The effect of slurry flow rate, pad surface temperature, and temperature during the pad conditioning process on surface tribology and pattern-related defects like dishing, erosion, and metal loss was studied. Experimental results suggest that dishing and erosion levels decreased with increase in slurry flow rate. Conditioning experiments at various temperatures revealed a significant impact of temperature on the effectiveness of the conditioning process and also on subsequent polishing performance. The polishing pad was conditioned more aggressively at lower temperatures compared to conditioning at elevated temperatures. The removal rate and coefficient of friction were found to be significantly affected by the pad surface temperature. The amount of dishing increased with increase in pad surface temperature and the uniformity of polishing. The study ascertains a correlation between process parameters and the extent of planarity defects. This study also demonstrates the use of a modified bench-top chemical mechanical polish (CMP) tester and large-stage atomic force microscope with automatic multiscan imaging procedure. (c) 2006 The Electrochemical Society.