Electroplating cell
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorHugo A. A. Santini
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electroplating cell having a cathode assembly which is vertically mounted and which holds a plurality of wafers to be plated, and an anode which is vertically mounted adjacent to the cathode assembly. The anode and cathode are spaced apart and form opposite walls of a channel through which the plating bath flows. The plating bath is introduced through an isostatic chamber which produces, at its output, a substantially equal flow across the width of the channel so that a substantially vertical laminar flow is produced through the channel and the plated deposits are of uniform thickness within a wafer, from wafer to wafer and from batch to batch.
Claims12
An electroplating cell comprising:
- first and second spaced wall members fixed in position to define a channel which provides a flow path for plating solution between said wall members;
- a first elongated electrode forming at least part of said first wall member;
- a second elongated electrode forming at least part of said second wall member, said second electrode including an article to be plated;
- input means for introducing a plating solution under pressure to said plating cell;
- an isostatic chamber for receiving plating solution from said input means and for discharging said plating solution into said flow path at a substantially equal predetermined pressure over the entire area of said flow path so that a uniform laminar flow of said plating solution is produced along the length of said flow path;
- and
- means for producing a uniform current density across said electrodes in the presence of said laminar flow of said plating solution whereby a film of uniform thickness is plated on said article.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.