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:
Feb. 22, 2000
Filed:
Nov. 13, 1997
Eliot K Broadbent, Beaverton, WA (US);
Novellus Systems, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
An electroplating system includes shield(s) to control the thickness profile of a metal electrodeposited onto a substrate. The shield(s) are positioned between the anode and the cathode in a standard electroplating apparatus with a device for rotating the plating surface. The cathode is rotated so that the shield(s) in conjunction with the rotation of the cathode selectively alters or modulates a time average of the electric field characteristics between the anode and the cathode. The modulated electric field is used to control the electrodeposition rate at selected area(s) of the plating surface of the cathode, thereby causing the metal deposited on the cathode to have a modified thickness profile.