A method includes forming a film over a substrate; increasing a surface roughness of the film; and planarizing the film using a first chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process after increasing the surface roughness.

A polishing liquid is a polishing liquid used for chemical mechanical polishing, the polishing liquid including colloidal silica; and a buffering agent excluding phosphoric acid, in which the buffering agent is a compound having a pKa within a range of X1 in a case where a pH of the polishing liquid is denoted by X, a zeta potential of the colloidal silica measured in a state where the colloidal silica is present in the polishing liquid is 20 mV or less, an electrical conductivity is 200 S/cm or more, and a pH is 2 to 6.

A polishing liquid, which is used for chemical mechanical polishing, includes ceria particles having an average aspect ratio of 1.5 or more; and an anionic polymer or a cationic polymer, in which a pH of the polishing liquid is 3 to 8. In a case where the polishing liquid contains the anionic polymer, the polishing liquid further includes an inorganic acid or an organic acid including at least one group selected from the group consisting of a carboxylic acid group, a phosphoric acid group, a phosphonic acid group, and a sulfonic acid group.

Provided is a linear movable rotary union including a driving shaft comprising a plurality of fluid supply paths; a hollow middle housing surrounding an outside of the driving shaft and comprising a plurality of first through holes in a sidewall; a plurality of first sealing members provided between the middle housing and the driving shaft to prevent leakage of a fluid; a hollow outer housing surrounding an outside of the middle housing and comprising a plurality of second through holes in a sidewall; and a plurality of second sealing members provided between the middle housing and the outer housing to prevent leakage of the fluid, and wherein the driving shaft is installed to be capable of rotational motion in the middle housing, and the middle housing is installed to be capable of reciprocating motion in an axial direction in the outer housing.

A substrate processing apparatus includes a first processing unit and a second processing unit placed in upper and lower two stages. Each processing unit has: a plurality of processing tanks arranged in series; a partition wall defining a conveyance space extending along an arrangement direction outside the plurality of processing tanks; a conveyance mechanism placed in the conveyance space and being configured to convey a substrate between the processing tanks along the arrangement direction; and an air guide duct provided to extend along the arrangement direction in the conveyance space. The air guide duct is connected with a fan filter unit. Each of the processing tanks is connected with an exhaust duct. An opening is formed in each of parts facing the processing tank in the air guide duct. The conveyance spaces of the first and second processing units are separated into upper and lower segments by the partition wall.

A substrate processing apparatus includes a first processing unit and a second processing unit placed in upper and lower two stages. Each processing unit has: a plurality of processing tanks arranged in series; a partition wall defining a conveyance space extending along an arrangement direction outside the plurality of processing tanks; a conveyance mechanism placed in the conveyance space and being configured to convey a substrate between the processing tanks along the arrangement direction; and an air guide duct provided to extend along the arrangement direction in the conveyance space. The air guide duct is connected with a fan filter unit. Each of the processing tanks is connected with an exhaust duct. An opening is formed in each of parts facing the processing tank in the air guide duct. The conveyance spaces of the first and second processing units are separated into upper and lower segments by the partition wall.

A polishing liquid is used for chemical mechanical polishing and includes colloidal silica; and an onium salt containing a cation, in which a content of the onium salt is more than 0.01% by mass, a zeta potential of the colloidal silica measured in a state where the colloidal silica is present in the polishing liquid is 15 mV or more, an electrical conductivity is 10 S/cm or more, and a pH is 2 to 4.

A method of controlling a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process, a temperature control, and a CMP apparatus, the method including measuring actual temperatures of at least two regions in a platen in real time during the CMP process in which a polishing pad attached to the platen polishes a substrate held by a polishing head using slurry and deionized water; receiving the measured actual temperatures of the regions; and individually controlling the actual temperatures of the regions in real time during the CMP process to provide the regions with a predetermined set CMP process temperature.

Embodiments provide a polishing composition containing colloidal silica, pulverized wet-process silica particles, and a water-soluble polymer compound. According to at leaset one embodiment, the water-soluble polymer compound is a copolymer containing a structural unit derived from an unsaturated aliphatic carboxylic acid and a structural unit derived from an unsaturated amide.

A wafer processing method includes: a bonding step of bonding a front surface side of a first wafer chamfered at a peripheral edge portion thereof to a front surface side of a second wafer; a grinding step of holding a back surface side of the second wafer by a chuck table and grinding a back surface of the first wafer to thin the first wafer to a finished thickness, after the bonding step; and a modified layer forming step of applying along a boundary between a device region and a peripheral surplus region of the first wafer a laser beam of such a wavelength as to be transmitted through the first wafer to form an annular modified layer inside the first wafer in the vicinity of the front surface of the first wafer, before the grinding step.