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:
Nov. 13, 2012
Filed:
Nov. 07, 2008
Jonathan Reid, Sherwood, OR (US);
Bryan Buckalew, Tualatin, OR (US);
Zhian He, Beaverton, OR (US);
Seyang Park, Beaverton, OR (US);
Seshasayee Varadarajan, Lake Oswego, OR (US);
Bryan Pennington, Tualatin, OR (US);
Thomas Ponnuswamy, Sherwood, OR (US);
Patrick Breling, Portland, OR (US);
Glenn Ibarreta, Ridgefield, WA (US);
Steven Mayer, Lake Oswego, OR (US);
Jonathan Reid, Sherwood, OR (US);
Bryan Buckalew, Tualatin, OR (US);
Zhian He, Beaverton, OR (US);
Seyang Park, Beaverton, OR (US);
Seshasayee Varadarajan, Lake Oswego, OR (US);
Bryan Pennington, Tualatin, OR (US);
Thomas Ponnuswamy, Sherwood, OR (US);
Patrick Breling, Portland, OR (US);
Glenn Ibarreta, Ridgefield, WA (US);
Steven Mayer, Lake Oswego, OR (US);
Novellus Systems, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for electroplating a layer of metal on the surface of a wafer includes an ionically resistive ionically permeable element located in close proximity of the wafer (preferably within 5 mm of the wafer surface) which serves to modulate ionic current at the wafer surface, and a second cathode configured to divert a portion of current from the wafer surface. The ionically resistive ionically permeable element in a preferred embodiment is a disk made of a resistive material having a plurality of perforations formed therein, such that perforations do not form communicating channels within the body of the disk. The provided configuration effectively redistributes ionic current in the plating system allowing plating of uniform metal layers and mitigating the terminal effect.