Component cleaning in a metal plating apparatus
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorDaniel J. Woodruff
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A plating apparatus includes a vessel for holding a bath of plating liquid. A head is adapted to hold a work piece, such as a silicon wafer, in the vessel, with a seal on the head sealing against the work piece. A component cleaner assembly may be used to automatically clean a component of the plating apparatus, such as a seal or a contact ring. The cleaner assembly has a component contactor, such as a brush, on an arm. An arm actuator is linked to the arm for moving the arm from a retracted position, to a deployed position, where the contactor is in physical contact with the component. A method for cleaning a component of a plating apparatus includes moving a scrubber or contactor into contact with the component and applying a cleaning liquid onto the component adjacent to the contactor.
Claims16
Plating apparatus, comprising:
- a vessel for holding a bath of plating liquid;
- a rinsing frame on the vessel;
- a head having a rotor for holding and rotating a work piece;
- a seal on the rotor;
- a head lifter attached to the head;
- and
- a seal cleaning assembly including a pivot arm having a first end and a second end, a contactor on the second end of the pivot arm, and an arm actuator linked to the pivot arm for moving the pivot arm from a retracted position to a deployed position, with the contactor in physical contact with the seal when the head lifter holds the rotor at a first position over the vessel and the pivot arm is in the deployed position;
- and
- with the first end of the pivot arm pivotally supported inside of the rinsing frame in both the deployed position and in the retracted position.
An electroplating apparatus, comprising:
- a vessel holding a bath of plating liquid;
- a rinsing frame on the vessel;
- a head including work piece holder;
- a head lifter attached to the head;
- a component cleaning assembly having a pivot arm with a first end and a second end;
- a contactor on the second end of the pivot arm, and a pivot arm actuator linked to the pivot arm for moving the pivot arm from a retracted position to a deployed position, and with the first end of the pivot arm pivotally supported inside of the rinsing frame in both the retracted position and in the deployed position.
An electroplating apparatus, comprising:
- a plating bath vessel;
- a rinsing frame on the vessel;
- a head including a rotor having a seal and a work piece holder, and a motor for rotating the motor;
- a head lifter attached to the head;
- a component cleaning assembly for cleaning the seal while the rotor is rotating, including a contactor on an upper surface of an outer end of a pivot arm, and a pivot arm actuator attached to the pivot arm, with the pivot arm movable via the pivot arm actuator from a retracted position to a deployed position wherein the contactor is in physical contact with the seal on the rotating rotor, to clean the seal;
- and
- the pivot arm is pivotally supported in both the deployed and retracted positions inside of the rinsing frame.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.