Novellus Systems Incorporated

Lam Research Corporation

Yuichi Takada

Jonathan David Reid

Eric G Webb

Shantinath Ghongadi

Timothy Mark Archer

Steven T Mayer

Bryan L Buckalew

Robert Rash

Zhian He

Kousik Ganesan

Tariq Majid

John H Sukamto

Ludan Huang

Jon Reid

James R Zibrida

Doyeon Kim

Vinay Prabhakar

Certain embodiments disclosed herein pertain to methods and apparatus for electrodepositing material on a substrate. More particularly, a novel membrane for separating the anode from the cathode/substrate, and a method of using such a membrane are presented. The membrane includes at least an ion exchange layer and a charge separation layer. The disclosed embodiments are beneficial for maintaining relatively constant concentrations of species in the electrolyte over time, especially during idle (i.e., non-electroplating) times.

Membrane design for reducing defects in electroplating systems

The present invention provides improved methods and devices for electroplating copper on a wafer. Some implementations of the present invention involve the pre-treatment of the wafer with a solution containing accelerator molecules. Preferably, the bath into which the wafer is subsequently placed for electroplating has a reduced concentration of accelerator molecules. The pre-treatment causes a reduction in roughness of the electroplated copper surface, particularly during the initial phases of copper growth.

Deposit morphology of electroplated copper

Methods, apparatuses, and various apparatus components, such as base plates, lipseals, and contact ring assemblies are provided for reducing contamination of the contact area in the apparatuses. Contamination may happen during removal of semiconductor wafers from apparatuses after the electroplating process. In certain embodiments, a base plate with a hydrophobic coating, such as polyamide-imide (PAI) and sometimes polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), are used. Further, contact tips of the contact ring assembly may be positioned further away from the sealing lip of the lipseal. In certain embodiments, a portion of the contact ring assembly and/or the lipseal also include hydrophobic coatings.

Wafer electroplating apparatus for reducing edge defects

An electroplating solution contains a wetting agent in addition to a suppressor and an accelerator. In some embodiments, the solution has a cloud point temperature greater than 35&#xb0; C. to avoid precipitation of wetting agent or other solute out of the plating solution. In some embodiments, the wetting agent decreases the air-liquid surface tension of the electroplating solution to 60 dyne/cmor less to increase the wetting ability of the solution with a substrate surface. In some embodiments of a method for plating metal onto substrate surface, the electroplating solution has a measured contact angle with the substrate surface less than 60 degrees.

Electroplating bath containing wetting agent for defect reduction

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Tualatin, OR, United States of America

Yuichi Takada