**6. Conclusions**

As the performances of devices at 7 nm node and beyond have become very sensitive to contaminants and defects, there has been a growing interest in understanding the sources and characteristics of CMP-related contaminants. An overview of various contaminants generated during the CMP process and their characteristics were discussed in this book chapter. There has been significant progress in understanding the fundamental science and technology of the sources of CMP-induced contaminants and their characteristics for the past several decades. Nevertheless, a more fundamental understanding of various chemical and mechanical reactions that occur between slurry components, polishing pad, and wafer surfaces will help us to propose new strategies and novel concepts of CMP slurries to minimize the formation of the contaminants during polishing. As expected, Post-CMP cleaning has become more important than ever to eliminate many of these CMP-induced contaminants. A close collaboration between the consumables manufacturers and the fab end-users is required to overcome many challenges and some issues related to the contaminants in the CMP and post-CMP cleaning process.
