# US 12,595,581 B2 · Coplanarity improvement of high-rate CU pillar processes using high agitation to enable use of high acid, low CU chemistries > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,595,581 B2 - Document ID: US12595581B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/660,111 - Filed: 2024-05-09 - Published: 2025-11-13 - Granted: 2026-04-07 - Earliest claimed: 2024-05-09 - Assignees: Applied Materials, Inc. - Applicants: APPLIED Materials, Inc. - Inventors: Paul R. McHugh; Gregory J. Wilson; John L. Klocke - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12595581B2 ## CPC - C25D 5/34: Pretreatment of metallic surfaces to be electroplated - C25D 7/123: {Semiconductors first coated with a seed layer or a conductive layer} - C25D 17/001: {Apparatus specially adapted for electrolytic coating of wafers, e.g. semiconductors or solar cells} - C25D 3/38: of copper - C25D: PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PRODUCTION OF COATINGS; ELECTROFORMING; APPARATUS THEREFOR ## Abstract An electroplating system including a Cu bath disposed within a vessel, the Cu bath characterized by a predetermined threshold of Cu concentration, and a predetermined threshold of acid concentration, and where a substrate is submerged in the Cu bath; and a jet array configured to spray a fluid onto the substrate, where the fluid has a same composition as the Cu bath. Further, a method including spraying a fluid onto a substrate with the jet array, wherein the fluid has a same composition as the Cu bath and where spraying the substrate increases a deposition rate of a deposited Cu onto the substrate, where the predetermined threshold of acid concentration increases a bath conductivity of the Cu bath, and where the increased bath conductivity improves a coplanarity of deposited copper structure. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An electroplating system for a substrate, comprising: a Cu bath disposed within a vessel, the Cu bath being characterized by a predetermined threshold of Cu concentration and a predetermined threshold of acid concentration, wherein the substrate is submerged in the Cu bath; and a jet array configured for increasing a strain rate of a fluid being sprayed onto the substrate, wherein the fluid has a same composition as the Cu bath, wherein the jet array comprises a plurality of apertures disposed on a plate, and wherein the plate is a first plate and the plurality of apertures is a first plurality of apertures, and wherein the jet array further comprises a second plate coupled with the first plate on a bottom side of the first plate, and a second plurality of apertures, wherein an outlet end of each of the first plurality of apertures and each of the second plurality of apertures extends through a top surface of the first plate, an inlet end of each of the first plurality of apertures extends through a bottom surface of the first plate, and an inlet end of each of the second plurality of apertures extends through a bottom surface of the second plate. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The electroplating system of claim 1, wherein the predetermined threshold of Cu concentration is between about 10 grams/Liter to about 60 grams/Liter. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The electroplating system of claim 2, wherein the predetermined threshold of Cu concentration is between about 40 grams/Liter to about 60 grams/Liter. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The electroplating system of claim 1, wherein the jet array is configured to spray fluid with a strain rate of about 5,000 to about 30,000 per second. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The electroplating system of claim 1, wherein the jet array sprays the fluid at a flow rate of about 0.01 gpm to about 0.05 gpm per aperture of the plurality of apertures. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The electroplating system of claim 1, wherein: a diameter of each of the plurality of apertures is no greater than 1 mm. ### Claim 7 A method of electroplating by an electroplating system, the system comprising a spray jet array, and a copper (Cu) bath, wherein the Cu bath is characterized by a predetermined threshold of Cu concentration, and a predetermined threshold of acid concentration, the method comprising: spraying a fluid onto a substrate with the jet array, wherein the fluid has a same composition as the Cu bath and wherein spraying the substrate increases a deposition rate of a deposited Cu onto the substrate, wherein the jet array comprises a plurality of apertures disposed on a plate, wherein the plate is a first plate and the plurality of apertures is a first plurality of apertures, and wherein the jet array further comprises a second plate coupled with the first plate on a bottom side of the first plate, and a second plurality of apertures, wherein an outlet end of each of the first plurality of apertures and each of the second plurality of apertures extends through a top surface of the first plate, an inlet end of each of the first plurality of apertures extends through a bottom surface of the first plate, and an inlet end of each of the second plurality of apertures extends through a bottom surface of the second plate; depositing Cu onto the substrate while the jet array is spraying the Cu bath, wherein the predetermined threshold of acid concentration increases a bath conductivity of the Cu bath, and wherein the increased bath conductivity improves a coplanarity of copper structures being deposited on the substrate; spraying the substrate with jets formed through only the first plurality of apertures; ceasing to spray the substrate with jets formed through the first plurality of apertures; and spraying the substrate with jets formed through only the second plurality of apertures. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the predetermined threshold of Cu concentration is between about 10 grams/Liter to about 60 grams/Liter. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the Cu bath conductivity is between about 400 mS/cm and about 800 mS/cm. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the predetermined threshold of Cu concentration is between about 40 grams/Liter to about 60 grams/Liter. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: depositing Cu until a target deposit is reached. ### Claim 12 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the target deposit is between about 10 μm and about 100 μm. ### Claim 13 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the deposited Cu has an aspect ratio of about 0.4 to about 20. ### Claim 14 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the jet array sprays the fluid at a strain rate of about 5,000 to about 30,000 per second. ### Claim 15 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the electroplating system further comprises a head that is configured to hold the substrate, the method further comprising: placing the substrate onto the head; submerging the substrate in the Cu bath; and positioning the head to a plating position. ### Claim 16 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the jet array sprays the fluid at a flow rate of about 0.01 gpm to about 0.05 gpm per aperture of the plurality of apertures.