Conditioning of contact leads for metal plating systems
First Claim
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1. A method for conditioning contacts of an electrochemical plating system having an electrolyte solution therein, comprising:
- applying an electrical input to deplate the contacts in the absence of a substrate thereon;
monitoring real-time electrical measurements to obtain an indication thereof; and
using the indication of the real-time electrical measurements to determine an endpoint.
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Abstract
Embodiments of the invention provide a method for conditioning contacts of an electrochemical metal plating system. The method includes deplating the contacts by supplying a reversed biased energy and monitoring electrical measurements of the plating system in real-time such that the endpoint of a deplating process can be determined. In different embodiments, the method includes the use of a constant current or voltage, variable current or voltage, or combinations thereof for conditioning the contacts.
103 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method for conditioning contacts of an electrochemical plating system having an electrolyte solution therein, comprising:
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applying an electrical input to deplate the contacts in the absence of a substrate thereon;
monitoring real-time electrical measurements to obtain an indication thereof; and
using the indication of the real-time electrical measurements to determine an endpoint. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for conditioning contacts of an electrochemical plating system having an electrolyte solution therein, comprising:
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immersing the contacts in the electrolyte solution;
applying an anodically controlled electrical input to the contacts; and
monitoring real-time electrical measurements from the plating apparatus until a signal indicating the contacts are conditioned. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for conditioning contacts of an electrochemical plating system having an electrolyte solution therein, comprising:
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immersing the contacts in the electrolyte solution; and
applying a cathodic electrical input onto the contacts to plate a metal layer onto the contacts in the absence of a substrate thereon. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A method for plating a metal material onto a substrate in an electrochemical plating system and conditioning contacts of the electrochemical plating system having an electrolyte solution and the substrate therein, comprising:
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plating the metal material onto the substrate by applying a cathodic electrical input onto the contacts;
removing the substrate from the electrochemical plating system;
applying an anodically controlled electrical input to the contacts to remove the metal material left on the contacts; and
monitoring real-time electrical measurements from the plating apparatus until a signal indicating the contacts are conditioned. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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Specification