[DEFINITION]
planarization process for a substrate by a combination of mechanical polishing
and chemical etching.(IEC/2015)
Chemical mechanical polishing is applied mainly to planarize steps on a substrate due to the semiconductor manufacturing process. Because the steps are composed of a plurality of materials such as substrates, dielectrics and metals, various slurries are used to selectively remove each material. In MEMS devices, chemical mechanical polishing is used to planarize the bonding surfaces in the wafer level packaging process.