Motorola Corporation

Freescale Semiconductor,inc.

Gregory S Etherington

Matthew Thomas Herrick

Cindy Reidsema Simpson

James Derek Legg

An electroplating system () and process makes electrical current density across a semiconductor device substrate () surface more uniform during plating to allow for a more uniform or tailored deposition of a conductive material. The electrical current density modifiers (and) reduce the electrical current density near the edge of the substrate (). By reducing the current density near the edge of the substrate (), the plating becomes more uniform or can be tailored so that slightly more material is plated near the center of the substrate (). The system can also be modified so that the material that plates on electrical current density modifier portions () of structures () can be removed without having to disassemble any portion of the head () or otherwise remove the structures () from the system. This in-situ cleaning reduces the amount of equipment downtime, increases equipment lifetime, and reduces particle counts.

Process for depositing a layer of material on a substrate

An electroplating system ( ) and process makes electrical current density across, a semiconductor device substrate ( ) surface more uniform during plating to allow for a more uniform or tailored deposition of a conductive material. The electrical current density modifiers ( and ) reduce the electrical current density near the edge of the substrate ( ). By reducing the current density near the edge of the substrate ( ), the plating becomes more uniform or can be tailored so that slightly more material is plated near the center of the substrate ( ). The system can also be modified so that the material that electrical current density modifier portions ( ) on structures ( ) can be removed without having to disassemble any portion of the head ( ) or otherwise remove the structures ( ) from the system. This in-situ cleaning reduces the amount of equipment downtime, increases equipment lifetime, and reduces particle counts.

A substrate (,) is placed into a plating bath (,), a current in the bath is measured, and a film (,) is plated onto the substrate (,). In one embodiment the current is measured using a sensing array (,) positioned within the bath, and the measurement is used to control a plating deposition parameter. In an alternative embodiment the current is measured using the sensing array (,) and a characteristic of the plated film is controlled using a corresponding control array (,) also positioned within the plating bath (,).

Method for forming a semiconductor device

An electroplating system (,) and process makes electrical current density across a semiconductor device substrate (,) surface more uniform during plating to allow for a more uniform or tailored deposition of a conductive material. The electrical current density modifiers (,and,) reduce the electrical current density near the edge of the substrate (,). By reducing the current density near the edge of the substrate (,), the plating becomes more uniform or can be tailored so that slightly more material is plated near the center of the substrate (,). The system can also be modified so that the material that electrical current density modifier portions (,) on structures (,) can be removed without having to disassemble any portion of the head (,) or otherwise remove the structures (,) from the system. This in-situ cleaning reduces the amount of equipment downtime, increases equipment lifetime, and reduces particle counts.

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Cedar Creek, TX, United States of America

Gregory S Etherington