Copper has become a widely used material in advanced submicron multilevel technologies due to its low resistivity and high electromigration resistance. Copper based devices are manufactured using additive patterning and subsequently undergo chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) to ensure good interconnection. During CMP, material is removed through synergistic combination of chemical reactions and mechanical stimulations. Empirical models such as Preston’s equation are used to explain the material removal rate during CMP but a mechanism based understanding of the synergistic interactions between chemical environment and mechanical loading is still lacking
