Electroless copper deposition apparatus
First Claim
1. An apparatus for engaging a work piece during plating, the apparatus comprising:
- a cup having a circumferential side wall defining an interior region and a lip within the interior region arranged such that lip can support the work piece while the work piece remains within the interior region;
a cone having a work piece contact surface that fits within the cup'"'"'s interior and can contact the work piece in a manner that holds the work piece in a fixed position against the cup'"'"'s lip;
a circumferential cantilever member provided on the contact surface, which cantilever member elastically deflects holding the work piece in said fixed position.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for holding work pieces during electroless plating has certain improved features designed for use at relatively high temperatures (e.g., at least about 50 degrees C.). Cup and cone components of a “clamshell” apparatus that engage a work piece are made from dimensionally stable materials with relatively low coefficients of thermal expansion. Further, O-rings are removed from positions that come in contact with the work piece. This avoids the difficulty caused by O-rings sticking to work piece surfaces during high temperature processing. In place of the O-ring, a cantilever member is provided on the portion of the cone that contacts the work piece. Still further, the apparatus makes use of a heat transfer system for controlling the temperature of the work piece backside during plating.
48 Citations
31 Claims
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1. An apparatus for engaging a work piece during plating, the apparatus comprising:
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a cup having a circumferential side wall defining an interior region and a lip within the interior region arranged such that lip can support the work piece while the work piece remains within the interior region;
a cone having a work piece contact surface that fits within the cup'"'"'s interior and can contact the work piece in a manner that holds the work piece in a fixed position against the cup'"'"'s lip;
a circumferential cantilever member provided on the contact surface, which cantilever member elastically deflects holding the work piece in said fixed position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of depositing a material onto a work piece, the method comprising:
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loading a work piece onto a cup having a circumferential side wall defining an interior region and a lip within the interior region arranged such that lip can support the work piece while the work piece remains within the interior region, wherein the work piece has an exposed surface opposite the cup;
engaging the exposed surface of the work piece with a cone having a work piece contact surface that fits within the cup'"'"'s interior and can contact the work piece in a manner that holds the work piece in a fixed position against the cup'"'"'s lip, wherein a circumferential cantilever member provided on the contact surface elastically deflects while holding the work piece in said fixed position; and
plating a metal onto said work piece while engaged by said cup and cone. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An apparatus for engaging a work piece during plating, the apparatus comprising:
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a cup having a circumferential side wall defining an interior region and a lip within the interior region arranged such that lip can support the work piece while the work piece remains within the interior region;
a cone having a work piece contact surface that fits within the cup'"'"'s interior and can contact the work piece in a manner that holds the work piece in a fixed position against the cup'"'"'s lip; and
a heating element in said cone, wherein the cone'"'"'s contact region is shaped to form a heat transfer fluid pathway between the work piece and the contact surface when the work piece is in the fixed position. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
a heat transfer fluid inlet in the cone; and
a heat transfer fluid outlet in the cone.
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21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the heat transfer fluid inlet and outlet are configured for handling a liquid or a gas heat transfer fluid.
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22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the heat transfer fluid inlet and outlet are configured for handling helium as the heat transfer fluid.
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23. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the cone'"'"'s contact region is shaped such that the heat transfer fluid pathway has a height of between about 100 and 700 micrometers.
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24. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the cone'"'"'s contact region includes at least one protruding contact feature pointing toward the cup, whereby the contact feature is the first portion of the cone to contact the work piece during engagement of the work piece and thereby forms the heat transfer fluid pathway.
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25. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the heating element comprises an electrically resistive, thermoelectric, and/or radiative element.
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26. A method of depositing a material onto a work piece, the method comprising:
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loading a work piece onto a cup having a circumferential side wall defining an interior region and a lip within the interior region arranged such that lip can support the work piece while the work piece remains within the interior region, wherein the work piece has an exposed surface opposite the cup;
engaging the exposed surface of the work piece with a cone having a work piece contact surface that fits within the cup'"'"'s interior and can contact the work piece in a manner that holds the work piece in a fixed position against the cup'"'"'s lip;
plating a metal onto said work piece while engaged by said cup and cone; and
passing or maintaining a heat transfer fluid along the exposed surface of the work piece during plating. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
introducing the heat transfer fluid to a heat transfer fluid inlet in the cone; and
removing the heat transfer fluid via a heat transfer fluid outlet in the cone.
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29. The method of claim 26, wherein the heat transfer fluid passes through a heat transfer fluid pathway between the cone'"'"'s contact region and the work piece exposed surface.
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30. The method of claim 29, wherein the heat transfer fluid pathway has a height of between about 100 and 500 micrometers.
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31. An apparatus for engaging a work piece during plating, the apparatus comprising:
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a cup having a circumferential side wall defining an interior region and a lip within the interior region arranged such that lip can support the work piece while the work piece remains within the interior region;
a cone having a work piece contact surface that fits within the cup'"'"'s interior and can contact the work piece in a manner that holds the work piece in a fixed position against the cup'"'"'s lip; and
a heat transfer element, located external to the cone, for heating or cooling a heat transfer fluid, wherein the cone'"'"'s contact region is shaped to form a heat transfer fluid pathway between the work piece and the contact surface when the work piece is in the fixed position.
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Specification