Patent ID: 8116894

Claim:
A chemical mechanical polishing method for performing a flattening process on an interlayer insulating film, comprising: a step of forming a plurality of interlayer insulating films so as to coat a plurality of sets of projecting patterns, at least one of the plurality of sets of projecting patterns being formed on each of a plurality of substrates, whereby each of the plurality of sets of projecting patterns has a different area ratio R with respect to a respective one of the plurality of substrates, and performing a flattening process by polishing each of the interlayer insulating films coating the plurality of sets of projecting patterns; subsequent to performing the flattening process by polishing each of the interlayer insulating films, a step of obtaining a linear approximation formula R=aT+b expressing a relationship between the area ratio R and a polishing time T, where R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , . . . , Rx represent the area ratio R of respective ones of the plurality of sets of projecting patterns with respect to the respective one of the plurality of substrates, and T 1 , T 2 , T 3 , . . . , Tx represent the respective polishing times T required for achieving a target film thickness by the polishing; and a step of calculating, with the use of a formula T=(R−b)/a, values of a and b being obtained from the step of obtaining the linear approximation formula, the polishing time T for a particular interlayer insulating film coating a particular set of projecting patterns having a particular area ratio R, wherein each of the plurality of sets of projecting patterns has a plurality of individual projecting patterns having different thicknesses with respect to the respective one of the plurality of substrates; D 1 , D 2 , D 3 , . . . , Dy represent a thickness D of each one of the individual projecting patterns of a set of projecting patterns; and r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , . . . , ry represent an area ratio r of each one of the individual projecting patterns of the set of projecting patterns, and wherein the particular area ratio R of the particular set of projecting patterns is calculated with the use of a formula R=D 1 ×r 1 +D 2 ×r 2 +D 3 ×r 3 + . . . +Dy×ry.