Electrochemical plating
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsChen-Kuang Lien, Lun-Chieh Chiu, Yu-Min Chang
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Abstract
A method for electrochemical plating includes providing a wafer for an electrochemical plating (ECP) process, determining a wafer electrical property affecting the ECP process, adjusting a plating current or voltage applied in the ECP process based on the determined wafer electrical property, and electroplating the wafer with the adjusted plating current or voltage. A controller for controlling a power supply, and a system for electrochemical plating are also disclosed.
Claims20
A controller for controlling an electrochemical plating (ECP) process, the controller comprising:
- a memory;
- and
- a processor configured to:
- receive a process parameter specifying at least one of a current or a voltage to be applied to a wafer;
- obtain a wafer electrical property affecting the ECP process including at least one of a surface current of the wafer or a sheet resistance of the wafer;
- adjust the process parameter to be applied in the ECP process based on the obtained wafer electrical property,
- wherein the process parameter includes an entry voltage, and
- wherein the adjusting of the process parameter includes adjusting the entry voltage such that a peak entry current of the ECP process substantially matches a plating current of the ECP process induced following the peak entry current;
- and
- apply the adjusted process parameter to the wafer undergoing the ECP process.
A system for electrochemical plating, comprising:
- a plating bath;
- a substrate mount for holding a wafer for an electrochemical plating (ECP) process within the plating bath;
- an anode;
- a power supply operably coupled to the anode and the substrate mount;
- and
- a controller operably coupled to the power supply, the controller including:
- a memory;
- and
- a processor configured to:
- obtain a wafer electrical property that includes at least one of a surface current of the wafer or a sheet resistance of the wafer;
- and
- control the power supply to adjust an amount of energy thereby applied to the wafer based on the at least one of the surface current of the wafer or the sheet resistance of the wafer such that a peak current associated with entry of the wafer into the plating bath substantially matches a current associated with a gapfill process;
- and
- apply the adjusted amount of energy to the wafer undergoing the ECP process.
A fabrication system comprising:
- a substrate holding assembly configured to receive a semiconductor substrate and to introduce the semiconductor substrate into a plating solution;
- a power supply configured to provide an electrical current to the plating solution to thereby deposit a conductive material on the semiconductor substrate;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- receive a property of the semiconductor substrate including at least one of a sheet resistance of the semiconductor substrate or a surface current measurement of the semiconductor substrate;
- determine at least one of a current function or a voltage function for electroplating of the semiconductor substrate based on the received property such that a peak entry current applied to the substrate substantially matches a plating current applied to the substrate following the peak entry current;
- and
- control the power supply to provide the electrical current to the plating solution according to the at least one of the current function or the voltage function.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.