The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 28, 2021
Filed:
Sep. 06, 2019
Lam Research Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Ludan Huang, King City, OR (US);
Lee J. Brogan, Newberg, OR (US);
Tighe A. Spurlin, Portland, OR (US);
Shantinath Ghongadi, Tigard, OR (US);
Jonathan David Reid, Sherwood, OR (US);
Manish Ranjan, Sherwood, OR (US);
Bryan Pennington, Sherwood, OR (US);
Clifford Raymond Berry, West Linn, OR (US);
Lam Research Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for determining whether a substrate includes an unacceptably high amount of oxide on its surface are described. The substrate is typically a substrate that is to be electroplated. The determination may be made directly in an electroplating apparatus, during an initial portion of an electroplating process. The determination may involve immersing the substrate in electrolyte with a particular applied voltage or applied current provided during or soon after immersion, and recording a current response or voltage response over this same timeframe. The applied current or applied voltage may be zero or non-zero. By comparing the current response or voltage response to a threshold current, threshold voltage, or threshold time, it can be determined whether the substrate included an unacceptably high amount of oxide on its surface. The threshold current, threshold voltage, and/or threshold time may be selected based on a calibration procedure.