Measurement techniques for controlling aspects of a electroless deposition process

• US 7,465,358 B2
• Filed: 03/05/2004
• Issued: 12/16/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Inventors: Weidman, Timothy W., Lubomirsky, Dmitry
• Primary Examiner(s): Lamb; Brenda A
• Application Number:
  US10/794,592
• Publication Number:
  US 20050084615A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,747 Days
• Field of Search: 118666-667, 118689-690, 118/429, 205/82, 205/84, 204/228.1, 204/228.6, 134/107, 134/113
• US Class Current: 118/667
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 18/1601 Process or apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 18/1619 Apparatus for electroless plating
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 18/1628 Specific elements or parts of the apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 18/1678 Heating of the substrate
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 18/1682 Control of atmosphere
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 18/1872 by chemical pretreatment
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 18/28 Sensitising or activating
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/288 from a liquid, e.g. electrolytic deposition
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/76838 characterised by the formation and the after-treatment of the conductors etching for patterning the conductors H01L21/3213
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 134/902 Semiconductor wafer

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention generally provide a fluid processing chamber, sensors and a controller and method for using the same. The fluid processing chamber includes an inlet region, a processing region and an outlet region. The inlet region generally contains one or more sensors and an external controller to monitor the characteristics of the processing fluid at the inlet to the processing region. The outlet region generally contains one or more sensors and an external controller to monitor the characteristics of the processing fluid leaving the processing region of the chamber. In one embodiment the processing region contains one or more sensors and an external controller to monitor the characteristics of the processing fluid in the processing region. The sensors may include, for example, an ORP probe, a temperature sensor, a conductivity sensor, a dissolved hydrogen sensor, a dissolved oxygen sensor, and a pH sensor. The fluid processing chamber is generally useful for all process steps done to deposit an electroless deposited film on a substrate including, for example, all pre-clean process steps (substrate preparation steps), all electroless activation process steps, all electroless deposition steps, and all post electroless deposition cleaning steps.

Claims

1. An electroless deposition system, comprising:

a fluid processing chamber having a processing region, a fluid inlet port and a fluid outlet port wherein the fluid inlet port and the fluid outlet port are in communication with the processing region;

a first probe mounted in the fluid inlet port, in the processing region or in the fluid outlet port;

a second probe mounted in the fluid inlet port, in the processing region or in the fluid outlet port;

a third probe mounted in the fluid inlet port, in the processing region or in the fluid outlet port;

a controller adapted to receive a signal from the first probe, the second probe and the third probe, and process the signals to determine that a desired value has been reached, and is further adapted to control the electroless deposition system;

a first temperature sensor mounted at the fluid inlet port;

a second temperature sensor mounted-at the fluid outlet port; and

the controller further adapted to receive a signal from the first temperature sensor and the second temperature sensor and process the signals to determine that a desired value has been reached, and is further adapted to control the electroless deposition system.