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WO2002083995A1 - Procede et dispositif de regulation de l'ecoulement de fluides - Google Patents

Procede et dispositif de regulation de l'ecoulement de fluides Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2002083995A1
WO2002083995A1 PCT/IB2001/000616 IB0100616W WO02083995A1 WO 2002083995 A1 WO2002083995 A1 WO 2002083995A1 IB 0100616 W IB0100616 W IB 0100616W WO 02083995 A1 WO02083995 A1 WO 02083995A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
chamber
workpiece
fluid
anode
electroplating
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
PCT/IB2001/000616
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English (en)
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ARTHUR KEIGLER
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ARTHUR KEIGLER
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Publication date
Application filed by ARTHUR KEIGLER filed Critical ARTHUR KEIGLER
Priority to PCT/IB2001/000616 priority Critical patent/WO2002083995A1/fr
Publication of WO2002083995A1 publication Critical patent/WO2002083995A1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25D—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PRODUCTION OF COATINGS; ELECTROFORMING; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25D5/00—Electroplating characterised by the process; Pretreatment or after-treatment of workpieces
    • C25D5/08—Electroplating with moving electrolyte e.g. jet electroplating
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25D—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PRODUCTION OF COATINGS; ELECTROFORMING; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25D17/00—Constructional parts, or assemblies thereof, of cells for electrolytic coating
    • C25D17/001—Apparatus specially adapted for electrolytic coating of wafers, e.g. semiconductors or solar cells
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25D—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PRODUCTION OF COATINGS; ELECTROFORMING; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25D21/00—Processes for servicing or operating cells for electrolytic coating
    • C25D21/10—Agitating of electrolytes; Moving of racks
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25D—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PRODUCTION OF COATINGS; ELECTROFORMING; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25D7/00—Electroplating characterised by the article coated
    • C25D7/12—Semiconductors
    • C25D7/123—Semiconductors first coated with a seed layer or a conductive layer
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25F—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC REMOVAL OF MATERIALS FROM OBJECTS; APPARATUS THEREFOR
    • C25F7/00—Constructional parts, or assemblies thereof, of cells for electrolytic removal of material from objects; Servicing or operating
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/04—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer
    • H01L21/18—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table or AIIIBV compounds with or without impurities, e.g. doping materials
    • H01L21/28—Manufacture of electrodes on semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/268
    • H01L21/283—Deposition of conductive or insulating materials for electrodes conducting electric current
    • H01L21/288—Deposition of conductive or insulating materials for electrodes conducting electric current from a liquid, e.g. electrolytic deposition
    • H01L21/2885—Deposition of conductive or insulating materials for electrodes conducting electric current from a liquid, e.g. electrolytic deposition using an external electrical current, i.e. electro-deposition

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to the control of fluid flow in the wet processing of the surfaces of workpieces in such applications as electroplating and the like, where electric fields may also be involved, being more particularly, though not exclusively, directed to the processing of substantially thin or planar workpieces such as silicon semiconductor wafers and the like, by the automatic and controlled processing application and removal of fluid from such surfaces, as well as more generally the control of wet processing of other types of workpiece surfaces including wet processing without electric fields, as later discussed.
  • the invention has general application and usefulness in various types of wet processing of a myriad of workpiece surfaces
  • the principal thrust of the preferred embodiment and particular advantageous use of the invention resides in the field of electroplating, and more specifically for such applications as the electroplating of thin planar workpiece surfaces such as silicon semiconductor wafers and the like.
  • the invention will therefore illustratively be described hereinafter as applied to such usage, it is to be understood that it has decided utility, also, for controlling flow or movement of processing fluids at workpiece surfaces more generally, including as further examples, in electroless plating processes, chemical etching, photo resist coating and
  • electroplating has been widely used for many years as a manufacturing technique for the application of metal films to many different kinds of structures and surfaces. It has been particularly advantageous in semiconductor or solid-state wafer workpiece manufacturing for the application of copper, gold, lead-tin, indium-tin, nickel-iron, and other types of metals or alloys of metals to the wafer workpiece surfaces.
  • An important requirement of the machines used for such a process is that they be capable of depositing metal films with uniform and repeatable characteristics, such as metal thickness, alloy composition, metal purity, and metal profile relative to the underlying workpiece profile.
  • a central robot distributes the workpieces to and from separate processing chambers ⁇ commonly referred to as a cluster tool that enables the processing of many workpieces per hour and many workpieces per unit of floor-space occupied by the tool.
  • the electroplating is used to apply copper films to silicon workpieces for interconnection wiring, to apply lead-tin solder bumps to the workpieces, and also to apply gold to the workpieces.
  • the process chamber designed for such an electroplating cluster tool addresses the various arts of electroplating, fluid mixing, and fluid control.
  • Various features of such a processing chamber can make its integration into an automated wafer handling cluster tool more efficient and useful for manufacturing. It is to these applications as they relate more specifically to a manufacturing cluster tool wet processing chamber, that the present invention is primarily addressed.
  • the plating current spreads out when passing from the anode to the cathode, usually resulting in thicker plated deposits near the outer edge of the workpiece.
  • the fluid distribution in the electroplating chamber, particularly at the anode and cathode surfaces may not be uniform.
  • Non-uniform fluid distribution at the cathode can cause variation of the diffusion boundary layer thickness across the workpiece surface, which, in turn, can lead to non-uniform plated metal thickness and non-uniform alloy composition.
  • the ohmic potential drop from the point on the workpiece at which the electroplating current enters the workpiece may be non-uniform across the workpiece surface, leading to variation in plating current at the workpiece surface and consequently leading to non-uniform metal film deposition.
  • a common arrangement for example, is described as a fountain plating chamber, or a "fountain plater" as in Schuster et al U.S. Patent No. 5,000, 827, embodying a fountain or cup plater wherein the wafer surface to be plated is positioned face down.
  • a method is disclosed wherein the reduction of deposition rate due to fluid effects and the increase in deposition rate due to electric field effects at the workpiece perimeter are balanced against one another to cause substantially uniform plating across the whole workpiece surface.
  • the technique of fountain plating requires the providing of a distance between the fluid inlet and cathode workpiece which is similar to or greater than the radius or cross-dimension of the cathode workpiece being plated in order to cause acceptably uniform fluid flow at the workpiece surface.
  • Fluid enters at the bottom of the chamber and flows through the anode toward the cathode workpiece surface.
  • the position of fluid passages in the anode, the position of the anode between the fluid inlet and cathode, and the overall size of the fluid chamber are variables that can be changed to influence the uniformity of the electroplated film.
  • a high- volume flow of plating solution is thus forced through the rotating jet assembly.
  • solution is pumped into the plating chamber through a rotating seal, requiring a motor, a bearing and a feed-through assembly outside of the plating chamber.
  • these components would take up valuable space, reducing the economy of the manufacturing tool.
  • substantial fluid agitation is achieved without a requirement of high-volume fluid flow and without the use of a rotating fluid feed-through or a motor and bearing external to the plating chamber.
  • Still a further prior art approach to trying to solve these problems is that of using a paddle arm to agitate plating solution near the cathode surface.
  • a fluid-powered turbine is unitarily formed with a wiper blade that moves near the workpiece surface to prevent hydrogen bubble accumulation on the workpiece surface.
  • the wafer is immersed vertically in a cathode chamber in the plating bath - a disposition unsuited, however, for the kind of rapid loading and unloading of wafers required in a high-volume manufacturing system.
  • the present invention discloses an apparatus for generating rotational motion to agitate the fluid in the process chamber wherein the apparatus does not extend substantially beyond the walls of the plating chamber and wherein the chamber itself is configured such that wafers may be rapi ' dly loaded and unloaded in a fashion particularly suited to incorporation into a manufacturing cluster tool.
  • Such a Coriolis pattern in the fluid can, however, be avoided by periodically forcing the fluid to rotate for a short time in one direction and then causing the fluid to rotate in the reverse direction for a short time.
  • This kind of reversing rotation operation is embodied in the present invention to provide for precisely and reliably controlling cyclic rotational motion in the fluid inside the process chamber. While it has earlier been known that magnetic couplings can be used to impart motion to a fluid inside a chamber through the use of an energy source outside the chamber, such as magnetic stir bars and magnetically coupled pumps, this invention provides for novel precise controlling of the reciprocating movement of a mechanical stirring component within the chamber from an energy source outside the chamber, and without using a shaft that must pass through the chamber wall which can involve leakage and other problems.
  • a wet process chamber that is designed for electroplating or electro-etching chambers or the like, moreover, is the capability of the chamber to produce an electric field pattern on the workpiece that is either substantially uniform or can be readily tailored to a desired shape.
  • a number of methods and designs have been previously developed to cause the electric field on the workpiece surface to be substantially uniform. These fall into two main categories.
  • a first proposal has been to dispose a conducting element, commonly referred to as a current "thief, in the same plane as the workpiece so that it substantially surrounds the workpiece.
  • a voltage is applied to the element that may be equal to the cathode voltage or controlled to a different voltage as required to influence deposition on the cathode surface.
  • An example is provided in U.S. Patent No.
  • Such field - shaping shields of this sort either provide benefit only near the edges of the cathode, or they require a relatively large anode-to-cathode spacing to provide benefit across the whole workpiece cathode diameter, such that they are not readily adapted to shape the field continuously across the diameter of the workpiece cathode.
  • the present invention also addresses these problems by tailoring the current distribution continuously across the radial dimension of the wafer surface and in a manner that is not necessarily monotonic along a radius of said surface and further in a manner such that uniform plated film thickness across the cathode wafer workpiece surface may be achieved within a process chamber height that can be made relatively small, say, for example, about one sixth of the diameter of the workpiece cathode itself.
  • a further object is to provide a new and improved wet process chamber suitable for high-volume manufacturing applications in semiconductor workpiece fabrication and in other similar precision fluid-based deposition or removal of films from substantially think workpieces with substantially flat surfaces.
  • Another object is to provide a novel electroplating chamber that produces metal - deposited films of uniform thickness, high purity, and uniform electrical properties on flat continuous uniform surfaces, on flat continuous surfaces with micro-scale topography, and on flat surfaces with both topography and photo-resist patterning.
  • Still a further object of the invention is to provide a novel wet process chamber that is compact in size.
  • Another object is to provide an improved wet process chamber that is reliable and robust when operated continuously, as a result of minimization of the number of moving parts.
  • a further object is to provide an electroplating chamber that operates as an independent module and can be reliably integrated into a cluster tool automatically to distribute workpieces between and amongst a plurality of such modules, with the workpiece carriers used to move workpieces amongst tools in the manufacturing facility in which the cluster tool operates.
  • Still another object is to provide an improved wet processing chamber particularly adapted for electroplating, stripping, etching, and cleaning workpieces such as semiconductor wafers and the like.
  • a further object is to provide for the integration of such an improved wet processing chamber into a robotic cluster tool which moves workpieces between said chamber and workpiece carriers used to move workpieces about the fabrication area,
  • Another object is to imbue such a wet processing chamber with robust and modular characteristics so that it may be efficiently removed from the cluster tool and repaired or replaced, when necessary. It is still a further object of this invention to provide a novel wet processing chamber that requires only a minimal amount of equipment space per workpiece movement, per hour, enabling economy in a robotic cluster tool configuration.
  • Another object is to provide a wet processing chamber in which fluid mixing is controllable within the chamber ranging from laminar flow to turbulent flow.
  • Still a further object of this invention is to provide a novel electro-deposition chamber for semiconductor wafers and the like adapted to compensate for the potential drop in very thin seed layers in the wafers, or radially non-uniform seed layers, and still produce substantially uniform metal deposited layers.
  • An additional object is to provide such a novel electro-deposition chamber in which problems due to bubble entrapment at the depositing metal surface on the workpiece are eliminated.
  • the invention embraces in an electroplating process for a cathodically connected thin workpiece between which and an anode an electric field is established within an electroplating fluid chamber, a method of improving the control of fluid flow and uniformity of the electroplating of the workpiece, that comprises, agitating the fluid by internally cyclically reciprocally rotating the fluid back and forth in the chamber between the cathodic workpiece and its anode and laterally over the workpiece cathode.
  • the invention thus embodies a novel chamber for the wet electroplating processing of preferably substantially thin and flat workpieces like semiconductor wafers and the like, and having several features that are also of particular value and usefulness in the other wet processing applications, such as the before-mentioned electro-less plating and photo-resist stripping and cleaning of workpieces.
  • the chamber contains a fluid agitator and means for rotating said agitator in a reciprocating manner in order to avoid Coriolis motion and to cause fluid mixing; and, where appropriate, a plurality of radial electric field shields may be attached to the agitator of shield shape adjusted to optimize the application of electric fields at the workpiece surface, and more generally, in various types of wet processes, to optimize the fluid agitation at the workpiece surface.
  • Figure 1 is an isometric view of a preferred embodiment of the invention as applied to wafer processing, illustrating a plurality or stack of electroplating process chamber modules configured along with a wafer handling robot to comprise a novel wet process cluster tool;
  • Figure 2 is a similar view of one of the process chambers constructed in accordance with the invention and with the cover shown removed and without a workpiece in place, illustrating the details of the rotating shield and rotor components situated in the chamber;
  • Figure 3 is an isometric view of the agitation rotor components, without showing the accompanying chamber, showing in detail the construction of the magnetic rotor;
  • Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the electroplating process assembly with a workpiece in-place
  • Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view upon a larger scale of the rotor periphery, showing in detail how the rotor is supported as a shaft in a journal defined by the interior chamber wall, and how the fluid flows into the chamber;
  • Figure 6 is an isometric view of the process chamber with the bottom of said chamber removed to highlight the path through which fluid flows into the chamber;
  • Figures 7 A and 7B are plots of data showing the results of electric field contouring using the electric field shields of the invention for relatively small and larger shields, respectively.
  • a rotational reciprocating agitator is disposed between each cathode workpiece and its anode within each cylindrical electroplating chamber of the stack, or may be located between the bottom and top planes of other wet processes such as etching or cleaning chambers.
  • the agitator is composed of a plurality of radially extending blades that are shaped and configured such that rotation of the agitator about a central chamber longitudinal axis perpendicular to the parallel cathode and anode planes and aligned with the center of the cathode, causes fluid within the chamber to be evenly and repeatedly mixed throughout the chamber, especially laterally at the workpiece cathode surface.
  • the blades have a cross- sectional shape parallel to the plane of the cathode and anode that preferably is substantially a radial wedge or sector of constant angle. Consequently, the radial uniformity of the time-averaged electric field between the cathode and anode is not disrupted by the movement of the agitator itself as it reciprocatingly rotates around the longitudinal axis.
  • the use of reciprocating rotational motion in the present invention to mix the plating solution in the chamber as distinguished from continuous rotational fluid motion that, as earlier stated, causes fluid particles to travel in circles known as Coriolis motion, breaks up this pattern and causes thorough and uniform mixing throughout all parts of the chamber and along the workpiece surface.
  • the invention thus provides for adequate fluid mixing in the chamber without the need for a large volume flow of fluid through the chamber, such that fluid transfer into and out of the chamber is determined only by the rate required to avoid depletion of reactants due to their consumption at the workpiece surface. For example, in electroplating, this is dependent on the rate at which metal ions are consumed at the cathode workpiece surface.
  • the fluid volume flow required to avoid ion depletion is much lower than the fluid volume flow required in a typical prior-art fountain plater, before-discussed, or in a nozzle anode plating chamber, where fluid mixing uniformity at the workpiece surface is dependent upon fluid input flow rate.
  • the invention thus provides novel independent control of electric field uniformity and fluid agitation at the workpiece surface.
  • the invention as applied to the illustrative and important field of electroplating and the like, embodies a plurality of stacks of similar electroplating process chamber modules 10 that can be readily configured into an automated wafer processing cluster tool 12.
  • a plurality of vertically stacked process module frames 14 support the corresponding plurality of stacks of process modules 10.
  • Externally visible are each of the process chamber bodies 20, more particularly shown on an enlarged scale in Figure 2, and the process module cover 22.
  • the process module frames 14 circumferentially surround the wafer handling robot 16 of well-known type such that the robot is able to insert wafers horizontally into and retrieve wafers horizontally from all process modules.
  • a suitable wafer-handling robot for the purposes of this invention may, for example, be the Staubli Unimation RX-90 for this preferred embodiment of the invention.
  • a conventional cluster tool controller 17 controls the motion of the robot 16 and coordinates wafer exchange between the robot 16 and the process modules 10.
  • the robot moves the wafers from wafer cassette transfer stations 18 to horizontal positions in the wafer process modules 10 or between different process modules 10 in present-day well-known sequences; as, for example, in wafer cassette transfer stations of the type manufactured by Asyst Corporation or Dynamic Automated Systems Corporation.
  • the cluster tool 12 may also contain other components, not shown since in order to avoid detracting from the essential features of the invention, such as, for . example, walls and air filters. These are suitably positioned as is well known - - the present invention pertaining to the novel design of the wet process module 10 suitable for the invention does not reside in the details of the other well-known auxiliary components that together comprise and are used in cluster tools 12
  • the main components of the process chamber body 20 are evident, comprising a chamber cavity 22 containing process fluid 24; a plating electrolyte bath, for example.
  • the chamber inner body is fabricated from suitably acid-resistant material such as PTFE for acid-based processes like plating or etching, and from nonmagnetic material like aluminum or type 316 stainless steel for organic based processes such as, for example, in the previously mentioned photo-resist stripping applications.
  • a novel reciprocating rotational agitation rotor assembly 40 and novel electric field shields 42 are disposed in the center of the chamber cavity 22.
  • This structure is suitably constructed in the case of electroplating process chambers 20 to provide electrical contact to a horizontally disposed planar workpiece cathode to-be-plated (not shown in Figure 2 but illustrated as circular thin planar wafers 60 in Figures 4 and 5 ) by an electric field established between it and a parallel flat anode surface 82, Figures 4 and 5.
  • Output flow slots 28 and bypass flow slots 30 are evident in the chamber body 20, and their use will be discussed with reference to subsequent figures.
  • FIG. 3 the construction of the cyclically reciprocating agitation rotor assembly 40 of the invention can be more readily seen.
  • a plurality of spaced radially extending agitation blades or vanes 44 are attached to a rotor perimeter ring 46, Figure 3.
  • Each blade has a fluid flow window 48 cut into it that directs fluid flow to and from the wafer working surface 60 as the agitation rotor assembly rotates about its longitudinal rotation axis 50.
  • a center flow hole 47 directs flow toward the center 104 of the wafer 60.
  • Input fluid flow is channeled in a rotor blade flow channel 49 that extends from the rotor perimeter across the bottom of each blade 44 to connect with the center flow hole 47.
  • the rotation axis 50 is disposed substantially perpendicular to the wafer working surface 60 and is aligned with the center of the wafer.
  • Attached upon the rotor perimeter ring 46 is a rotor back iron 52 to which a plurality of circumferentially spaced magnets 54 are attached.
  • the magnets 54 are suitably disposed with each of their magnetic field axes 56 oriented transversally, substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal rotation axis 50, and with the magnetic field direction alternating in north and south directions between adjacent magnets.
  • the circumferential rotor back iron 52 and magnets 54 are coated with a suitable protective coating 58 to prevent their being corroded by the acidic plating solution or bath (24 in Figure 2).
  • a rubber-like material such as ethylene propylene provides an appropriate protective coating 58.
  • Disposed around the rotor assembly 40 is a concentric outer stator 62, Figure 3, with a plurality of successive circumferential teeth 64 and coil windings 66, defining an annular space between the ring of rotor magnets and the coaxially surrounding stator teeth that may be referred to as a motor air gap 68.
  • the rotor back iron 52, magnets 54, stator 62, windings 66 and motor air gap 68 form a permanent magnet DC motor.
  • process fluid 24 is prevented from leaking from the chamber cavity 22 because no rotating mechanical coupling must pass through the chamber wall 21 , Figures 2 and 6.
  • a secondary drive mechanism as is used, for example, in magnetically coupled pumps or stir bars, is not required since in this invention the motor is built into the agitator system itself, thereby providing a compact and robust system.
  • the agitation rotor assembly 40 is positioned in the chamber cavity by direct contact along a substantially cylindrical interface 81.
  • Such interface serves as a journal bearing to provide a means of centering the agitation rotor assembly 40 in the chamber cavity in a plane substantially perpendicular to the rotation axis 50 ( Figure 4).
  • a preferred embodiment uses low friction materials such as PTFE for both the rotor perimeter ring 42 and the chamber wall 80 to eliminate fric.tional wear at the interface 81.
  • the agitation rotor assembly 40 is positioned in the axial direction by contact at a substantially circular planar interface 85 between the rotor bottom 86 and the chamber bottom wall 87.
  • the novel design of the present invention thus uses magnetic field coupling to the agitator body 40 that is submersed in the fluid chamber, with the motor effectively integrated into the chamber wall.
  • the magnetic rotor assembly 40 as before discussed, is suitably protected by a coating such as ethylene-propylene so that it will not be dissolved by acids in the plating solution 24.
  • the rotor assembly is mated with the agitator body and fully contained within the chamber.
  • the stator 62 may be fabricated using known motor fabrication methods from steel lamination, and the coil windings 66 are disposed concentric to said rotor.
  • a section of the chamber wall 80 ( Figures 4 and 5) is disposed between the stator 62 and the magnetic rotor 54, in the so - called air-gap 68 of the motor, to protect the stator from the acidic components of the plating solution.
  • the motion of the magnetic assembly and coupled agitator is controlled by supplying current pulses to the winding 66 of the stator.
  • Known methods of servo motor control may be used to control the rotor motion.
  • a three-phase coil winding with 39 stator poles 66 and 33 rotor magnets 54 was used for a 9-inch diameter processing chamber 20.
  • the motor was controlled using an Advanced Motion Control BE15AH brushless servo amplifier.
  • This method of agitation used reciprocating circular motion of the agitator 40 - 44 within the process fluid 24, providing uniform mixing at the wafer working surface 60 and avoiding the fluid stratification that, as earlier discussed, occurs due to Coriolis motion resulting from prior art unidirectional rotation.
  • Reciprocating agitator motion of approximately 1 10 degrees clockwise followed by slightly different 120 degrees counterclockwise at a speed of 5 to 10 RPM has been found to perform well in electroplating tests.
  • the internal chamber direct drive permanent magnet motor described herein has been found to be highly reliable in delivering the required cyclically reciprocating or reversing motion.
  • the invention in its application to electroplating and other wet processes using electric fields, also includes the provision of insulating plates or shields 42 preferably attached to the top surfaces of the agitator blades 44. These insulating plates behave as electric field shields that block the direct passage of the electric fields between the anode and the cathode workpiece wafer in the vicinity of the shield.
  • the shields can be configured such that, at the cathode workpiece surface, the time-averaged electric field due to movement of the combination of agitator and shields, is substantially uniform across the entire surface.
  • the shields may be configured so that at the cathode surface, the time-averaged electric field due to movement of the combination of agitator and shields may occur as a radial pattern that interacts with the radial voltage drop due to current flow through the metal seed layer of the wafer.
  • the interaction is such that a substantially uniform thickness metal film deposits on the workpiece wafer.
  • the deposited film thickness profile can be varied from convex (thick at the workpiece perimeter) to concave (thick at the workpiece center) by varying the shield profile from narrow to wide at the shield perimeter.
  • a desirable substantially uniform thickness profile is obtained at an intermediate shield profile.
  • the shield shape may also be controlled in the direction perpendicular the workpiece surface.
  • the relative velocity between the shield and workpiece is proportional to the radial distance from the workpiece center.
  • it may be required to contour the shield thickness such that the separation between the shield surface and workpiece surface is greater at the workpiece perimeter than at the workpiece center. Such contouring provides a uniform fluid boundary layer thickness across the workpiece surface.
  • An offset maybe provided between the angle of forward and reverse rotations; for example, the before-mentioned 120 degrees of rotation clockwise followed by 1 10 degrees of rotation counterclockwise. This offset causes the reversal point to shift continuously around the workpiece during the whole wet process operation, avoiding any possible non-uniformity that could result from repeatedly stopping and reversing at an angular position.
  • a near ideal electric field pattern within the chamber cavity 22 is provided because no rotation shaft must pass through the anode 82, and therefore the anode can be configured in the shape of a continuous flat circular planar surface parallel to the flat planar wafer cathode workpiece 60. Since the fluid flow in the chamber is determined by the rotating agitator 40, moreover, there is no requirement for the provision of flow holes in the anode 82 or a space between the anode 82 and the chamber anterior wall surface 21.
  • the wafer working surface 60 and the anode 82 can thus be substantially flat circular parallel spaced surfaces and extend with their respective perimeters substantially at the dielectric cylinder walls 21 that define the electric field boundary of the chamber.
  • the electric field at the wafer working surface 60 can be shaped by means of rotating radial wedge-shaped or sector shields 42, Figure 3, fixed to and carried at the top of the radial wedged-shaped sector agitator blades 44 of the rotating assembly 40.
  • One edge 43A of each wedge shield 42 extends along a radius extending from the rotation axis 50.
  • the opposite edge 43B of the shield is preferably contoured as it radially extends so that, as the shield rotates about the rotation axis 50, the time- averaged electric field flux at a point on the working surface 60 is a function of the radial distance from the rotation axis 50.
  • Figure 7 shows the metal film thickness measurements obtainable for two different wafers processed with two different sets of such shields 42.
  • the first graph 100, Figure 7A shows the thickness profile that resulted from using such wedge-shaped. sector shields 42 wherein both edges 43A and 43B follow strictly diverging radial paths extended from the data rotation axis 50.
  • FIG. 5 An input hole 1 10, Figure 6, is suitably attached to piping attached to the process fluid pump, filter, and reservoir of conventional type (not shown)
  • Process fluid 24 flows into the input manifold 1 12, Figures 5 and 6, which is disposed substantially circularly around the chamber cavity 22, and then flows through radial slots 1 14 and up through vertical holes 1 16, Figure 5.
  • a particular advantage of the invention is this distribution of fresh process fluid 24 directly to the center and laterally outward of the wafer working surface 60 while providing immediate mixing of all fluid that enters the process chamber 22.
  • the fluid may pass out of the chamber without touching the wafer working surface 60.
  • Fluid control diaphragm 120 is pulled away from the valve surface 122 by applying vacuum to chamber 124 through suitable piping (not shown). The control diaphragm then moves from position 126A to position 126B and fluid flows through output control slot 30 into the main drain 74 and exits the chamber.
  • a gap 92 exists between the upper surfaces of the shields 42 and the under surface of the workpiece wafer 60. By suitable contouring of the thickness of the shields 42, this gap 92 can be varied along the radius extending outwardly from the rotational axis 50.
  • a wider gap 92 in the region of the wafer perimeter 106, Figures 4 and 5, may be used to counteract the enhanced mixing due to the higher relative velocity between the shield surfaces 42 and the workpiece surface 60 proportional to the radial distance from the rotation axis 50.

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Abstract

La présente invention concerne un procédé et un appareil pour le traitement humide de pièces, tel que le plaquage électrolytique de plaquettes à semi-conducteurs. Ce procédé implique, d'une part une agitation en va-et-vient du fluide de traitement de façon à réguler l'écoulement des fluides au niveau de la pièce, et d'autre part, en présence de champs électriques comme dans le cas du plaquage électrolytique, une régulation de la distribution des champs électriques.
PCT/IB2001/000616 2001-04-12 2001-04-12 Procede et dispositif de regulation de l'ecoulement de fluides Ceased WO2002083995A1 (fr)

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WO2005042804A3 (fr) * 2003-10-22 2006-02-23 Nexx Systems Inc Procede et dispositif destines au traitement d'une piece a l'aide d'un fluide
CN115874252A (zh) * 2021-08-11 2023-03-31 颀中科技（苏州）有限公司 一种电镀导电治具
CN118895553A (zh) * 2024-08-22 2024-11-05 肇庆顺创精密机械有限公司 一种高效交换镀液的离心镀篮

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WO2005042804A3 (fr) * 2003-10-22 2006-02-23 Nexx Systems Inc Procede et dispositif destines au traitement d'une piece a l'aide d'un fluide
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CN115874252A (zh) * 2021-08-11 2023-03-31 颀中科技（苏州）有限公司 一种电镀导电治具
CN115874252B (zh) * 2021-08-11 2024-09-17 颀中科技（苏州）有限公司 一种电镀导电治具
CN118895553A (zh) * 2024-08-22 2024-11-05 肇庆顺创精密机械有限公司 一种高效交换镀液的离心镀篮

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