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MONITORING SURFACE OXIDE ON SEED LAYERS DURING ELECTROPLATING

  • US 20180282894A1
  • Filed: 03/30/2017
  • Published: 10/04/2018
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2017
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method of determining whether a substrate includes an unacceptably high amount of oxide on a surface of the substrate, the method comprising:

  • (a) receiving the substrate in an electroplating chamber;

    (b) immersing the substrate in electrolyte, wherein during and/or immediately after immersing the substrate, either;

    (i) a current applied to the substrate is controlled, or(ii) a voltage applied between the substrate and a reference is controlled;

    (c) measuring either a voltage response or a current response during and/or immediately after immersion, wherein;

    (i) the voltage response is measured if the current applied to the substrate is controlled in (b)(i), or(ii) the current response is measured if the voltage applied to the substrate is controlled in (b)(ii);

    (d) comparing the voltage response or current response measured in (c) to a threshold voltage, a threshold current, or a threshold time, wherein the threshold voltage, threshold current, or threshold time is selected to distinguish between (1) cases where the substrate includes the unacceptably high amount of oxide present on the surface of the substrate and (2) cases where the substrate includes an acceptably low amount of oxide present on the surface or no oxide present on the surface of the substrate; and

    (e) determining, based on the comparison in (d), whether the substrate includes the unacceptably high amount of oxide on the surface of the substrate.

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