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:
Apr. 28, 2009
Filed:
Dec. 23, 2003
Daniel Woodruff, Kalispell, MT (US);
Steve Eudy, Kalispell, MT (US);
James Erickson, Columbia Falls, MT (US);
Thomas Oberlitner, Kalispell, MT (US);
Matthew Egloff, Kalispell, MT (US);
Daniel Woodruff, Kalispell, MT (US);
Steve Eudy, Kalispell, MT (US);
James Erickson, Columbia Falls, MT (US);
Thomas Oberlitner, Kalispell, MT (US);
Matthew Egloff, Kalispell, MT (US);
Semitool, Inc., Kalispell, MT (US);
Abstract
Although there are several inventions disclosed herein, the present application is directed to a reactor for electrochemically processing a microelectronic workpiece. The reactor comprises a movable electrode assembly that is disposed for movement along a motion path. The motion path includes at least a portion thereof over which the electrode assembly is positioned for processing at least one surface of the microelectronic workpiece. A cleaning electrode is located along the motion path of the movable electrode assembly. In one embodiment, a programmable controller is connected to direct the movable electrode assembly to move to the cleaning electrode during a cleaning cycle. At that time, the programmable controller connects the movable electrode assembly as an anode and the cleaning electrode as a cathode for cleaning of the movable electrode assembly. The cleaning electrode may be disposed along a position of the motion path that is beyond the range of motion required to process the microelectronic workpiece so that the programmable controller may be programmed to conduct a cleaning cycle while a microelectronic workpiece is present in the reactor for processing.