tool D) inserts' with razor sharp edges. Under roughing operation, the ranking order of tool performance is the TiZrN coated KC313 (Tool D), TiN/TiCN/TiN coated KC732 (Tool A), TiAlN coated KC313 (Tool C) and lastly the TiN/TiCN/TiN coated KC732 {Tool B). The difference in tool geometry and coating materials contributed to the relative order of tool performance.

This master thesis report evaluatesthe lubricating effect of graphene (G)and graphene oxide (GO). Thesematerials have been added, in particlecondition, in Ag-based slidingcontacts and lubricating greases. Thework focuses on the tribologicalevaluation of these materials,especially friction, wear and contactresistance analyses. The friction andwear behaviors of Ag-based contactscontaining of a wide concentrationrange of graphene and graphene oxideare tested against pure silver using atest load of 2 and 10 N at a constantspeed of 5 cm/s. It was revealed thatsmall amounts of G and GO are able tosignificantly reduce the frictioncoefficient and wear rate. Contactresistance measurements revealed thatresults similar to pure Ag can beachieved with G content up to 10vol%.Possible mechanisms, which maycontribute to this tribologicalbehavior are the Ag-C interactions andthe lubricating nature of graphene.Friction tests with G and GOcontaining lubricating greases showinconsistent results, and both greasesand corresponding test methods forevaluation require furtheroptimization. The overall, promising,tribological behavior of G and GOholds for the implementation invarious industrial applications. Thereis no doubt that these kinds ofmaterials can play an important rolein ABBs future work. This masterthesis report shows yet anotherapplication area for theseextraordinary materials.

This thesis is a use-wear study that deals with microwear on stone endscrapers used on one worked material: animal skins. The first part of the study defines and describes the process of rendering freshly skinned pelts into functional leather or rawhide products, addressing confusing terminology found in the literature as well. Problems with past use-wear experiments dealing with animal skins are also confronted and explained. The second part of the study examines endscrapers used to flesh and dehair bison hides and compares the use-wear traces left on the tool edge by each activity. This suite of characteristics is then compared to those found on an assemblage of Clovis-age scrapers from the Gault site in central Texas.

New nanomaterials and nanoparticles are currently under investigation as lubricants or lubricant additives due to their unusual properties compared to traditional materials. One of the objectives of this work is to investigate the tribological properties of these materials in relation to surface topography. Chemical etching and metal evaporation methods were employed to prepare surfaces with various topographies. Surfaces were sheared with the use of a nanotribometer and characterized with an atomic force and scanning electron microscopes. For a system consisting of ZnS nanowires dispersed in dodecane sheared across ductile surfaces, it was found that the geometry of the nanowire relative to the surface topography plays a significant role. Moreover, for brittle surfaces, it was found that beyond a certain roughness the frictional properties remain unchanged. In addition, this work is also intended to explore novel lubricants with nanoparticle additives in efforts to control friction and wear. A system consisting of silica nanoparticles dispersed in ionic liquids was examined at various concentrations. It was found that an optimum concentration of nanoparticles exists and yields the best tribological properties. Such work represents an important step in understanding the tribological properties of nanoparticle lubricant additives in general; one that may ultimately provide the guidelines necessary for designing novel, low-friction, and wear-controlling nanoparticle-based lubrication systems that minimize energy and material losses due to friction.

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