Chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) occupies a central role in many industrially important technologies. CMP is essential for industries that depend on advanced technologies used for planarization and surface finishing in the manufacture of silicon wafers, integrated circuits (IC’s), magnetic heads and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). The CMP Users Group of North America1 and the Center for Advanced Materials Processing at Clarkson University in Upstate New York are committed to bringing together CMP interest groups from around the world every year to advance the technology and foster an active exchange of ideas. In 2021, the International Symposium on CMP was held online and featured technical presentations and posters on a variety of topics of interest to the CMP community.
From August 16 through 19, over 200 experts in the field and from all over the world enjoyed a four-day event with presentation topics that included Cleans, Fundamentals, Pad Conditioning, CMP in Bonding and Defects. Attendees were also able to study the on-demand posters that were submitted to the conference, each with a short video presentation by the author and accessible on demand so that there was no conflict with presentations that were streamed live.
“Of course, we would have much preferred to meet in person in Lake Placid which is what we usually do,” said CAMP Director Devon Shipp. “There is no replacement for the spontaneous and engaging conversations that naturally occur when you are face to face”. However, the Engagez platform the organizers used, a virtual conference platform with several interesting features such as a Poster Presentation Room and University CMP Room, encouraged interactions between conference attendees and allowed for a virtual exchange of ideas and relationship building. The University CMP Room featured 14 Universities2 around the world who focus on the advancement of CMP. These introductory videos highlighted each institution’s strengths and expertise.
“The CAMP CMP Symposium has become the premier event of its kind, through the foresight, great effort, and driving spirit of Dr. S.V. Babu, the distinguished retired professor of Clarkson University and former Director of CAMP, the Center for Advanced Materials Processing. His tireless effort and the great effort of his team members and the support of Clarkson University have all contributed to this success. Now the transition has begun. The new guiding members of the CAMP team have done well in keeping the feel and the tradition of the Lake Placid aura alive and well. The members of the CMP worldwide community and the US CMP User Group want to express our thanks to Dr. Babu and Clarkson University for the leadership and support they have brought to this technology. We are very proud to help with this effort and we look forward to many more years of advanced research and industry growth,” said Bob Roberts, Director of Business Development at Axus Technology, Chandler, Arizona, and active member of the organizing committee.
Dr. Manabu Tsujimura, Fellow and CTO of EBARA Corporation and former President of Precision Machinery Company gave an often humorous yet fact-based and highly informative keynote address on “Innovation to Open New Paradigms for ICAC5/GX/DX”. Dr. Tsujimura gave both a historical perspective of the evolution of semiconductor technology as well as some insights into Ebara’s efforts to provide innovative solutions to challenges facing the semiconductor industry in the future. Dr. Tujimura has been a longtime supporter and sponsor of research at the Center of Advanced Materials Processing at Clarkson University, a relationship that began under the former Director, Dr. S.V. Babu and is now continuing under a growing cluster of CMP expertise at Clarkson University.
The group will meet again in Portland, OR from September 26 – 29, 2022, for the annual International Conference on Planarization Technology (ICPT), which is an annual multiple-day high-level conference on CMP hosted by the US CMP User Group and CAMP at Clarkson University.
1 The CMP Users Group (CMPUG) was formed in October 1995 to explore the issues and challenges associated with this fast growing technology. The CMPUG’s main activity is a quarterly meeting with technical presentations on a topic of interest to the CMP community and is a charter co-sponsor of the International Conference on Planarization Technology.
2 Carnegie Mellon University, Clarkson University, Cornell University, Fudan University, Hanyang University, Hebei University of Technology, Kanazawa University, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Kyushu University, Lewis University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pusan National University, Sung Kyun Kwan University
