Electrochemical treatment of integrated circuit substrates using concentric anodes and variable field shaping elements
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for electrochemically treating a surface of a substrate, comprising:
- a substrate holder;
a plurality of dynamically operable concentric anodes opposite said substrate holder;
a diffuser shield located between said substrate holder and said concentric anodes; and
an insert shield located between said diffuser shield and said substrate holder.
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Abstract
An apparatus for electrochemical treatment of a substrate, in particular for electroplating an integrated circuit wafer. An apparatus preferably includes dynamically operable concentric anodes and dielectric shields in an electrochemical bath. Preferably, the bath height of an electrochemical bath, the substrate height, and the shape and positions of an insert shield and a diffuser shield are dynamically variable during electrochemical treatment operations. Step include varying anode current, bath height and substrate height, shield shape, and shield position.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. An apparatus for electrochemically treating a surface of a substrate, comprising:
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a substrate holder;
a plurality of dynamically operable concentric anodes opposite said substrate holder;
a diffuser shield located between said substrate holder and said concentric anodes; and
an insert shield located between said diffuser shield and said substrate holder. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An apparatus for electrochemically treating a surface of a substrate, comprising:
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a first bath container configured to retain an electrochemical bath at a bath height;
a plurality of dynamically operable concentric anodes disposed in said first bath container;
a substrate holder disposed in said first bath container opposite said concentric anodes at a substrate height;
a shield disposed in said first bath container between said concentric anodes and said substrate holder, said shield configured for shielding a surface area of a substrate when a substrate is held in said substrate holder during electrochemical treatment operations; and
a means, operable during electrochemical treatment operations, for dynamically varying a parameter selected from the group consisting of;
a quantity of shielded surface area of a substrate, a distance separating said shield from said substrate holder, a distance separating said substrate holder from said concentric anodes, and combinations thereof. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. In an apparatus for electrochemically treating the surface of a substrate, comprising:
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a bath container configured to retain an electrochemical bath having a bath height;
an anode disposed in said bath container;
a substrate holder opposite said anode and located at a substrate height;
a shield disposed between said anode and said substrate holder, said shield configured for shielding a surface area of a substrate when a substrate is held in said substrate holder; and
a means, operable during electrochemical treatment operations, for dynamically varying a parameter selected from a group including a quantity of shielded surface area of a substrate, a distance separating said shield from a substrate in said substrate holder, a distance separating said substrate holder from said anode, and combinations thereof, the improvement characterized by said means being selected from the group consisting of;
a variable weir assembly for dynamically varying said bath height and an actuator for dynamically moving said substrate holder, to vary dynamically said substrate height;
a shield comprising a plurality of rings rotatable about a common axis, each of said rings configured to have an open area and a closed area, and an actuator for rotating one of said rings to vary a quantity of shielded surface area of said substrate; and
a movable spacer for attaching a shield to said substrate holder and an actuator for moving said spacer to vary a distance separating said shield from said substrate.
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20. In a method for electrochemically treating the surface of a substrate, comprising steps of:
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providing an electrochemical bath with an anode located at the bottom of said electrochemical bath;
placing a wafer substrate in said substrate holder; and
then immersing said wafer substrate held in said substrate holder into said electrochemical bath opposite said anode;
the improvement characterized by a further step, prior to said step of immersing, said further step selected from the group consisting of;
pre-washing an electrical contact in said substrate holder, and pre-wetting said wafer substrate. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A method for electrochemically treating the surface of a substrate, comprising steps of:
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providing an electrochemical bath with a plurality of concentric anodes located at the bottom of said electrochemical bath;
placing a wafer substrate in a substrate holder, immersing said wafer substrate into said electrochemical bath at a substrate height and opposite said concentric anodes;
providing a diffuser shield located between said wafer substrate and said concentric anodes;
providing an insert shield located between said diffuser shield and said wafer substrate; and
dynamically varying the power delivered to said concentric anodes. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39)
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28. A method for electrochemically treating a surface of a substrate, comprising steps of:
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providing an electrochemical bath having a bath height in a first bath container, said first bath container containing a plurality of dynamically operable concentric anodes in a bottom portion of said first bath container, and further containing a shield located above said concentric anodes;
immersing a wafer substrate held in a substrate holder into said electrochemical bath at a substrate height, such that said wafer substrate is opposite said concentric anodes and said shield is between said wafer substrate and said concentric anodes; and
dynamically varying a parameter selected from the group consisting of;
a quantity of shielded surface area of said substrate, a distance separating said shield from said substrate, a distance separating said substrate from said concentric anodes, and combinations thereof.
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37. In a method for electrochemically treating the surface of a substrate, comprising steps of dynamically varying a parameter from a group including a quantity of shielded surface area of a substrate, a distance separating a shield from a substrate, a distance separating a substrate holder from an anode, and combinations thereof, the improvement comprising steps selected from the group consisting of:
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dynamically varying a bath height, and dynamically moving a substrate holder, to vary dynamically a substrate height;
dynamically rotating a ring of a shield to vary a quantity of shielded surface area of a substrate, wherein said shield is a diffuser shield comprising a plurality of rings rotatable about a common axis, each of said rings configured to have an open area and a closed area; and
actuating a movable spacer to vary dynamically a flow gap between an insert shield and a substrate holder.
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Specification