Plating apparatus and recording medium recording program thereon

• US 10,597,793 B2
• Filed: 05/03/2018
• Issued: 03/24/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ebara Corporation
• Original Assignee: Ebara Corporation
• Inventors: Takahashi, Naoto
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Nicholas A
• Application Number:
  US15/970,851
• Publication Number:
  US 20180363161A1
• Time in Patent Office: 691 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: C25D 17/001 Apparatus specially adapted for electrolytic coating of wafers, e.g. semiconductors or solar cells
• CPC Class Codes: C25D 17/008 Current shielding devices
• CPC Class Codes: C25D 17/06 Suspending or supporting devices for articles to be coated
• CPC Class Codes: C25D 21/12 Process control or regulation controlling or regulating in general G05

Abstract

The disclosure improves a position confirmation method for members in a plating tank. A plating apparatus for applying a plating process on a substrate is provided. The plating apparatus includes a plating tank, a first member disposed in the plating tank, a second member disposed opposite to the first member in the plating tank, an optical sensor disposed on one of the first and second members, and a plurality of detected parts disposed on the other of the first and second members to be detectable by the optical sensor.

Claims

1. A plating apparatus for applying a plating process on a substrate by using a substrate holding member, the plating apparatus comprising:

a plating tank;

a first member disposed in the plating tank at a position opposite to the substrate holding member when the substrate holding member is placed in the plating tank;

an optical sensor disposed on one of the substrate holding member and the first member; and

a plurality of detected parts disposed on the other of the substrate holding member and the first member to be detectable by the optical sensor.

2. The plating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of detected parts is a reflection member.

3. The plating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each of the detected parts is a concave mirror, and a focal distance of the concave mirror is equal to a distance between the concave mirror and the optical sensor.

4. The plating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical sensor is an image sensor, and the detected parts are a plurality of image identification markers.

5. The plating apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising:

a control device that calculates a position of the substrate holding member by imaging the image identification markers with the image sensor,

wherein the position of the substrate holding member comprises at least one of a position in each axial direction of two axes that are orthogonal to each other in a plane parallel to the substrate, a position in a rotational direction in the plane parallel to the substrate, a position in a front-rear direction perpendicular to the substrate, and a position in a rotational direction in a plane perpendicular to the substrate.

6. The plating apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:

a first actuator capable of moving the substrate holding member in each axial direction of the two axes that are orthogonal to each other in the plane parallel to the substrate.

7. The plating apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising:

a second actuator capable of rotating the substrate holding member in the rotational direction in the plane parallel to the substrate.

8. The plating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a control device that determines whether the substrate holding member is in a predetermined position in the plating tank by detecting the detected parts with the optical sensor.

9. The plating apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising:

a control device that controls movement of the substrate holding member caused by the first actuator based on a detection result of the detected parts acquired by the optical sensor.

10. The plating apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

a control device that controls movement of the substrate holding member caused by the first actuator and the second actuator based on a detection result of the detected parts acquired by the optical sensor.

11. The plating apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a plurality of substrate holding members are used and a plurality of plating tanks are disposed,

the predetermined position is stored in association with identification information of the substrate holding member and identification information of the plating tank, and

the control device controls movement of the substrate holding member caused by the first actuator based on the predetermined position corresponding to the identification information of the substrate holding member and the identification information of the plating tank.

12. The plating apparatus according to claim 10, wherein a plurality of substrate holding members are used and a plurality of plating tanks are disposed,

the predetermined position is stored in association with identification information of the substrate holding member and identification information of the plating tank, and

the control device controls movement of the substrate holding member caused by the first actuator and the second actuator based on the predetermined position corresponding to the identification information of the substrate holding member and the identification information of the plating tank.

13. The plating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical sensor is disposed on the first member.

14. The plating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first member is a regulation plate or an anode holder.

15. The plating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first member is a regulation plate,

an anode holder is further disposed in the plating tank,

the optical sensor is disposed on the regulation plate, and

the detected parts are disposed on the substrate holding member and the anode holder.

16. A plating apparatus for applying a plating process on a substrate, the plating apparatus comprising:

a plating tank;

a first member disposed in the plating tank;

a second member disposed opposite to the first member in the plating tank;

an optical sensor disposed on one of the first member and the second member; and

a plurality of detected parts disposed on the other of the first member and the second member to be detectable by the optical sensor.