December 5, 2012 – The global market for consumables used in chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) operations continues to rebound, as "magic triangle" combinations of slurry, pad, and conditioner are emerging to improve performance for ≤45nm requirements, reports TechCet Group.

CMP slurry and pad revenues, which increased just 1.6% in 2011 to $1.55B (a downwardly-adjusted figure), will more than double that growth in 2012, up 3.8% to $1.60B, the firm reports. It sees a 1.7% CAGR from 2012-2017 to $1.72B.

Cabot, the historical market leader in CMP slurry, has stabilized its marketshare at around one-third globally, with four Tier-2 suppliers (Hitachi Chemical, FujiFilm, Air Products NanoMaterials [née DANM], and Fujimi) at 10%-14% each. In CMP pads, Dow Chemical still commands about two-thirds share globally, followed by Cabot (9%) which has pulled ahead of the Tier-2 pad group (innoPad, JSR, Thomas West) who have 4%-6% each, the firm says.

Specific combinations of CMP slurry, pad, and pad conditioner — dubbed "magic triangles" — that result in unexpected performance boosts in dishing and defects continue to be observed by both consumable suppliers and fab end-users. This is likely coming to light only now because of the close scrutiny required to meet process specifications at 45nm and below processes, TechCet notes.

The new report, "CMP Consumables 2012 Critical Materials," is broken into eleven primary segments: equipment, filters, pad conditioners, pads, post-CMP cleaning chemicals, PVA brushes, retaining rings, slurry, and support services, plus process flows and university research.

Pad and slurry revenue by application. (Source: Techcet)