Chemical Reactions and Atomic Removal Dynamics during Gallium Nitride Chemical Mechanical Polishing Process: Quantum Chemical Molecular Dynamics Simulations

The chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is promising for efficient polishing of the GaN substrate, and it is essential for manufacturing of GaN devices. However, the detailed CMP mechanisms are unclear, and then the design of efficient and precise CMP process is difficult. We performed polishing simulations of a GaN substrate by a SiO$_2$ abrasive grain in a solution including OH radicals in order to reveal effects of OH radicals on the polishing process. The OH radicals in the solution are adsorbed on the GaN surface and occupy the hollow sites on the surface. Then, a surface-adsorbed O atom is generated by the chemical reaction between the surface-adsorbed OH species and a OH radical in the solution. In the friction interface between the GaN substrate and the abrasive grain, the surface-adsorbed O atom is mechanically pushed into the GaN substrate by the abrasive grain. This O atom intrusion induces the dissociation of Ga-N bonds of the GaN substrate. Moreover, volatile N$_2$ molecules and soluble Ga(OH)$_3$ molecules are generated due to the dissociation of Ga-N bonds. Then, we suggested that the GaN CMP process efficiently proceeds by the mechanically induced chemical reactions: a surface-adsorbed O atom is generated and pushed into the GaN bulk by the abrasive grain.