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:
Sep. 16, 2003
Filed:
May. 02, 2002
Howard R. Test, Plano, TX (US);
Homer B. Klonis, Dallas, TX (US);
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Abstract
A flexible plating method by continuously controlling the hydrogen concentration of the plating bath by adding controlled amounts of hydrogen gas. The control of the hydrogen concentration is provided by selected distribution and number of nozzles and size of orifices; and predetermined pressure and duration of hydrogen gas flowing through the nozzles, wherein pressure and duration may be variable with time. The control of the hydrogen concentration is selected to provide a ramp-up phase, needed for a rapid plating start, followed by a saturation phase, for consistent plating stability. With metal layer plating under control, a robust, reliable and low-cost metal structure enabling electrical wire connections to the interconnecting copper metallization of ICs is formed. The structure comprises a layer of barrier metal, preferably nickel, that resists copper diffusion, deposited on the non-oxidized copper surface. The structure further comprises an outermost bondable metal layer, preferably gold, unto which a metal wire is bonded for metallurgical connection.